Eating 3 meals a day

[Orangesandlemons77]

I have decided I snack too much. Thinking of trying to stick to 3 meals a day (or times for eating something, if not hungry could just have a protein shake for example.

Has anyone else tried this and did it help? Anyone want to join in?

I’ve cut all all snacks, because once I get the taste for something I can’t stop. So one bag of crisps turns into two. One square of chocolate turns into a whole bar etc. Been doing this since mid January as well as eating healthier meals, switching squash to plain water, cutting down coffee. Once you get past the first 3 or 4 days, it does get easier.

Now I don’t even crave those foods, I think it was just habit. I’d always reach for biscuits with a coffee for example. Now I plan all my meals and actually look forward to trying new recipes. Logging on My Fitness Pal really helps too.

Good luck!

That sounds good SingaporeSlinky, well done!

I definitely do better sticking to just meals.

I was also getting awful heartburn around Christmas and had to stop eating by 7pm to stop me from being kept up all night with heartburn. It's helped me shift some weight.

I had started with exante before this (food replacement shakes and bars)....but I have started craving the diet foods! It's not good. So thinking I need a fresh start.

I've recently stopped snacking. When I was younger and thin I never snacked. If I was hungry I ate the next meal but I didn't eat otherwise. I started the 16:8 and it helped me to focus my eating habits.

I don’t really like meal replacement drinks, they don’t seem to fill you up enough, and you can actually have a massive plate full of healthy food for the same calories, which is much more satisfying.
A plate full of salad leaves, spinach, avocado, walnuts, cucumber, tuna, hard boiled egg, tomatoes. Much nicer to eat.

If you’re a snacker then going without is just setting you up to fail. Instead, I think it’s far better to monitor exactly what you eat on MFP for 2 weeks (be 100% honest), then cull things one at a time. I lost nearly a stone in one month by turning my 2 chocolate digestives per day into 1 and making sure I walked briskly for an hour at lunch. That then gave me the motivation to slowly give up or substitute other things (for me that meant eating less bread as it’s my weakness). And now I’ve maintained that weight loss for nearly 10 years.

That's interesting. I find the diet foods are highly sweetened, and I have a sweet tooth so I have started craving a bar with a coffee, then I feel a go ahead as it's full of protein / should be filling etc etc but really they aren't that filling etc after all. I guess we're all different and have heard others say one was filling but that doesn't seem to be the case with me.

I do have some other shakes called "Purition' now they are a bit more filling as they have seeds etc in and I tend to blend in some frozen smoothie mix with them - could have for a breakfast I suppose.

That was to Singapore. Thinking about it, setting up to fail could be a problem...have got a book about binge eating which was quite interesting it said to aim for 3 meals and 2 healthy snacks so e.g. an apple, maybe I will try this. Thanks Ozanj

It definitely needs to be sustainable. I’ve changed a lot of things all at the same time but I’m now enjoying my meals, knowing they’re all healthy. I’ve got more energy, I’m cooking more from scratch. I’ve joined a gym, and lost 11lbs so far. I can’t see me going back to my old habits because I don’t miss it. If you feel like you’re ‘missing out’ or depriving yourself, it’s just a matter of time before you give in. But I’m enjoying this way of eating, low calorie, low carb, intermittent fasting. It’s a lot all at once, but I know I’m so much healthier now.