How to stop snacking?

[Onynx]

Hi all, hoping for some help/ ideas please. I'm trying to lose weight to get back into my clothes & feel more like 'me'. Every time I look in the mirror I expect to see the 'me' from 5 years ago & I keep saying I'll do something about it & I never do. I've tried slimming world, which worked to a point -then I started to really hate the local cliquey groups etc. I managed to lose 10lbs last year by cutting out sugar and wheat- then put it back over Christmas. So I've vowed I'm not going to let another week go past without trying to be healthier. My main problem is snacking - all my meals are healthy - cooked from scratch, no jars etc but I cannot stop snacking. I can't seem to sit down without having coffee and 'something'. So can anybody advise how to combat this or healthier snacks or has anybody tried something that works - I'm desperate!

Break the connection in your mind by not having a coffee? Have a cold drink?

Swap coffee for green tea . It doesn’t go with anything and has to be drunk on its own.

Not a bad idea Moonmaker - I'm going to try that. Why oh why don't I have the cop on to stay away from temptation?🙈

I'm awful for it too OP. I have really healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner...but it's the biscuits with my tea, the handful of nuts (healthy, but not good if you're trying to shift half a stone like me) or the sneaky chocolate bar/spoonful of Nutella.

I really want to 7-10lbs but it's not going to happen with the snacking.

Green tea is disgusting so not swapping my Yorkshire for that! Having two small kids doesn't help. They both have big Zip lock bags full of trick or treat goodies at the moment.

Also, everyone in my household is skinny so can snack and get away with it

Try to snack on fruits and drink more water as I always find that water is filling and I don't care much to eat afterwards.

Green tea is disgusting but you get oddly used to it and it’s also weirdly refreshing . It helps me lose weight and curbs appetite too. Try green tea with mint , it tastes a lot better .

Hmm. I have a box of green tea lurking at the back of the cupboard. If it's still in date, I'll give it another try.

Pepsi max instead of coffee for the caffeine hit as it is sweet so don't feel the need for sweet things.

Sugar free sweets for the sweet hit.

Your brain is happy you've had the sweetness you crave without twigging there are no actual calories!

(Disclaimer- I'm not saying this is necessarily healthy but hey ho!!)

Don't quit the snacking - just make healthy choices with the snacks. Fruit etc.

I have a full fruit bowl. Apple, plums satsumas, melon etc and eat those if needing to eat. Carrots and cucumber sticks are good too.

I like a decaf green tea too. I make it quite weak though.

If I am hungry I look for some protein like quark and wafer thin meats.

Almonds! They are fantastic little aid to weight loss. You can snack on them to reduce your cravings, they are quite filling so you will (hopefully) eat less at meal times and they taste slightly sweet.

Ha, I already snack on fresh fruit all day (have about 5 pieces a day, plus berries), plus plain nuts, and roughly 1.5 - 2lrs fresh water. And the occasional can of Pepsi Max (though don't like sweeteners). Try to have plain oatcakes and reduced fat Hummous with peppers and tomatoes/small amount if cheese before reaching for sweet stuff.

But then my stupid brain goes "right, because you've had all the healthy things, you can now treat yourself to chocolate and sweets!"

Omg GoingRogue you are exactly me!! Literally - down to the healthy snacks followed by all the rewards🙈 I'm also surrounded by fit, slim people so while I'm slightly over a healthy bmi- I feel enormous. I used to get away with it before because I walked everywhere & worked crazy hours. Now, I've relocated, have three DC & am a SAHM- temptation all around!

I'm glad it's not just me! I try to eat well but then ruin it all by snacking on biscuits/chocolate in the afternoons and evenings. I really need to stop but once I've had one biscuit it's like the floodgates have opened and I end up eating about 5 more. I need willpower from somewhere!

Onynx we don't need to lose weight, we need to find fatter friends

I too am a SAHM. Reckon I could curb the snacking a lot more easily if I worked. Sometimes it's just pure boredom or because it's there, hey?

MillieMoodle they say tea/coffee is a gateway drug for biscuits. So true.

Anyone else here reckon they're orally fixated? I'm a very chatty person, and if I'm not talking then I'm humming...or eating or drinking. Luckily have never smoked (though have no doubt it would stop me snacking!!).

If you do decide to quit snacking rather than changing to healthy snacks as a pp suggested you are best doing it over a few weeks and maybe you won't lose weight straight away but look on it as a long term change.
At first you may need to increase the size of your meals until you don't feel hungry between meals. If you are used to eating snacks you may not be eating well at meals, make sure you are having a lot of vegetables and protein to fill you up. Then take a few weeks to get into the habit of eating only meals. Once you are completely used to it you can decrease the size of your meals again but do it slowly. You will still need willpower to avoid snacks this way but it helps if you aren't feeling too hungry. Sometimes a bit of hunger starts up around the time you may have often had a snack but you can just distract yourself and it often goes off quite quickly.
Not snacking at all is a big help when losing weight as those snacks really add up, but you can allow yourself the odd treat.

In the evening I try to either go to the gym, paint my nails or peel and eat a grapefruit.

Failing that, I mainline tea and get an early night.

Got these ready...just hope I can adjust to green tea...

The easiest (?) way is to go cold turkey and stop eating anything in between meals. I am diabetic so had stopped eating sweet treats but was nibbling on nuts/cheese/crisps and the scales weren't moving...so I made myself stop. It wasn't easy, but what does make it slightly easier is either cleaning your teeth when you feel the urge to snack or eat sugar free polos (though be careful how many!!) as you don't then want to eat if your mouth tastes minty . Works for me.

Btw - peanut butter , sugar free , helps me massively with snacking ( I used to be super fit once and this was my trick ) . A spoon or two of that is super low in carbs/ sugar and totally keeps snacking at bay . I always make sure I have a jar around . Also a sahm here with three dc .

Are you on My Fitness Pal, OP? Since starting with MFP, I've lost 2 stone just keeping within my allocated calories (at my height it is about 1600-1650 per day to lose about 1 - 1.5lb per week without much exercise - I am only now trying to tackle fitness!).

I've learned I can have a biscuit or two with my coffee and still lose weight (if it is within my calories) but, most importantly, it has also taught me moderation - i.e. I don't have to eat half a packet of biscuits and if I'm planning on having a big dinner or eating out, it might be wise not to have the biscuit today. Basically, it is all about learning how to self-regulate!

Rather than becoming obsessed with food, just by logging everything I'm simply more mindful of what I'm eating and I make sure that everything I eat is worthwhile (either its super good for me or I really, really enjoy it). The worst thing for me was just snacking on stuff for the sake of it, sort of on autopilot as it is a psychological habit - now I have to take a step to think about whether I really want it (and a lot of the time just a cup of coffee on its own is fine!).

Another tip is to try and limit the amount of goodies in the house - if I want a bit of chocolate or a biscuit, I have to nip to the corner shop, which makes me think twice about it!

Second for myfitnesspal and trying to limit temptation. I don't keep snacks I like in the house and if I do decide to "treat" myself I make sure to fit it into my daily calories.

I agree with the pp who said go cold turkey on the snacks. If I try to cut down or eat healthy snacks then I end up eating a healthy snack and then eating a biscuit as well.

3 meals a day, with lots of water / tea in between.