The anti-snack brigade are self-righteous, moralising nonsense-merchants.

Agree with this, i grew up on a very austere regime, periods of deprivation but then having to finish your plate regardless of desire to prevent waste. Iv been pretty disordered with food ever since. Recently i've given myself permission to just eat when hungry and FUEL my activities, i've lost a lot of weight this way.

I imagine you burned about 900 Cals getting worked up about the anti-snack ‘brigade’, aka your friend’s Mum

Do what works for you.

I think old people forget that they did indeed eat between main meals when given the opportunity!

Just have to read Enid Blyton etc the kids are constantly eating berries and taking cake with them etc

Do they forget they used to have hot chestnuts for sale in the streets in the winter and the like, not exactly your main meal....

And they forget that they were given pocket money and spent it on sweets....

Snack culture is an issue - individual eating of snacks not a problem. I am baffled by the need to give toddlers a snack the minute they have to wait or travel - many do before hunger has been mentioned and it’s reflexive rather than essential. Such a difference between a well timed banana and another pack of crisps. The munching through theatre and the sheer volume of high calorie snack food everywhere isn’t doing us any good. I love a snack - I would be better without them too unless I made better choices like you OP!

Lay off the fake tan and wearing five mismatched layers at once and you'll have sorted the wardrobe issue without needing to get your digs in.

Different things work for different people. I prefer to eat little and often. I snack during the day but don't eat very large meals. I get reflux and eating smaller portions more often works for me. I wouldn't know what many other people's eating habits are though as I'm not interested. Some people on MN seem to be obsessed with the dietary habits of others.

I have (or had) bad eating habits as a massive combination of it being an inconsistent presence in my younger life, ending up with my mum's eating habits, and overeating as a symptom of anxiety. I'm still unpicking all this. I don't know if anyone is aware of the nature of 'hoarding' specific products that were scarce when you were poorer, but I can see how that happens with food and eating.

It's a really complex picture. You've either experienced it or not and in either case, you've really no right to judge.

People form all sorts of fixations around food and eating, and they're often annoyingly self-righteous about them, conveniently ignoring the areas where they personally underperform (when held against the ideal).

Even as a snacker myself, I don't care that some people firmly believe that snacking is 'bad', because for some people it is. My problem is with people who go on and on about it, particularly when they know that someone in their audience is a snacker. Same with any diet choice (low-carb, vegan, carnivore diet, etc). Just... shut up, frankly.

I don't think most people would regard what you do as a problem, or kids having tea and toast after school either. Unhealthy snacking means constantly nibbling crisps or sucking sweets or munching biscuits in between normal meals, without doing anything to burn off the calories. That is really bad for you whether or not you become obese.

On your diet, exercise and lifestyle - YANBU
On my lifestyle - YABU

Food, as always, is not just about what you eat or how much. It cannot be taken out of context of the person and lifestyle.

Embrace the fine art of not giving a fuck.
It is very liberating.

But if it works for you why is it an issue what they say doesn't matter

Or, looking at it from another point, maybe this brigade have self discipline and self respect.
And speaking for myself, maybe they don't want to resemble a wardrobe in their middle age.

I hate, hate hate food threads on mumsnet

i loath people describing what they eat all day and being righteous about how they feed themselves and their kids

It brings out the most rude judgement people who have zero understanding of of overeating / depression or anything outside their narrow own slim brain

i have a office mate who criticises her eating all day everyday and constantly bemoans her bad eating habits and constantly talks about her weight snd clothes not fitting snd verbalises all of these thought every fucking day !!!

feels great to get that off my ( very ample ) chest

I grew up in poverty btw and had snacks, we just didn't call them snacks. It was usually things like bread and lemon curd. Very, very cheap.

I love a cup of tea and a biscuit and I don't eat three meals a day.

I love a snack now and then.

But I don't need to snack if I'm eating 3 decent meals per day.

For me, snacking becomes quickly habit forming.

The whole 'three meals a day and no snacks in between' just doesn't work for a lot of people. Snacks are not the problem. Snacks don't cause obesity.

To lose 6.5 stone over 3 years you must have pretty drastically overhauled your lifestyle. Particularly in your eating habits.

as you say snacking isn’t a problem if you are within your calorie range and you are snacking on healthy items (high sugar high fat high salt foods are not good for anyone regardless of weight)
but it’s much harder to snack healthy and often requires planning/ prep as the foods bought easily while we are out are often crisps/ chocolate/ pastries/ granola bars.

concentrating on filling nutritious meals that keep us full for a long time is often easier, and is also the ‘old fashioned’ way. Think stodgy puddings at lunchtime etc.

I think I have got fat from snacking, but I'm talking crisps and biscuits. What you're eating sounds fine, plus you're more active than I am

Snacking constantly keeps insulin levels high and increases the amount of time food is in contact with your teeth. Neither is ideal for health.

Sometimes I eat nothing but snacks. I get really addicted to certain things like a specific type of sweet. And just eat them constantly. Luckily I am too scared to eat chewy fizzy sweets anymore since I had a back molar removed.

I find I really have to not start snacking as I often then don't have any room for any normal meals at all!

I’d personally (going on myself) think screens are the reason we have gained weight now, life is more about being sedentary but also we have busier lifestyles, and are exhausted and use the fuel of food as a way to get energy. So I’m a way I agree but yes the people who say we never smack do seem to be a bit smug about it all and personally modern family and a packet of crisps with a cup of tea does the job and makes me not depressed (I’ve lost weight before not eating in the evening but was ratty and a nightmare to live with!!)

No she doesn’t.

She’s not entirely wrong. Snacking constantly keeps insulin high which can lead to weight gain and diabetes through insulin resistance. Our metabolism originally evolved to cope with a feast/famine pattern and is less well adapted to managing a constant supply of food.

That said, people should make their own choices about what to eat and nobody should be judging or lecturing others.