Today’s topic is all about snacking. We are a very snack-oriented culture (at least here in the US). What about you Canadians – Australians – French – Dutch – where else are we represented here? Are you as snack-crazy as we are? I read a survey that each American will spend an average of $30,000 in snacks in their lifetime. Yikes. If those snacks were all healthy, well that would be fantastic, but we know that’s not the case.

I had a very interesting conversation with my 3 daughters, all moms. One of my girls is sending her children to a charter school this year. There is no school lunch provided, and the lunches from home MAY NOT include any chocolate or added sugar. AND, parents must provide snacks for the classrooms but there is a strict rule – ONLY fruits or vegetables are allowed.

My other two daughters send their kids to public schools and they were telling me what some of the schools ideas of “healthy” lunches are. It was absurd!

One of those daughters is also sponsoring a foreign-exchange student from South Korea, who has been shocked at all the junk food we eat – and that is served in the school.

So let’s talk snacks. I found this study, again it applies to Americans. “Nearly 1 in 6 adults (16 percent) obtain over 40 percent of their total daily calories from foods and beverage they report as being consumed as snacks.”

I know we are urged to eat every few hours to maintain sugar levels, but 40% of daily calories! That is pretty shocking, especially knowing that so many snacks are often promoted as being healthy but really aren’t.

I'm going to admit - I thought I ate a LOT of freggies - until I started counting. Some days I hit 8, but lots of days it's only 3 or 4.
All that to ask - Since you’ve begun your journey, what snack have you THOUGHT was healthy only to realize it’s not? How have your snack habits changed? How do you plan to incorporate healthier snacking, or control the amount of calories that come from snacks?

Thanks @biketheworld for today’s topic and the great information shared.

I appreciate being able to see into some really experienced folks food diaries and early in my first month (last month 😂) on MFP noticed some (shoutout to @WhatMeRunning ) had used the meal labels option for vitamins, etc (and the hilarious “Are you still reading” tag). I added a meal label in my food diary for vitamins/minerals, one for “daily staples” (the milk in my tea) — both of which I pre-enter to my diary days a month at a time). AND I added a category called “Snacks” so I could track how much of this I was doing and how many sugars and carbs (and hopefully increasing over time, protein) I was using my daily calories for. It has been such an insight for me and caused me to add protein to every meal and replace or supplement some snacks with protein snacks.

In Canada 🇨🇦, I think we were really influenced by the grocery food industry’s introduction of the “100 calorie” snack packs of foods that started after a pitch in 1996 to industry executives that this would be the next wave. Some of those major players have stayed in the game (apparently 15% of Nabisco’s current profits come from this product line) and others have pulled of that market. It has been a brilliance in marketing — especially to the female audience (remember Cadbury Thins and their campaigns?) https://ohsheglows.com/2009/06/03/the-end-of-100-calorie-packs/

All these years and nobody really questioned why these 100 (mostly empty calorie) packs were better choices for us than whole foods. They morphed to have peanut free, gluten free, sugar free, trans fat free, fat free, Kosher, etc options, but at the heart of it, most were processed carbohydrates. The initial appeal was portion control (in our home anyway) — that is until I caught the kids and husband only satisfied by having two or three at a sitting (and justifying it because they were “healthier”). 🤯 Just have a little bit of something you probably don’t need. Or lots of little servings of empty calories.

They certainly were handy, but mid twenty-teens, they were banned from our house and replaced with better choices and our own home made portion packs (with snack bags, and now with small reusable non-BPA containers). I know that a lot of colleagues and friends still use the grocery food industry portion packs.

Snacking is big here 🇨🇦. Fast food restaurants have “snack size” chicken wraps, etc and I think that is great in just one way — they have enough calories/fat/carbs alongside a “freggie” supplement to serve as a full meal when/if you are stuck. Period.

Julie

7 Sept 21 Tuesday

Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? yes

As far as snacks. I too have a separate category in my diary. I think everyone is different. I like to pre log so I know exactly how many snacks I can have. IMO there is really nothing which is forbidden as long as it falls within the calorie limits. (unless you have specific health or macro goals which you are working on).

Exercise – yes,
Tracked – yes
Calories – yes.

Great topic!

How have your snack ( EATING )habits changed?
I really started to limit snacking mid-July when I started my weight loss journey. Before then I was stress-snacking. Usually I picked healthy-ish options but it was just too much food. I put on 20lbs in 9 months doing this, even though I was still 15lbs away from losing all the baby weight so by June I had 35lbs to lose 🙄

I have 3 meals most days. On days that I’m super active I’ll have 3 meals plus a snack or 4 meals if needed. They are all small. I’ve made a habit of serving myself on 9” plates. My portion sizes have been the biggest change.

How do you plan to incorporate healthier snacking, or control the amount of calories that come from snacks?
I try to only snack now if I’m genuinely hungry in between meals and it will be something like 2 hard boiled eggs which will hold me over. The naughtiest snack I’ll go for is a pickle. I may not be hungry but craving something salty and crunchy so I let myself enjoy one to three of them. Sometimes If I want a snack I’ll reach for a tea or coffee.

✅ exercise
✅ tracking
✅ calories

Yes, yes, yes
Up until a month ago, my snacks also included 100 calorie packs of almonds or other type of nuts and fruit. This month, I'm playing around with eating during less times while still maintaining my caloric requirements. I quickly eliminated snacks and don't miss them. We'll see as this is day 7 on this new experiment

As for snacking I still like the idea of prepackaged snacks. I like the 100 calorie packs of raw almonds for when I am out and about or trail mix for when I’m on a longer hike. I keep a large package of raw almonds in the cupboard to count out a serving when I’m home. I still get myself in trouble if I buy a bag of trail mix I like that’s not individual servings! Grapes are a snacking staple as well. As for a late afternoon snack, that’s generally when I make my huge plate of salad greens with other veggies to eat.

Exercise:✅
Tracked:✅
Under:✅

Snacking hum… I would like to think the protein bars whole grain ceral bars etc are healthy but when I read the label on some of them especially the carbs they often go back on the shelf at the store. My idea of a snack used to be a plate of nachos with all the trimmings but now it’s more a serving size of crackers and hummus. Occasionally chocolate but I need to be careful there. Sometimes it easier to not snack or only keep the good stuff in the house.

Tracked logged did not eat my exercise calories back did resistance band work some spin and some flexibility work. 0/3 pass days tomorrow I go for a yearly check up on my radial head and the screws hope all is well.

Yes, yes and yes
Walking and push-ups
It feels great to be back on track after traveling and the holiday weekend!