To ask how often you have treats?

[Purditnin]

I have always considered myself a reasonably healthy eater. Balanced diet, not overdoing the treats, etc.

I’m currently staying with a friend’s family (DF, her DH and 15 yo DD). They’re all gorgeous and slim and sporty - and the way they eat has been pretty eye opening. Everything cooked from scratch, whole foods, lots of fish and seafood, lots of vegetables in interesting preparations, herbs and spices I’ve never even heard of.

And they don’t snack. Possibly the occasional piece of fruit and she’s baked a cake once this week, which we had after dinner a couple of times. But, that’s it. No little treats. Just three (admittedly large and delicious) meals a day.

I commented on this and DF shrugged and said “I don’t think things are treats if I have them every day. An occasional treat, for me, is once a week or something.”

I feel a bit stupid, but this blew my mind. I have ALWAYS had a little daily treat (sometimes several) and have always just assumed this was the case for everyone. A bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps or something. AIBU? If you consider yourself reasonably healthy, how often do you snack/have a little treat?

DH bought a large packet of crisps last week to take on a picnic. I ate the whole pack over the next few days. For me, that's my problem with snack foods - if they're readily available then I'm vulnerable to temptation and will probably eat them, regardless of whether or not I'm actually hungry.

If I kept a stash of snacks/"treats" in the house, I would probably eat them several times a week, maybe even daily! But because I have no stash, I only eat them rarely, such as at Christmas and Easter (chocolates), ocasional picnics in the summer (crisps) and grandchildren's birthdays (cake).

I eat things I enjoy everyday, sometimes the ‘treat’ is something some people may find boring, today it was six poached eggs with sourdough toast and harissa beans, yesterday it was half a tub of dairy free ben and jerrys (I’ll likely finish the rest today, I wouldn’t want it to go bad!).

No. But I am trying to lose weight, so a treat is either carefully included in my calorie count or only once every three weeks or so (bbq tonight for example I know it will include too much food).
A friend once said she got in the habit of eating a bar if chocolate every day as her boyfriend did, but soon realised that extra 200 calories a day meant she put on weight, so she stopped.
The slim people I know fall into three categories. The naturally 'eat anything but have a high metabolism' so haven't ever really thought about it so don't obsess (so don't deny themselves but don't binge either); those that are super vigilant about food and/or exercise; and those who see food as fuel so don't really think about it. Most people I know fall in to the second, and all the overweight people I know do too, but with less success.

We try to scatter treats across the week - on the weekend I might make a crumble or a cake to take on a walk or morning out. What I find tricky is the habit we have of putting crisps and biscuits into packed lunch - not the kids school packed lunch but if we go out for the day or are in a road trip. Otherwise it would just be a sandwich and fruit.

I'm the same

@Baldieheid We anticipate cherry season with pure greed, and eat boxes of them when they're in season

thats me with peapods!

Every day!

Life is too short not to enjoy some simple pleasures!

I'm currently working my way through a lovely tub of chocolate icecream from Lidl. Had a portion every evening for about the past 5 days, and tonight there is enough left for one final, quite large portion. I woke up this morning and was already looking forward to it!

Every day as do my parents & dc 🤷🏻‍♀️. Breakfasts are often cereal/toast but dinners 90% cooked from scratch.

Don't really see them as treats though, more a snack or a sweet after dinner.

Every day I have something you would describe as a treat. I just call it and see it as food though. Everything is food, some is more nutritious and some is less nutritious but it’s just food.

1-2 times a week usually. Sometimes go a week or two without one.

Not a fan of chocolate and never really was. More of a savoury fan than sweets but do bake once every few months when I have a craving for something but am happy and content with having fruit instead. I find most crisps too salty so DH or one of the boys finishes the rest.

Treats for me when I crave them is usually chips or really spicy crisps. Often the former because the latter is more expensive (ones I like are from an Asian grocery store).

I don't limit myself to treats once a week etc as I found by doing that I craved them more. I know have them in the press but tend to want them less when I know I can have them whenever.

I do tend to eat more treats at weekends or days I am not working so try to make extra filling meals those days.

Every single day. But around that I eat really well, at least 5 fruit / veg a day, never had a takeaway, veggie, nuts, no alcohol etc.

I eat three healthy meals a day and treat myself to one Belgian chocolate each evening from a box in the kitchen.
That’s all - I don’t eat puddings, cake, biscuits, crisps, pastry or snacks, (and don’t drink alcohol, unless hosting visitors.)
I am five pounds over a normal BMI, gained during three years of long Covid fatigue, so am determined not to gain any more!

I understood what she was suggesting and I responded. It’s used as a catchall in the context of this post as an umbrella term was required in order to ask the question and, as it’s common parlance, people understand exactly what I’m asking.

I'm a massive snacker. I like to have a mid morning snack and a snack mid afternoon and sometimes I will have something after dinner also. I eat chocolate every single day and have a few glasses of wine twice a week. Other snacks are more healthy like fruit, yoghurt and popcorn. I don't really do cakes, desserts etc. My meals are mostly extremely healthy (salads or soup for lunch, lots of fish and steamed veg for dinner) except for cheese night on Friday nights. I'm probably about 10kg overweight.

Once or twice a week.

I don't do the treat mentally, it links to disordered eating. We eat what we want as a family, all fit, healthy and slim..I eat a packet of crisps everyday as I really enjoy it. Not interested in cake, pudding, biscuits, donuts and similar. Both teenage DC eat a waffle or pancake most days with Nutella or honey on it. They are very active and "ripped" both look fit and toned. Most meals are home cooked and never a take away and normal size portions rather than gargantuan plates of food. Me and DD can't eat a lot at once so we do snack throughout the day as huge multi course meals don't suit us. All in the lower end of normal BMI range.

Treets

I don't think of any food as a treat.

As in I don't feel like food or sweets/cake is a reward.

I have a square of chocolate with a decaf tea after dinner most nights, but it's only a square. I really savour it. I don't really eat crisps or cake. Kids sometimes have fruit or Greek yoghurt for pudding but we don't really have pudding much.

Same with my kids. I put in DC's packed lunch for sports camp today a box of strawberries with four or so big penny sized chocolate buttons mixed in. We will sometimes have a natural lower sugar ice lolly at home or she can have free choice of whatever once a week or so out and about.

We snack on fruit only otherwise

Try to avoid crisps or processed food too much for the kids (though they do have a babybel in a lunchbox from time to time).

It's that thing of a little bit of what you fancy, without normalising treats as things you have all the time, basically.

We don't have takeaways bar the occasional fish and chips at the seaside, though we do eat out.

My kids do eat cereals though - bran flakes, Rice Krispies etc

(There are things I enjoy that I do eat between meals if I am hungry though - cheese and oatcake, nuts, fruit, hummus and veggies - I really like them and they are genuinely satisfying in snack quantities in the way that "treat" food isn't often)