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

[SpangleTwangle]

My mate's very austere mother is like this. She goes on and on all the time about how people "never used to snack" and basically seems to believe that it is the sole reason why people are overweight and obese. It's also an angle people take on Mumsnet all the time and it is really bringing the eye-rolls from me.

Personally, I couldn't do without my snacks. All these people saying they don't need a snack must be sitting on their bottoms all day.

I do an active job (I don't sit down all day and I also run, walk, lift at work). I need my big bowl of porridge and banana for breakfast, my morning fruit snack at about 10 am (usually another banana) my work lunch (yesterday leftover chilli, salad, apple and orange). I get back at 4 or 5 depending, yesterday had 4 oat cakes and cheddar with chutney, then went to the pool with the kids to swim until 6, then I made our dinner which was white fish and bean stew, new potatoes, broccoli. I had a small piece of a cake I made at about 10pm. FYI I am also LOSING weight (6.5 stone so far, over 3 years), I write down everything I eat. Yesterday's calorie count was 1800, with 2 snacks.

The anti snack thing is just self righteous twaddle, you can spread your food out how you want, I find if I listen to my body and eat when I am hungry I am less likely to over eat, and if I hadn't had my oatcakes there is no way I would have managed taking the kid's swimming (they had a snack too, peanut butter on toast and bananas)

It's not about how often you eat, it's about how much you eat, how much exercise you get, and obviously what you're snacking on. But that said- I have gone through periods of time where those snacks were small bags of crisps/KitKat's etc and still lost weight as calories were equivalent.

We are all different.

Some days I snack and some days I don’t. To be fair though my meals are very substantial so I don’t often feel the need. I eat 2000-2500 calories a day and sometimes that can be the 3 meals. Sometimes I probably eat closer to 3000 calories a day. That would be with the snacks also.

I personally think everyone should keep their eyes on their own plate and stop concerning themselves with what other people are eating - whether that be no snack, a fruit snack or a doughnut snack.

I don’t know why other people’s eating habits brings so may comments and so much judgement.

No I absolutely don't judge ANYONE for their diets and don't assume anything about them. Rather I judge people who act like other people's problems are all down to them not acting just like them. I reserve the right to judge though, judging is normal human behaviour that we all do and then accuse other people that we disagree with of doing.

I don't feel self righteous because I've lost weight, I have had to do it for my health. Until about a year ago I actually continued to eat what I wanted within calorie restrictions, but unfortunately age/genetics have caught up with me and now I have to watch my saturated fat and sugar. Believe me I would have continued with my afternoon buttered toast and morning KitKat and binned the oatcakes if I possibly could (really miss the KitKat). I said this above though. I was still losing weight when my snacks looked very different. Snacks are not the enemy...

I mean you are snacking on nice healthy things and your diet seems healthy too, you are not snacking on crisps and cake with a side of chips for dinner every day, which leads to health issues. Eating between meals is fine but essentially it is what you eat isn't it?

As an aside we didn't snack much as kids because my parents couldn't really afford much extras.

You are very active and your snacks are healthy and low calorie. I think most people think of snacks as biscuits, crisps and generally unhealthy food.

I don't even like the word 'snack'. I grew up without snacks (we were very poor though), you could have an apple if you were hungry, but, of course, this wasn't the kind of 'snack' we had in mind. I wanted crisps, biscuits, chocolate, but there wasn't any.

So I grew up without a 'snack' mindset. My kids were offered fruit but they also had in mind more of the 'treat' food than just food food. Now I eat one meal a day - I run, cycle, do Pilates and walk the dog every day but if I started eating snacks to 'keep up my energy' that would open the floodgates for me to eat all day which would pile the weight on.

So, for me, not eating snacks is just what I know, what I grew up with and I find it odd that everyone seems to need constant food input just to sustain themselves when I don't, even though I am more active than them. So I think upbringing and background has a lot to do with it.

I don't carry a water bottle all the time either, but then I hate drinking water anyway.

But you're talking about quite healthy snacking and generally healthy eating. As far as that goes, I think you're right. But a lot of people can't seem to get from one meal to the next without shoving crap like Snack-a-Jacks, crisps and biscuits in their mouths, and I suspect it's more people like that that your friend's mum is talking about.

My own diet is far from perfect and I think everyone have days when they just 'crack' and don't eat healthily, but when people are incessantly snacking on crap and then complain about their weight, it's hard not to feel a trifle irked.

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.

No she doesn’t.

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!!)

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.