How to stop being a serial snacker

I find that, for me, having no snack is much easier than having a small, sensible snack. Once I eat something between meals, it starts the mind games and I convince myself a little more is fine. Then a little more. Before I know it, I’ve eaten a huge amount, it’s a slippery slope! If I don’t snack, no slips! (I appreciate that this is easier said than done)

you're probably doing it because you're restricting to heavily throughout the day
my advice would be to increase your lunch and dinner calories by a little and lose weight slower
you can also drink tea whenever you get cravings to snack, tea is an appetite suppressant

Do you feel full up and satisfied after those meals? Some of the lunches you describe don't sound very filling. I would be ravenous in the afternoon if I only had a wrap or a bit of soup for lunch.

Same with things like cereal bars and granola/ fruit for breakfast - they will spike your blood sugar and cause hunger after a pretty short time. You ideally want a savoury breakfast with protein.

Just don't buy the snacks In the first place. You deffo don't need them "for the children", if anything they'd be better off without. I have 2 young children and have never once bought crisps to have at home.

Eat a proper meal at lunchtime. So a decent amount of protein plus veggies / salad. protein and fat are what fill you up, not carbs.

It's good you have identified this, you basically need to redirect like you would with a toddler.

So if there's a 'danger' time, find something else to do, a quick walk round the block would be enough, something to just break the cycle.

If you eat proper meals and it's not genuine hunger... I would say find something else to do at your "snack time" - go to an exercise class, have a home hobby, have a bath, read a book etc

I don't snack at all. I find that easier than having an allocation of low calorie snacks as for me that makes me keep thinking about food.

I have a cup of tea instead

The secret for me is to have 3 filling meals a day and then low calorie snacks if I want them. Over 3 stone down now so it works for me.

I Do intermittent fasting and when I need a snack I have cubes of cheese, salami, sun-dried tomatoes and olives

Honestly I just don’t think the same meal plan suits everyone. I’m a snacker and hate eating 3 meals a day and nothing else.

If losing weight is a concern why don’t you make your main meals smaller to allow for snacks and then make your snacks healthier and portion controlled?

I can't just have a low calorie snack and stop so I swapped it for a drink instead
Bouillon, a mug of veg soup, a low cal hot choc, a protein shake, anything like that helps me

I find it helpful to have lots of protein and very low/zero carbs for the first meal of the day. That could be breakfast but if you're not hungry in the morning you don't need to force yourself to eat. I can have carbs later on but that first meal of the day really seems to set the tone for the rest of the day.

I think I would just end up eating the week’s treat boxes in one go.

The problem is sugar is addictive, you will eat those treats and still want more.

The only that works for me is cutting out sugar entirely, including artificial sweeteners.

when you see your hand reaching for a sugary snack, visualise a dog standing over the food vomiting on it.

This works for me!

Don't buy them - your kids don't need biscuits, crisps etc. You can all improve your health together. Can you eat with your toddler, and then stop eating after that until next morning, to have a proper break overnight.

If 5pm is your snack time I would consider
-increasing lunch esp protein
-having a snack on your way home from work/4pm something big enough to keep you going
-try a hot drink like options, skimmed milk latte etc

Some things that help me-
I have a bottle of water on the side and try and drink instead of snacking. I’m amazed that I am often really thirsty.
Pre-load snacks into MFP then you know you are allowed some and don’t get into the mindset of, I’ve started snacking now and there’s no point trying to record anything so I’ll just carry on. Or just jot everything down on an old fashioned piece of paper and load to MFP later.
Have boring snacks like vegetable sticks or plain popcorn or Ryvita.
Remind yourself that they are not your snacks. If you shared a house with other adults would you eat their food? Can you resist ripping open bags of crisps in the supermarket? I bet you can because it’s NOT YOUR FOOD.

Id also seriously think about the messages you are giving your kids about what counts as a snack/treat.

I could have written your post op, I’m exactly the same I get home from work around 5 , start having a healthy snack while I’m cooking dinner and before I know it I’ve eaten half the contents of the kitchen cupboards 🤦‍♀️ if there no junk I’ll literally stuff anything in my mouth, crackers, nuts, bread etc especially if it has butter on it! The worst thing is that after I’ve eaten all that junk I can’t eat dinner so I don’t get anything healthy to eat.

I think that it would her better if I just had dinner ready to go the second we came in the door and eat it then even if it seems early. I keep thinking I’ll start meal prepping or using the slow cooker so the most I have to do is heat it up. Unfortunately I’m just not that organised at the moment!

Swap these snacks with lower calorie snacks? Ie instead of having a huge chocolate bar, have a small fredo chocolate that's 95cals? I always let myself down with snacking so I just don't keep any snacky bits in the house - maybe just a packet of crisps for after lunch - then after dinner I'll walk over to the corner shop and end my day with a nice chocolate and a tea - feels like a reward

Are you having enough to eat at lunchtime? I notice that on three days when I eat lunch at work (in France so three courses and plenty protein, minimal carbs) I don’t even think about eating again until dinner at 7pm. On days that I just have a sandwich or a bowl of soup with bread, I’m starving by 4:30 and reaching for bread / cheese / etc.

or build it into your diet? Drop the ultra processed crap, just eat a bit of cheese, and you won’t be starving by dinner time.

Can you break down what you see as a sensible meal? Example of your usual breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Just because if you are not properly filling yourself up at meal times then you will be more inclined to snack, so it would be good to see how much you are restricting yourself at meals.

I would say also as a personal take, that calorie counting isn't always the most helpful thing. I say this as someone who did it on MFP for years. It does encourage you to eat less than your body really needs at times, and to not always go for the best option (e.g. you might be going for low calorie/ fat free/ low fat processed foods which aren't really good for you).

I've worked with a personal trainer and nutritionist and come to feel that it's much more about what you are eating than the quantity.

But first of all, let us know your normal meals?

I tend to look for a snack around then because I'm tired, but for me, 'a snack' is a meal's worth of calories consumed standing up at the fridge or cupboard. Instead, where I possibly can, I eat dinner at 5, then no food after that. I can resist snacking after dinner but 4-5 pm is a total danger zone.