I am a habitual snacker.

I'm a big snacker too! Especially in the evening--I just snack 'cause I'm bored. I've found that it's best if I don't keep my preferred snack foods in the house at all, and keep healthier things around for those times when I just have to have a snack. It can be frustrating to not have what I want, but that's what self-control is.

I eat bags of baby carrots ..the petite ones because they are sweeter and help my sweet tooth craving. I also eat stuff that requires more chewing. If a choice is a soft sweet or a hard, chewy one, I do a hard chewy one, so by the time I have chewed it I am tired of the snack. I also eat low calorie, high chew fruits such as apples. By the time I finish a medium apple, I am sick of eating. Salty snacks I psych myself out of, because I used to really crave them; but I know how really addictive and bad they are for you, so I now have this picture of a cancer cell in my mind that I tend to remember every time go down the potato chip aisle at the grocery store...and I went through kidney failure twice from my autoimmune illness, so whenever I want to gorge on sugary stuff, I think about how horrible and painful that was, and the urge goes away. If people really understood how much pain ultimately is caused by junk food and the weight gain it causes, I think it would stop the consumption. Just think about slaming your finger in the car door...oh, does that hurt...but that is what junk food does to your body, too, and people do feel the pain in time. So, back to baby carrots, apples, and if I need something really sweet, watermelon. How much watermelon can one consume to equal one of those "snack" bags of chips? about half a melon...oh, boy....yum..now I am sick of food, so will go do something else. Thanks for the chat.

I'm the same way! But now I snack on carrots, or watermelon, or whatever healthy food is around. Just try to change the foods you snack on. There are some chips I buy. Less than 200 calories for like 27 chips.

It depends what you're snacking on. Usually when you grab processed foods such as chips, candy, cookies, etc., they tend to keep you unsatisfied because of all the unnatural ingredients that are in them. I'd say they're okay in moderation, as it is with anything, but generally if you have the munchies, your body may just actually be thirsty. Try drinking a glass of water [or two], wait 15 minutes, then see if you're still in the mood to eat something.

If you are, then opt for something with high fiber and/or protein content; i.e. an apple and a 1/4 cup of nuts [unsalted almonds, walnuts, peanuts] are about 240 - 250 calories, and the nutritional value in them should keep you feeling satiated for a couple of hours or so. Don't be afraid of the fat content in nuts. They're the good kind. Obviously don't have more than a serving at one time, but eating them slowly and taking care to chew well helps get the essential nutrients in them.

Even 1 or 2 ounces of beef jerky have a good amount of protein in them, plus the texture, should keep you gnawing away for about 10 minutes. The simple act of chewing and activating salivary glands can tell the brain that there's something satisfying coming its way to ease hunger pangs.

Also, eating between the 3 most largely bastardized terms for meals [breakfast, lunch, and dinner], don't have to be "snacks." You can have meals between meals. And none of them have to be larger portions than any other. 6 small meals, evenly spaced out, at around 200 - 300 calories each could keep you full and within your calorie goal of the day, if you're at 1200 - 1800, respectively. If you're on a larger calorie goal for the day, adjust the meal portions and viola. You don't have to plan your meals ahead of time, but it does help to know what you want to eat and the caloric value in each portion of those meals.