Snacks are killing me

Don't buy the snacks. And if you do, buy only a serving or 2 at a time (I never buy a whole box of quest bars for example!) and you'll only eat what you have at home. Also 3 square meals a day never ever worked for me. I eat small meals about 5-6 times a day.

Here are some things that have helped me:

• Find something low-cal to snack on. I ate 2 cups of strawberries yesterday for about 100 calories. Berries are my go to treat right now.
• Plan for your evening snack in the morning. Pick out what you think you will snack on and log it early. That way you have some calories saved for it.
• Set a time that you will not eat after. I started at 10pm and moved it back half an hour at a time until I got to 8pm. That has made a huge difference. If I eat my calories during the day, I don't even feel hungry late at night!

That happens to all of us. I would say the first thing to do is not to buy junk food. If it's in the house you are going to want it. If you do get hungry and need a snack check the calorie count and balance it with your workout. I know that a snickers bar is 266 calories or approximately 30 minutes on the elliptical for me. If I am willing to put that extra 30 minutes in then I can have it but I have to put the time in FIRST and have the snack afterwards. I can tell you that after all the work and huffing and puffing the Snickers bar is a lot less attractive to me. Most of the time I think to myself "I could enjoy this Snickers for the next two minutes or I could add those extra calories burned to my deficit." It's really a lot easier if you think of it something that you choose not to have as opposed to something that you can't have. Good luck to you!

I am having the same problem. I am really good all day, I plan my food and exercise for the day in the morning and log it so I can see what I am allowed, making healthy choices then I get home and I pick at the snacks the kids are eating. My husband loves to watch TV at night and it seems to be a trigger for snaking as well. Even if these are "healthy" snacks like hummus and pretzels or handful of pistachios it’s an extra snack I hadn't planned and then I am scrambling to mitigate the damage and edit my logs. Today I am going to try something new. I am going to skip the 11am snack and have a bigger lunch and larger late afternoon snack. When I get home I'm going to do my work out then a protein shake. I was working out in the morning followed by a protein shake. I'm going see if reversing it will help. I only have 10 pounds to lose and I have been tracking diligently for three weeks and have lost just under 2 pounds. I had been on WW for the previous 8 weeks and gained 3 pounds with the nonsense of fruits of vegetables being zero points. Obviously was eating too many and the sugars/carbs caught up with me quickly.

I plan my snacks ahead, weight them out, log them and eat them through out the day. That way im not tempted to sneak a bite of this or a bite of that or grab something from the vending machine.

jen7eleven wrote: »

I'm struggling with the same issue. I'm reading a lot of responses with really good advice. However, for some like me, it's not always as simple as "don't do it." Sometimes, it's more mental/emotional.

I eat more when I am alone, especially snacks (chips, candy, desserts). Took me a while (decades) to realize it is more than just "boredom eating". I found myself removing all of the temptations from the house, only to later end up heading back out to buy more. My brain knew I didn't need to and that it was bad. Most of the time, I was not even hungry. I'm still doing some soul-searching to learn more about why I eat the way I eat. For now, I try to look at the avoidance of post-dinner snacking as a good decision for my health rather than not allowing myself the "indulgence". I remind myself that snacks are not companions when I am alone. It might not always work, but this week (my first week of really trying) it has helped me a lot.

To OP, I hope you find the cause of your urge to snack so you can find the best solution.

*edit for misspelling

You nailed it. It's mental. You've trained your brain to associate certain foods a certain way and even tho logically you know you shouldn't you still eat them. So it's just about training mentally, so to speak, to flip that switch. We've had these bad eating habit for years and years and years so it will take time. Just like it takes time to get your stamina up physically, you have to view the way you think the same way. As long as you are aware you are training.

I went two days cold turkey from my snacks (chips and candy) and it was tough and I thought about going to buy some again and again. Got really close to doing it but didn't. When I woke up the next day I felt much better than when I binge eat before I fall asleep. I try to keep this positive feeling in mind and realize those bad foods are denying me that. But on the 3rd day I had to have something so I bought some gummi worms. But I really didn't even feel like eating them. I did eventually but it was much different than before when I would just throw the snacks down my throat without thinking. If youre aware while eating youll realize it pales in comparison to the feeling of waking up healthy. So today, 4th day, I went to wal-mart had no urges.

Anyway OP, you've done step one. Just keep that awareness up that those snacks are ruining your days of good eating. That switch will flip eventually.

alpine1994 wrote: »

I used to have that problem and what worked for me was having a little something sweet after dinner. Dessert to me signals the end of eating for the day so I know that after my little dessert, that's it. It's usually a fudgesickle because I love them but you can pick whatever you like.

I do this too, except it can also be a little cheese--just a little something after dinner after which I don't eat any more.

For me not snacking other than planned things like this was really helpful, since I have a terrible habit of snacking when not hungry just because I'm bored or stressed or associate it with something I do when I do something else or so on. Breaking the snacking habit didn't lead to me feeling any hungrier, so was an easy way to really cut down on calories and improve my eating without much effort. It was just difficult when getting used to it.

If you think you are really hungry, do as others said: schedule in the snacks and pre-log and don't have food you might eat uncontrollably around, DON'T eat out of bags or the like, but give yourself a portion and that's it, or consider eating more for planned meals later--one reason I don't have problems with evening snacking is I tend to eat dinner late anyway and dinner plus my post dinner something end up being my biggest meal of the day usually.

Lezavargas wrote: »

I plan out all my snacks for the day. I choose low cal choices so i can eat ALL DAY! Sometimes by the end of the day I have something left over that i can remove from my diary!

I do the same thing, then I know exactly what I am going to eat and when. No room for error!

Snack on foods with more fiber. Protein doesn't really fill me up unless I eat like 40-50 grams of it in one sitting, and then I'll just be hungry again anyway in a few hours. Fiber is what satisfies me and gets the weight dropping off for me. Blackberries, cranberries, guavas, kiwis, pears, pomegranates, raspberries, and strawberries are all good sources of fiber if you like to snack on fruit. Chobani Simply 100 cups of Greek yogurt have 5 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein, all though some people are sensitive to the chicory root that the fiber is derived from. Just be sure to watch your fiber intake. The last thing you want is to be bloated and miserable with diarrhea.