How to stop food snacking?

Hi - Yeah I can tell you what works for me. If I were not watching my eating, I'd be eating pizza, fried chicken, deserts, etc.. so what I did was decide I was going to make food changes forever. I chose to eat healthier choices of food, and not even take one taste because that would trigger me wanting more. I heard it takes 3 weeks to get over a craving (cold turkey I think which is not even eating one bite of it).. seems to be working.

Specifically, I would NOT eat whatever tempts you that are "bad" things like sweets, sugarry food, fried food, comfort food, or other things that you feel are screwing your weight up.. instead you have to substitute other healthy foods, and when you do, your tastes will change and THAT is the secret.

I learned these things on Dr Fuhrman's Eat for Life, and I am following it about 80% and so far have lost weight and i do not crave those bad things.

You have to choose good things that dont make you feel deprived or like this is drugery, i went to a vegetarian website and they had all these good pics of really yummy looking food, thats the key! finding good food and mkae it taste good so you wont crave the bad stuff.

Snacking is actually good for you and encouraged. What I do to keep snacking healthy is 1. carry a piece of fruit or some raw nuts around with me. 2 keep a water bottle in my purse. ( Most of the time when we think we are hungry we are actually thirsty. ) 3. If you do eat something "bad" for you don't stress it and feel as if you've kicked your whole diet out the window. Shrug it off (or work it off) and keep on going.

Everything in moderation! I haven't cut out any "junk" food and have still lost inches.

but to answer your question, you need to plan snacks. I love to snack too, so I plan my snacks.

Today:

snack 1 small banana
snack 2 1/2C kidney beans (I love them just plain so it's a good thing for me)
snack 3 1/2apple and plain yoghurt and cinnamon
snack 4 vanilla protein shake (no milk or anything)
snack whenever: 2 pieces of dark chocolate (package separately).

I plan these in between meals every day and it's great KNOWING I can look forward to a snack and have 0 guilt factor involved.

I definitely have issues with snacking too much, but here's what helps me:

• Not keeping "temptations" in my apartment. I know for a fact that if I have chips and chocolate and all that in the cabinet, it will be gone in a heartbeat. I eat those foods pretty mindlessly (chasing the taste, I suppose), while I tend to only snack on fruit, etc. when I'm genuinely hungry. I do "indulge" now and again, but I try to do so away from my apartment (e.g. buying a single serving bag of chips at my uni between classes).

• Eating more filling foods. I've been working hard to cut out empty calories from my diet when possible. Scrambled eggs and cottage cheese, for example, keeps me full way longer than a bowl of cereal. I've found that adding protein and the works helps curb hunger and reduce snacking.

• Not eating out of boredom. This one is the absolute hardest. Being bored is usually what causes me to binge/snack excessively, and is something else I've been working on. If I feel the urge to snack out of pure boredom, I try to distract myself. I'll clean my apartment, go to the gym, go for a walk, paint my nails, invite a friend over – I try to do something productive/active (rather than going online or watching TV) to distract me. When it works, I always end up feeling twice as good because I avoided a binge and accomplished something productive!

Having said all that, I do snack a lot, still – I just try my hardest to only do it when I'm hungry (I've found that cutting out snacking altogether leads me to feel hungrier come meal time, which usually causes me to eat more than I otherwise would have). Snacking isn't bad at all, provided you're fitting the food into your calorie goals.

I am switching to six smaller meals a day - some of them just protein shakes or healthy energy bars. This really helps control my snack cravings for things I shouldn't eat - although I do find that the late night cookie still gets me - especially if I miss one of the meals.

Snacking is usually habitual. People snack when they are bored, stressed, etc. Learn a different habit than snacking.

Moderation is the way to eat to keep from craving. While there are some who can succeed with complete abstinence from their favorite foods, it's usually not going to be a high success rate amongst the general population.

Stay within macros and calories and you should do just fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

^^^This PLUS, Exercise. Rather than sitting on the couch munching on junkfood, get up and walk around the block, lift a few heavy things, or simply get out and do some yardwork. We are far less likely to sit around munching if we are out and about doing thing... AND as an added bonus, this activity is adding to the calories we can afford to intake. One thing that we differ from with our ancestors is that they were outside doing things while we are inside taking it easy OR doing more mental things... That is a major difference between our generation and the many generations that preceded us.

I've learned that eating when I'm stressed DOES NOT make me feel less stressed, only more, because I have to figure out where I'm going to fit the extra calories in. Reading and contributing to forums on MFP is decreasing my stress a lot, even if I'm supposed to be studying for my exam tomorrow. :laugh:

Snacking in itself isn't bad, the problem is what you eat and how much. I try to keep a variety of healthy snacks around and just don't buy unhealthy ones that will tempt me. It's good to have a choice of sweet and savoury to suit the mood - I like cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, red peppers or sliced apple, raspberries or strawberries. If you have these on hand in small tubs or bags then if you need a snack (and sometimes we do!) then there's something easy to grab.

When I'm tempted to snack out of boredom I try and find something to distract me or have a big drink of water. When I want a snack because my mouth wants something rather than my tummy needs something I clean my teeth as this tells my mouth that I've eaten and finished! Strange but it helps me.

Food isn't "good" or "bad". It's food. If you like it, eat it. If you don't like it, avoid it. That's my only tip. Eat what you like as long as it fits your calorie goal. Watch serving sizes. Don't restrict yourself to the point that you give up after a couple weeks because you're not eating in a manner that you can continue the rest of your life.

This is the correct answer. "Strict" diets lead to failure. Reasonable diets that incorporate the foods you enjoy, while keeping a general eye on nutrition, lead to success.

I've lost 65 pounds, 14 inches off my waist, and I regularly eat a few pints of ice cream per week, and have been known to eat entire pizzas on occasion, as well as an entire bag of Frito ls with an entire container of dip (both store bought and homemade.)

Live your life, just keep in mind your overall goals.