To not understand the point of 'snacking'

[Phillipaaa]

I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have never aten between or after meals. The reason for this is because I wasn't brought up with it.

I'm not hungry inbetween meals but then I do have decent sized portions for each meal.

I'd never be someone to sit down after evening meal with a packet of crisps.

Is this really unusual? when I go to my friends houses they seem to be constantly eating.

Everyones different. Everyones diet needs to be tailored to them. Some do better on 3 meals some do better on 5 to 6 smaller meals. It really all depends on the peraon and works better for your body. Theres no right or wrong as such which is why theres so many contradictory advice around and professionals offer different advice.

Amethistle I'm a SAHM and we still don't eat until 7pm! If I had my way it would be later. And actually DH is away tonight so the DC ate a bit earlier and I'm just thinking about what to have myself...

@MissBax
I did the opposite - went from lots of snacking to two meals a day. It works for me. Does that mean definitively that two meals a day is better for everyone? No. Just as little and often isn't better for everyone.
There does seem to be a lot of research pointing to fasting for 12 hours a day is good on a number of levels though.

Ecu Seven is bathtime and PJs here

I don't really remember how often I ate as a child. There was definitely less processed meals in the main but we had crisps and biscuits too. Now as an adult I have to eat every 2/3 hours due to a stomach issue. I ensure I have healthy snacks and I find I'm less likely to get so hungry I reach for sugar to satisfy me. I think a lot of the rise of snacking (in adults) is probably due to more sedentary jobs. It's easy for me to eat all day sat at a desk and there is constantly some unhealthy food on offer such as cakes and biscuits.

Any food/meal threads on MN provoke a lot of responses (the infamous 1.5 kg chicken for instance that feeds us 3 and maybe a few sarnies, it mostly bone for gawd sake) but others get a Sunday lunch, curry the next day, butties and a flippin risotto). As if.

I have an irrational hatred for the word 'snack'. Just call it 'eating between meals' and have done with it. The fact there's an entire 'snack' aisle in supermarkets is probably one of the reasons we have so much obesity in this country, as it normalises eating crisps, onion rings and salted nuts not as part of a meal.

Most snacking is out of pure boredom I think.

I'll tell you what the point is. No matter how much blood and hair is flying between the 3 preschoolers as they annihilate each other, if I yell 'SNACK' the violence ends immediately and happiness resumes for at least 10mins so I can get my shot together and come up with a plan.

Shit, not shot.

Amethistle afternoon snack has always been my favourite meal of the day, so I have kept it for my kids. I still have one at work, most days I do have a cup of tea and something to eat mid-afternoon.

To be fair, even if I wanted to eat at 6pm, I wouldn't be able to. Even if I am around, there's always at least one kid doing some sport or other at that time.

Although shot works too, Sausage.

So many "expert nutritionists" on this page

It's making my eyes bleed ...

I'm having a snack whilst reading this,2nectarines! I snack because I like food and therefore am a happy fairly chubby person:)

Speaking as an expert in snacking, I think it has become a culture of snacking in this country. On a recent visit to Stockholm, we couldn't find anywhere to buy snacks from. Nowhere. Not even a bottle of water. Think this also led to an absence of litter on the ground. It really made me think how wrong we have it here.

I am trying to change my eating practices, but it is hard.

I found a bottle of water in Stockholm. It cost the equivalent of £4 bleeding pounds from a kiosk. If I lived there I wouldn't be able to afford to snack.

I have breakfast at 7, by 10.30-11 at work I am starving! Lunch isn't til 1pm and we eat dinner around 7. I usually take a banana to work & leave oatcakes in my desk drawer to have in the mornings. Nowt wrong with that, but I could do with eating less chocolate - sometimes it just calls...

I don't believe eating between meals is a new thing. My Grandma who would have been 98 if she was alive today was brought up with elevensies, tea with cake or bread and jam at 3:30 and crumpets or toast done on the fire before bed. She also always had dishes of sweets around the house.

I can't eat three big meals a day. I feel sick. I am a little and often sort of person. I am a size 8. I think metabolism has a lot to answer for.

Apologies as not read whole thread but op if you have supper at 5.30 arrant you starving by 10pm?

I wouldn't be Aroundtheworld. I often have dinner at 6pm and don't get hungry till the morning. I think your body learns the patterns you teach it as long as there is a sufficient amount of food in the day at a few points.

Don't know about OP Aroundtheworld but I had a chicken salad at 6 followed by a coffee with cream and 4 squares of dark chocolate and I still feel full now.