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.

How your brain works, is not how my brain works. Thanks though, I am doing better since my health scare. Here, have some flowers.

Good question. I guess I would never eat a packet of biscuits or giant bag of crisps because they don't really form part of a meal.
Eat what I "want" to me means no food is excluded because of being fattening or unhealthy, nor would I be concerned with eating a lot at a meal if I was hungry.
What I wouldn't do, even if hungry, is eat a biscuit or cake mid morning or mid afternoon. Mainly because it would spoil my enjoyment of lunch or dinner.

YABU because your specific calorie requirements allow you to eat snacks and lose weight.

Try being short or losing the last stone. Losing weight when you’re 6 stone overweight is easy. Try losing weight when your deficit level is 1300 cals!

Fair enough, I have never said everyone is the same or that everyone had to snack, just that snacking is fine, comes in all varieties, and is even possible with weight loss... And acting as if people who snack are somehow lesser is ridiculous. I'm sorry you can't snack, I can't not snack.

You're not being judged

But most people dont need anywhere near the levels of water they carry around all the time. Especially in these UK temperatures.

Also, most people are not as assiduous as they should be about cleaning water containers and the levels of bacteria they carry is not exactly healthy.

The "stay hydrated" mantra is over hyped, originally stimulated by bottled water companies, but has entered the consciousness of everyone.

On a recent flight I watched all the children fill 2-litre containers from a really slow water fountain once they got airside... for a 40 minute flight, followed.by a 40 minute coach ride. Some even filled two for themselves.
That's really OTT.

Yup absolutely correct, both are completely uneccessary.

Ahh ok I see. I get really anxious if I don't have a drink with me. I'm diabetic and the thirst can be horrendous sometimes. I drink loads.

Disposable water bottles though, sorry to the planet, nothing hits quite like really cold water with a sports cap.

I agree, there's nothing wrong with snacking as long as over all you're not getting too much of the wrong things or a surplus of calories. I can't eat big meals so tend to snack in between, that's how my body functions. Some people eat one huge meal a day and that suits them

??

It’s the snacking on biscuits, cakes and crisps that are the issue, not what you describe. You just sound like someone who prefers small meals throughout the day rather than 3 big meals a day.

Your MIL is right about the people who eat 3 big meals a day and then snack on rubbish throughout the day being a problem. They most likely will be overweight.

@SpangleTwangle , I'm 'anti-snack' but your OP sounds fine. You are active and the snacks are not things like pringles and cookies in front of the telly just because you've not shoved some slop in your mouth in the last 2 hours..

I had a piece of cake in my OP, granted it was a home made cake with minimal oil, no saturated fat, reduced sugar, but this is because of my medical issues, not because the same equivalent in actual butter and sugar wouldn't be equally plausible and valid as a choice.

I actually average around 16k steps, sometimes up to 25k, and exercise at the gym for a good hour 3-4 times a week, things like Zumba/body pump/spin/sometimes swimming, and once I am not actively losing weight I look forward to eating the 2200 odd calories I will need to maintain given my activity levels. Although that will no longer include my once adored biscuits and cakes due to medical conditions not moral high ground I shall ensure that I do get to eat plenty of stuff that I actually enjoy, whenever I want, and not at the mandated 3-times-a-day because it makes no bloody difference whatsoever.

Your mum walked 16 miles a day, 5 days a week? How did she get anything done? Come to think of it, how did you get any schooling done if you had to walk 8 miles a day? My mind is boggling!

Yes, she did. In fact, we moved there 6 months before I was 5, so I was walking the 16 miles too until I started school. It sounds incredible these days, perhaps, but it's true.
She also got everything that needed to be done with the minimum of household gadgets. For a lot of that time, she didn't have a washing machine or a vacuum cleaner and she had to lay a fire in the Rayburn for cooking and heating. In spite of that (or perhaps because of it) the house was clean and so were we.
Why wouldn't I have got anything done at school? I went to school and school was for learning. Which I did.

@Thecows , a fast walker would walk four miles in an hour.

Each to their own. Its better for teeth to have a break between meals. Childhood constipation is better treated with meals not snacks. And some kids don't eat a proper balanced meal if they've had snacks before which I why I personally don't provide snacks. I also hate getting pestered for them

One of the highlights of the MAFSAus threads is the snack discussion!

Yes I can walk it in that time, can run it even quicker but you'd still be walking 4 hours a day! You'd get home and have to turn around and go back almost immediately.

What time did your poor mum have to get up? I'm amazed! I love walking but omg, 16 miles 5 days a week is just extraordinary.

I think the reason you need to snack is the type of food you’re eating though.

Porridge and fruit - blood sugar spike
[crash] so…
Mid-morning more fruit - another blood sugar spike

Look int it. I think if you ate protein for breakfast and no carbs you’d find you didn’t need a mid-morning snack at all…

Also look into why your body does need some time without food going into it…

Meh. I’m active. I don’t snack. Never have done. I don’t care what other people do unless they ask for advice about losing weight. My colleague is always moaning about the fact she’s 2 stone overweight, but she’s a chronic snacker.

Clearly people are not thinking of your lifestyle and diet when they link snacking with weight problems. Its the few biscuits with every coffee, the crisps with wine in the evening, the accompanying everything with food, movie means popcorn. Coffee with a friend means cake. Park means an ice cream. Drive past a fast food place and just fancy something. Coupled with a far more sedentary life style than yours it does cause weight creep. The difference between now and 'the old days' is snack foods are more accessible and harder to avoid.

It’s explained a few pages back

Snacking disrupts the cleaning cycle in the small intestine (migrating motor complex). I do snack though and I've stopped intermittent fasting and my health has improved.