Snacks for when you can't stop

[Morecustardcreams]

Desperately trying to lose some weight but I have a life long addiction to snacking. I'm not fussy, I will snack on whatever is available. So please give me your ideas!

I am switching crisps and biscuits for chopped carrots, apples, cucumber, peppers and whatever else I've got. I've also rediscovered the joys of eating half a jar of gherkins and pickled onions. I also like full fat Greek yoghurt with banana or strawberries. High in fat but keeps me full.

Any ideas please?

Hi, are you eating enough at mealtimes? Snacks are a post 1980s thing. Prior to that (and the birth of snacking and "ready meals"/convenience, snacks weren't a thing).

Apart from the history lesson, it's worth considering your protein intake to ensure you feel satisfied after a meal. There shouldn't be a need to snack otherwise. E.g. Breakfast 7am ish? Lunch 12 ish? Dinner 6pm ish?

I'd look at those factors first then consider what sort of snack gives you a sense of fullness for longer, if you need one. Snacking can be more about emotions eg tiredness, distraction etc

I hope you find inspiration to spark a different outlook to get the results you want 🙏

I buy bags of broccoli and cauliflower florets and much on those.

Turkey slices, Hummous and breadsticks, popcorn, a huge fruit salad, mini cheeses ( low fat) ritz crackers, baked crisps, Greek yoghurt and banana, fruit smoothies?

Rice crackers
Nuts
Olives

Popcorn is a great alternative to chips for me, more protein at meals, boiled eggs, and drinking huge amounts of ice cold water instead of a snack sometimes

Baby plum tomatoes, blueberries, light cream cheese, corn thins, Pom bear crisps

Prawns or tuna with a dash of mayo capers dill

Babybel lights, I like them on a water biscuit for crunch

beef jerky

miso soup, the itsu sachets

packet of sliced chicken

frittata slice

Celery is good because it's crunchy and takes a while to eat but is low calorie.

Radishes with butter if you can handle the heat are another one, or bits of really crisp iceberg lettuce.

(In reality I snack on biscuits and peanut butter)

Radishes aren't that hot.

Make me burp though. I love a radish.

At the moment I love snacking on bananas and strawberries

For mindless snacking in front of the TV try a huge bowl of finely chopped cos lettuce. Eat it like it's popcorn

Honestly none of these are good options.

Yep, if I know for a fact that I have eaten enough, and I'm feeling snackish just for boredom etc, I will have chewing gum. It's working quite well for me.

I've lost 30lbs in the last two years. My favorite low calorie snacks are individual pop corn bags with only 100 calories, and fruit with citric acid powder on it. It makes the fruit taste like sour candy without the calories.

I'd definitely swap the full fat greek yog. Its loaded with saturated fat. It's not the fat keeping you full, its the protein so you can swap to a lower fat, high protein natural yogurt and it will still keep you full.
Unsalted nuts / trail mix are a good snack again for the protein content.

Cold Jersey royals.
Cottage cheese.
Ham.
Fruit.

It's so tough, ugh

@Bobloblawww but the almonds taste good though 🤣 so the worst of two evils....

I’m a lifelong snacker and have to be a lot more careful about my diet as I get older.
Freezing things slows my eating down so grapes are good. Half a banana on a stick dunked in plain yogurt and sprinkled with cinnamon before freezing makes a great alternative to a full sugar lolly. A large tub of yogurt spread on a baking tray with baking paper, sprinkled with chopped berries- cut into smaller pieces after freezing and store in an ice cream container.
Fruit and low fat yogurt will always taste better when served layered in a glass, frozen for half an hour and eaten with a sundae spoon! You can crumble a single biscuit in for an extra treat.

Lidl salted roasted almonds &75% black chocolate.

I wonder if the fact you snack at all is part of the problem you are trying to solve?

Based on some of the snacks you’ve posted you’ve eaten recently, what I suspect is happening is that you feel a little peckish, eat a snack which is high GI and tastes great so you eat a bit more than you really need to take the edge off. This spikes your insulin response, so you crash again about an hour later and feel hungry so have another snack and the cycle starts again.

I might in your shoes experiment with having a larger meal 3x a day, and if the munchies strike between meals have a large glass of water and wait 15-20 mins and see if you are genuinely still hungry. As someone else said thirst is often mistaken for hunger. But also feelings of hunger are often short lived and psychological not real. Real hunger doesn’t go away but snacky temptation does if you distract yourself. If you feel genuinely hungry by the time you reach a meal time, you are more likely to have the appetite to eat a decent meal which will fill you up to next time.

It might take a few days to train yourself but I’d consider getting rid of all snacks in the house and making a pact that you will go a minimum of 5 hours between meals without snacking and see how you get on.

if that doesn’t work however, you could have a snack box with pre-portioned, calorie counted snacks for the week in it, with the understanding that this gets replenished only on a set day of the week and when they are gone, they are gone. That would help ensure you balance your calories out across the week and get out of the binging cycle. I’d make the snacks boring and functional rather than crunchy, salty or sweet too as those attributes will encourage you to overeat

Biltong, jerky and slim smoked salamis.

Preparation and takeaway boxes are your friend! A nice big fruit salad divided into boxes, plenty of chopped veg sticks with hummus put into much smaller pots so you can just grab one and not eat half the tub.

takeaway boxes of chicken or egg salad with a pot of crushed tortillas so you sprinkle a handful over before you eat (I add cooked beetroot to my salads for bulk plus a little feta and roasted pumpkin seeds or cashew nuts)

small tubs of salted popcorn

individual pots of fat free protein or Greek yoghurt so you’re not responsible for portion size

make sure you have fruit bowls in each room.

drink water before each snack to feel fuller

The only thing that worked for me was stopping snacking. I used to confuse the feeling of not being full with being hungry, so I’d eat all the time. I’d try switching to something healthy and it was fine for a while, but eventually I’d get bored and go back to whatever I’d eaten before. Now I don’t snack. It took a few weeks of pure willpower and it wasn’t easy, but I did lose the urge to keep reaching for food. Now I only eat when I’m genuinely hungry and I have a much better idea of how much I actually want.

Frozen berries
Small tomatoes and coconut sriracha
M&S Balsamic pickled onions
Stick of celery with cottage cheese
Baby Cucumbers
Fruity Ice Lolly