To ask how to stop bloody snacking !

[Floridabadger]

I need to shift a stone or so (maybe closer to 2!) . I know how many calories I should be having, I know to shift my arse more and all of that. I’ve got my meals sorted , lots of veg etc but snacking is still an issue.
I try healthy ones such as those Ryvita cracker breads but I end up having 10 which amounts to about the same as if I’d just had a Kit Kat anyway!
I think I need to lose the snacks altogether. Those of you who never snack, how do you manage it? If you’re hungry and it’s 4pm and you’re eating at 6, do you just wait it out?

Water. Every time I go into the kitchen I make myself drink a glass of water, so it's become habitual and now I'm so full of water I've no room for snacks.

I just don't buy them... And try to accept that feeling hungry at 4pm with dinner at 6pm is normal and healthy. I would just try to distract myself and have a glass of water. If I'm absolutely dying for something I would have a satsuma.

@FudgeBrownie2019

Water. Every time I go into the kitchen I make myself drink a glass of water, so it's become habitual and now I'm so full of water I've no room for snacks.

I second this. Except I have dilute, but I find if I drink I feel less hungry.

Make sure you’re eating enough protein.

Replace it with a cup of tea.

Some good ideas , thanks I do need to sort it out. Feel like I’m forever eating, and it’s totally mindless. Back to work in a couple of weeks so that should sort it, at least in the day time. I’ll be sure to not have change for the vending machine at work!

If you’re hungry and it’s 4pm and you’re eating at 6, do you just wait it out?

Yes. I will drink a large glass of water and sometimes have a bit of raw veg. As for snack foods, I don't buy them and never had because I know the horrible habits that can be formed and I always wanted to avoid that.

If I can't manage then I have an apple or hot bombay mix and a mint tea.

@Aquamarine1029 I think you’re right about not having them in the house in the first place. I’m forever nipping into the kitchen for something and leaving with a handful of mini cheddars or a choc mini roll. Bloody stupid and mindless, eaten in 30 secs. Often before bed when I’ve even already brushed my teeth!

I'm doing low carb so if I want palatable snacks I usually have to make them myself. I try to make a batch of suitable muffins/biscuits at the weekend and then I feel fine about having one a day.

@MogThoughtDarkThoughts see that’s great! One a day ... except I’d start with good intentions and it would escalate to 2 a day and so on. Maybe I need a lesson in will power

I have a small handful of bits (about 10) at around 4pm when I feel too starved to last until dinner. It really helps.

@Passthecake30 when you say bits what do you mean? Nuts? Raisins? Do you find you can leave them alone at other times?

More protein, fewer carbs, and don’t worry about being hungry for an hour or two before dinner. That’s normal.

If you absolutely can’t get through, have a couple of nuts and a cup of tea.

I find a few unsalted nuts helps around 4pm, or an oatcake with cheese. Just one though.

Sparkling water and peppermint tea are good for staving off hunger pangs. Have you looked into intermittent fasting?

@Floridabadger It's so tricky, isn't it. I've always found like you that eating 'healthy' snacks makes me overcompensate by eating too many, or feeling that I can reward myself with junk later on. But low-carb stuff can be really nice and if I've had a chocolate-almond cupcake for a snack I don't feel 'deprived', so it sort of breaks that cycle. For me, anyway.

@MyOwnSummer no I haven’t. I could do though. Is that to do with the 18:6 thing I keep seeing on here ? (Probs wrong ratio!)

I’ve swapped dieting for cutting out/not buying snacks. It’s working well. Lost 9lb and now a healthy weight again.

I’ve still been able to have a few take aways and the odd glass of wine.

Replaced evening snacks with a big chunk of watermelon which DP and I share which is yum.

Imagine the snack you are eyeing up is covered in dogs muck

When do you usually snack? I was awful for it late afternoon, so I moved my lunch an hour later (1-1:30) and have dinner a bit earlier (6ish) which helped. Also lots of water and tea.

@Clive222 oh dear god !! 🤣🤣 vile but may give it a go!

my solution is babybel cheese. I have one and it's filling. it wouldn't work if I had a large chunk of cheese and had to decide how much to have (and not have)

@Estrellente either late afternoon before tea or more often, 9pm ish after tea and settled on jammies. If I’m sat with my book or the tele I find I want something. No hunger involved , just fancy it. I almost always give in. I’m hoping the dark nights might help as I can go up and read or watch tele in bed earlier and then the temptation isn’t there as much. I’m not bad enough to venture back down for my fix (I don’t think so anyway!)

If I really need to eat at 4 I'll weigh out 30g of nuts and have those. They're far more filling than empty carbs.