Obsessive snacking

[julietmanchester]

Since covid started, and especially during lockdown, I started to mindlessly snack throughout the day.

Is anyone else going through this?

Does anyone have any tips to stop?

Don't buy the snacks, shop online or in store and religiously stick to your list.

Don't buy empty nutrition snacks is the first rule.

I have strict times where I can have snacks. E.g. between 10-11am I can have a coffee, plus a low sugar muesli bar if desperately hungry. Between 2-3pm can have a high protein yoghurt or savory snack. It's flexible of course, but designed to stop me mindlessly snacking AND think about the quality of food I'm eating.

I also keep busy. Most snacking is from boredom.

Don't have them in the house! I can't buy crisps like sensations for this reason as I'll eat the whole bag

I realised I like something crunchy and savoury, so I have celery or carrot etc.

I love crisps, chocolate, coke, cheese, bread and could usually eat what I like with no weight gain. Unfortunately I can no longer do that, the best thing is to just not buy snacks in the first place. I sometimes have celery but then want dip! so try to switch to planned meals and green smoothies instead. It’s hard!

You have to accept responsibility that you are buying them and then eating them. Stop buying rubbish food.

Yes you aren't alone. If they are in the house they get eatten so i either dont buy any, buy enough for 1 shared snack or buy stuff i dont particularly like but i know other members of household like.

Definitely avoid having too many snacks in the house so you can't be tempted but also plan some healthy snacks you think you'll actually enjoy and avoid blood sugar lows so that you don't crash and get cravings

Yes this used to be me! I stopper buying snacks. Only bought what we needed for meals. Always have yoghurts and a big bowl of fruit available for inbetween meals. Now I'm at the point where I rarely snack. It's more for the children.

As pp have said, don't buy them. If they aren't there, you can't eat them

Also look at the make up of your meals. They might need to be better balanced if you are constantly craving food.

Don’t have unhealthy snacks in and have a routine like you might at work; I used to have a nakd bar mid morning at woke but kept eating biscuits at home instead so have now swapped back to my bar and only eat it 10.30-11, same with anything I have in th afternoon I now only have fruit as I didn’t used to snack in the afternoon or distract myself with a cup of tea.

I used to have a job where I drove a lot. I put on 2 stone from snacking in the car. Stopped having snacks in the car, still don’t 20 years later.

Now my downfall is snacking in front of tv in evening.

Do something else instead, go for a walk, iron, anything.

Yeah I agree with not buying them in the first place.
If they are in the house, I can’t help myself. So I don’t buy them.

As pps say, don't buy the unhealthy snacks in the first place. Also spend half an hour preparing yourself some healthier snacks to keep ready in the fridge- chopped fruit and veg, cubes of cheese or babybel lites.
If you're desperate for a sweet fix- and you'd have to be desperate- try those pots of 5 cal or 10 cal jelly. They are hardly a treat but they can satisfy an urge for something sweet.
Ultimately you'll need to break your habit- choose ONE section of the day eg between lunch and dinner; or after dinner and cut out all snacks in that time period until you break the habit.

My preteen dc gained a lot of weight during lockdown. He told us not to buy certain snacks, like crisps, since he will eat it if it's there. It's simple, don't buy it, then you won't eat it. Even children knows.

As others have said, if snacks aren't in the house you can't eat them. If you have problems not buying them, only go to the shops with a list and stick rigidly to it (which also helps with food waste). If this is tricky then avoid the snack isles completely. It's far easier to do that than use willpower to not eat them when you have easy access.