Tricks to stop snacking?

[sciencegirl]

Hey Everyone! I'm curious to know what everyone does to combat the munchies. I try drinking a lot of water and occupying my time when I think about snacking but sometimes that isn't enough! Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

-Ashley

[Mcore]

Hi @sciencegirl! It depends on what snacks are you referring to. If drinking water is not helping that much, try eating half of the snack. If it's fruit then that's a bit more healthy. How about finding substitutes of the not too healthy snacks you are eating? This might help you out. 

[JonahV]

I also drink a lot of water. I usually find a healthy snack to give into. Try frozen grapes! They make me feel like I am snacking on candy, but I'm actually being healthy. 😛 I have also heard frozen peas taste more like candy than a veggie. 

One way to combat the urge to snack is eat a larger breakfast, lunch, and dinner. May be tricky if you're trying to do portion control. 

[sabitabi88]

I enjoy snacking on frozen corn lol. It's not the healthiest veggie but it's better than popsicles I suppose.

[glitzy]

I find the most filling snacks for me are an apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter, 2 hard boiled eggs, or string cheese.

What helps me not urge to snack constantly throughout the day rather than 2-3 snacks a day is eating eggs in the morning. I find myself unusually full after eating two scrambled eggs, sometimes paired with whole grain wheat bread and some cheese. 

[Litespeed]

About the only thing that REALLY works for me is to get out and walk or just plain get out of the house. If I'm not around it, I can't eat it.

 When I really can't control myself at home, I will go and brush my teeth.  Believe it or not the taste of the toothpaste actually takes away the urge for quite a while.

[JonahV]

That is really interesting.

[Kat528]

I always tell myself I'll come back in 10 minutes if I still want (insert snack food here).  Usually I'll end up distracted or I'll forget altogether. I agree that an apple w/ peanut butter is an exceptionally filling snack.  Another trick I've been working on is to just close your eyes and imagine yourself eating the (insert unhealthy snack food here) and I mean, imagine this so vividly that you can actually taste it, even tho you aren't really eating it. Sometimes it tricks the brain into thinking you had some when you didn't. 😉  

[slackaction]

Yeah tried the tooth paste thing and ususally I am so hungry the toothpaste  taste good

[slackaction]

What does the rest of  your meals consist of GLITZY ??

[glitzy]

@slackaction -

Here's an example:

Breakfast - Meal replacement/superfoods shake
Snack - carrots
Lunch - mixed greens salad with tuna and chickepeas
Snack - string cheese
Dinner - Homemease chili with ground turkey
(Occasional) snack - two hard boiled eggs

Weekends are normal when I make eggs for breakfast as I find it easier to want to snack constantly when I'm not at home.

[glitzy]

edit: I find it easier to WANT to snack all day on weekends since I'm not working, which is why eggs come in handy.

[USAF-Larry]

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@sciencegirl wrote:

Hey Everyone! I'm curious to know what everyone does to combat the munchies. I try drinking a lot of water and occupying my time when I think about snacking but sometimes that isn't enough! Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

-Ashley

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I don't try to combat them, I try to live within their bounds. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon, I'll grab an apple to munch on - it provides long term satisfaction without any fat, sodium, or artificial sugars or dye.  On the way to the gym, I'll grab a protein bar - it keeps me satisfied while I'm working out and keep me from being hungry when I get out of the gym. In the evening, I grab a handful of nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds, or I'll get a half-dozen dates - that gives me good nutrition without the fats & salts in chips, etc.  I don't have any "junk food" lying around, so it doesn't jump into my hand as I'm walking through the kitchen.

[slackaction]

YOU MUST EAT 1100 Clories or less a day on that plan but I guess your not a very BIG OR LARGE person either.. thanks for the reply GLITZY..

[emili]

Well it depends. are you hungry because you are bored or are you hungry because you haven't eaten enough? If you are bored- go for a walk even if just to the bathroom if you can't be gone for long. If you are hungry, have something that will take the edge off but not kill your day- I find cauliflower to work great. It takes a while to eat it and at 9 calories per oz- you can have a big handful and lose it with a walk to the bathroom. Plus its crunchy so it feels like a proper snack.

[MattB159]

Do you want the easiest answer to your question? 

Snack on vegetables! You can eat as many fresh  veggies as your stomach can hold all day and you won't gain weight.

Here's a tip.. If you must snack pleaseee don't snack on nuts. It seems people have this misconception that eating globs of peanut butter on celery is somehow a healthy snack. If you want to stay more full eat complex carbs such as oatmeal. Oatmeal can be topped with fresh fruit to sweeten it up a bit. Oatmeal is a slower digested carb than wheat, and it is dirt cheap.

[USAF-Larry]

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@MattB159 wrote:

Do you want the easiest answer to your question? 

Snack on vegetables! You can eat as many fresh  veggies as your stomach can hold all day and you won't gain weight.

Here's a tip.. If you must snack pleaseee don't snack on nuts. It seems people have this misconception that eating globs of peanut butter on celery is somehow a healthy snack. If you want to stay more full eat complex carbs such as oatmeal. Oatmeal can be topped with fresh fruit to sweeten it up a bit. Oatmeal is a slower digested carb than wheat, and it is dirt cheap.

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I agree with everything except the "don't snack on nuts" - my Internist advises me to eat a good handful of nuts every day - they are very rich in energy, protein, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. Don't confuse healthy nuts with fat laden peanut butter, though - grab a handful of almonds, walnuts, pecans, chestnuts, brazil nuts, etc.

[glitzy]

@slackaction - Yes, my calories are between 1,100-1,2000 a day.  5'3 136.2 lbs.  BUT, people can use the same meal plan with a higher caloric intake, it just means more protein, veggies, etc. 🙂

Snacking is my favorite, and there's so many cool and different fullfilling snack recipes. One time I also made parmesan roasted green beans and dipped them in a little ketchup (organic).  Filled me right up and made me feel like I was eating fries!

It's all about portion control.

[Stinkyfish97]

I felt the most full yesterday by changing my mindest about eating. I shot for taking 20 minutes to eat my meal. This is usually difficult for me it usually takes 10 minutes to eat. What I did was try to think about every bite I took for this one meal. This is difficult because eating is like breathing. We usually do not pay much attention.

You have to train yourself to eat better. I thought about my meal before even taking a bite. I told myself I will eat smaller bites, chew at least 20 chews per bite, digestion begins before you even put the food in your mouth as you begin salivating, more chews means the food is already being broken down. Every 3-5 bites I will sip some water. Halfway through my meal I was already pretty full by simply sipping water in between bites and chewing my food for longer. It will take some time to train myself to eat this way but it is beneficial to do so. I also timed myself with my phones stopwatch and ended up taking 22 minutes to eat a relatively small dinner. 2 pieces of meatloaf, 1 medium raw green bell pepper, and half a cucumber. I also had with my meal 1 500ml bottle of water which I sipped every 3-5 bites of food, and 1 10oz cup of tea after my meal. 

I too snack later after dinner sometimes but I really did not even think about snacking after my meal last night. I was completely full for the first time in what felt like a long time. 

[sabitabi88]

That is a good plan because it takes about 20 minutes for the food to hit our stomach and active the "I'm full response" in your brain so eating slowly can help with that a lot. It can also help prevent acid reflux because it gives your body time to break down the food instead of having a big amount of food sit in your stomach for half an hour pushing up acid into your asophagas. Granted with acid reflux it's advised that you don't drink water while eating because that can dilute the stomach acid but if that's not a problem for you than it's not a biggy. (BTW, if this is confusing to anyone I'm talking about acid reflux that is caused by NOT ENOUGH acid)