Snacking Is Killing Me

Try planning and prepping easy and healthy snacks, such as: cottage cheese & an apple, Greek yogurt & blueberries or a pear & string cheese. A little mix of carbs and protein is a good snack combo.

Snacking is just a habit. I used to stock up a lot on beef jerky, multi flavor ice creams and my favorite hot cheetos and spicy chips. I really thought I couldn't drop them.

Again, it's just a habit. You just have to learn to drop it. The first few weeks will be hard. It helps if you are not bored with your time or most of the time feel non-hungry, non-craving. Look to vitamin water. I recommend Emergen-C.

I keep fresh snack-cut veggies nearby at all times. Celery even has an automatic scoop for hummus or tabbouleh or yogurt dips.

I also used to be a big snacker.

Now I just eat meals. It keeps me satisfied until my next meal.

Also I close the kitchen after dinner. I go for a walk instead of watching TV and snacking.

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kidrow21 wrote: »

I do well for the most part on my daily counting of the calories but I've noticed that my snacking is not how I want it to be any suggestions? Would be helpful.

I eat 5-6 small meals during the day, which do include snacks. It is not sustainable for me to not have snacks. However, my snacks are things left leftover spaghetti squash, yogurt, and other foods that keep my satiated. At night I have either ice cream or homemade popcorn, but I also weigh my foods and log so I am sure to stay in my calorie goals.

However, if snacks are difficult for you to manage, then you need to follow your gut on what your next step is. You can do this!

I plan the snacks into my daily calories. If I DON'T eat them, I'm too low for the day.

Eat when youre hungry. No matter how small, you should feel satiated after each meal. Change up your snacks. 10 almonds and a large orange is just over 100 calories.

kidrow21 wrote: »

All have some good info and points., If anyone wants to take a look at my log and give me some pointers from there. Would be great.

Is evening (after dinner) when you tend to snack? Or does this happen throughout the day?

I agree that snacking is a habit and (for me) it stems from boredom. My snack danger time is after work just before dinner...so I've taken to just going ahead and eating dinner when I get home. Plus I don't buy them if I can keep from it...lol...I do love me some Doritos

sy_19440 wrote: »

Meal plan! On Saturdays I write out each meal throughout the day including snacks and only purchase foods on that week's plan. My snacks included yogurt, ham & cheese roll up, veggies. Snacks don't have to be unhealthy.

If that works for you, more power to you!

But know that a healthy weight loss plan CAN include what you would most likely consider 'unhealthy' snacks - you just have to plan for them in your overall daily calorie 'budget.'

Eliminating snack foods that are a trigger (like opening a bag of chips and then hoovering the whole thing) is a strategy that can work for some. But for others, limiting these items - instead of eliminating them - can be a better means to compliance because a feeling of being deprived of these items can lead a lot of people to binge eating the very things they're trying to avoid.

Different strokes and all...

SLLRunner wrote: »

elisa123gal wrote: »

I wonder what you mean by snacks.. It they are small portions of fattening junk food.. all that will do is make you crave more.

So ditch those kind of snacks and go for healthy snacks that are good ..but not so good.. if you know what I mean.

For example.. i have some bird seed kind of protein bars in the trunk of my car for when I'm desperate for something before or after I work out. I don't crave the things at all. So, I only eat them when I must. If they were super tasty.. they'd be gone.

There is no such thing as fattening fooood, there is just food that is more calorie dense than others. Those foods are fine in moderation. I don't understand eating anything that you don't find tasty.

That is absolutely fine that you were able to get to goal and are able to eat this way. You might have a bigger deficit, perhaps, or other reasons that will allow for this . It is great when your method works.

I can eat most foods in moderation but have to stay away from the particular ones that have been problematic for me. Those tend to be salty, oily carbs or sweet, fatty carbs. I think that is why LCHF works for me for blunting hunger. Potato chips, ice cream, sugary cookies, chocolate things tend to make me hungrier and want more soon after even though I've had enough calories.

Foods that trigger an individual to want to overeat can be considered by them as "fattening". It is a figure of speech. Some people, as your are aware, are able to keep "fattening" foods like cookies or ice cream around and have only a little bit. Others are tempted just knowing that they are in the house. Calorie-dense snacks are fine in moderation if they can be consumed in moderation, obviously. But that is up to the individual dieter's discretion not anyone else's.

I think that having food around that I just want to eat to be healthy is a reasonable way to avoid unnecessary calories-- "Eat to live not live to eat" motto. I'm much less likely to overeat on carrots or green beans than I would on Cheetos or chocolate. So I eat Cheetos maybe twice a year and have dark chocolate every so often. I can eat a little square or two and stop. I do not feel sorry for myself and don't miss the classic what people refer to as "fattening" snacks when they are not in my cupboard. I agree that people need to define what they mean by the word snack.