Snacking for success

I want to share a tip I'm relearning: snacking - the right way - is necessary and helpful.

Years ago I read the very first South Beach Diet book (still excellent, by the way) and learned our hunger triggers are regulated by our insulin levels. When our levels drop, we're hungry. When they drop too low is when we tend to binge on the wrong stuff. The best way to avoid binging is to eat small meals - or snacks - every three hours to keep our insulin levels - well - level.

OK, so I read that and it made sense. I followed the SBD and lost weight, felt good, all was well. But, as with so many diets I've been on, eventually I slacked off, cheated, dropped it altogher, and regained the weight. Years later, I tried The 17 Day Diet, which has many of the same principles. Once again, I lost weight. Once again, I slacked off ... you know.

So now I've been on MFP for almost a year. I've lost 22 pounds (about my goal) and, though I am faithful about logging in and have really changed my eating habits, I still battle the binge eating. I think it's FINALLY clicked in my thick skull that I need to eat those healthy snacks (the key word being HEALTHY) every few hours to keep from getting too hungry. I bring fruit in to work with me, so I have something at 10 a.m., lunch at noon, a snack at 3 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. However, I also realized the apple at 3 p.m. was not doing the trick - I needed some protein. So I've started bringing in a little Smart Balance peanut butter to have with my apple. It's made all the difference. I can get through my afternoon, go home and do my workout, and fix dinner without scarfing down any junkfood I can find while doing it.

I see posts from people battling the binge eating and hunger all the time. Try the several small meals each day process and see if it works for you. Good luck!