I wrote a post a few months ago about snacking. It is a battle for
me most of the time because I enjoy snacking so much!
I have been trying to develop some ways to
prevent my mindless snacking. It may
feel good at the time, but for sure, regret is to follow.
Tip
1: Bag of veggies
Don’t worry; I would never try to sell you
on a bag of veggies being a real snack.
(Unless maybe you have some amazing dip!). When I am on a snack attack, if I have
assessed that I am truly not hungry and just want to eat, I will try this. Tell myself: You can eat whatever snacks you
want, you just have to eat a baggie of veggies first. (I try to keep small baggies of veggies pre
made in the fridge so I have no excuse!).
This does work, because I either a) decide I am not really hungry and
don’t want to get through the veggies to eat the snack or b) eat the veggies and am much less hungry for the snack.
Even if I have the snack after the veggies, I eat less and I had a bag
of veggies!!!
Tip
2: Smart Pop (even if you eat way too
much, it's not that bad!)
I love popcorn! But not all popcorn is created equally. I like smart pop because it is delicious and
much better (in terms of calories and fat) than the white cheddar or movie
butter varieties. If you can contain
yourself to the individual sized bags, even better! Another popcorn tip I have is making my own
popcorn; either on the stove or in a brown paperbag. This is good too because then you really only
have a snack when you are willing to work for it!
Tip
3: Nature Box Snacks
As a housewarming gift, we got this awesome
subscription to monthly snacks! We go to
Nature Box and; pick several back of healthy snacks and they show up at our
door a few days later. This works well because
it gets us to try some new things, they are healthier than regular bags of
snacks (no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors or colors etc.) and
there are lots of options (no gluten, vegan, no soy etc.)
Tip
4: Drink A Full Glass Of Water First
Water is the best thing for everyone! Something we hear over and over again. If you drink a full glass of water before you
snack, you will eat less snacks. There
is no risk or downside because even if it doesn’t reduce your consumption, at
least you got in a glass of water! If
you get tired of water, try it with fruit or even a cucumber!
Tip
5: Try Some Kiddie Snacks (Like Applesauce or Jell-O!)
Sometimes I like to go back in time,
especially when packing my lunches. It
can seem fun and a treat. The benefit of
eating snacks that are specifically targeted at kids is the portions are
kid-sized! And you can get most of them
sugar free. Examples I have all eaten in
the past year: Applesauce, Jell-O, string cheese, celery and peanut butter, PBJ. There are lots of choices here, so embrace
your inner child!
Tip
6: Don't Bring It Into The House (Oldie But A Goodie!)
We implement this in waves. Sometimes we are rock stars about no snacks
and then (seemingly out of nowhere!) we’ll have a house full of snacks. The tried and true tips about not shopping on
an empty stomach, sticking to your list and avoiding all together the snack
aisles can really help.
Tip
7: If you have to buy snacks (literally cannot help yourself!) try buying some
things that are not your favorite.
Maybe some people are better, but when my
favorite snacks (I’m looking at you cheese puffs and Doritos) are in the
house I have no chance! I will eat a ½ of
a bag in the blink of an eye. I wish I was
joking here. So having those around is
danger danger! If we buy some things that
I’ll eat, but are not my favorites, I am in a much better position to actually
snack like a human (vs. a vacuum).
What have you found that helps you snack
less, or snack better??? Let’s work on
this together!!
Life in the Green Room
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