How to curb snack cravings?

Faith

Given the new year and all, I'm really trying to whip my diet into shape. I started today, but I was plagued ALL day by cravings for sweet things. I normally have a small appetite but I snack a lot (on bad stuff). I know if I cut out the snacking, I'd probably cut out half my daily calories. I usually give up sweets, chocolate, biscuits etc for lent, but I end up replacing them with an equal quantity of cereal bars and stuff.

Willpower aside, what's the best way to get past these cravings? I really want to break the habit of grazing completely, but I'm willing to replace chocolate etc with something healthier and low-calorie.

Please help me break this habit!

Edwardius

Eat nuts. and apples.

tribulus

Protein! Can't go wrong with that as a snack. Obviously it won't be the same taste-wise but having half a chicken breast with some oil drizzled on it will be far better than chocolate or a cereal bar.

okgirl

Drink green tea. it has the kind of flavour that kills a craving. There just isn't a snack to go with it imho.

Pj!

Yeah I say nuts and fruit.

Strawberries might as well be sweets tastewise in my book. And nuts are great too. Almonds, cashews even peanuts (unsalted).

And did I say fruit?

jdivision

Strawberries have a lot of sugar in them. OP have a look at the stickies in fitness and you'll see how to eat more often but more healthily, that way you won't want to snack and at the same time you'll reduce your calorie intake.

ApeXaviour

Sugar cravings are often a sign of insulin resistance, a beginning step on the road to diabetes. It's little to do with willpower and more to do with hormonal imbalances.


If you eat a low-fat diet in the hope of losing weight, you unintentionally make the problem worse. If, like millions of women, you have eaten a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet for many years, or followed fad diets, the odds are good that you have become at least partially insulin resistant.
Insulin is responsible for [among many things] maintaining stable blood sugar levels by telling the body's cells when to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Being insulin resistant means your body stops responding to insulin, and instead grabs every calorie it can and deposits it as fat. So no matter how little you eat, you will gradually gain weight.
At the same time, your cells cannot absorb the glucose they need, so they signal your brain that you need more carbohydrates or sugars. The result is persistent food cravings.
(See more at: http://www.womentowomen.com/symptoms/cravings.aspx)

As your diet gets more normal, your insulin levels will drop and your cravings will subside. In the meantime when you get cravings, substitute it for something else. Drink some water, if that's not enough then eat a piece of fruit (citrus preferably), or have some nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecan, hazelnuts, pistachios, brazil nuts but not peanuts). If you give them enough time (20 mins or so) the nuts will satisfy your hunger and they're pretty good for you too, just make sure they're unsalted!

mack1

Stay away from the cereal bars, they're just as bad as real sweets.

Best idea is to break up your actual meals throughout the day, into 6 evenly spaced ones. That way you're eating every 3/4 hrs and no cravings!
Eat protein at each meal to help you stay fuller longer.

As mentioned above, if you really need to eat something in between try protein again (chicken, tuna etc) or some nuts (unroasted & unsalted, and not too many!) Fruit is good too, but don't overdo it - people think oh but it's fruit, I can eat 10 pieces a day - it's still sugar (albeit natural) so 2 or 3 pieces a day is plenty imo!

NextSteps

Drink water. It's a 'break', if you're at work or whatever, and it fills you up a bit.

Sugar Drunk

Hi Faith I have started drinking vitafit regulavit 3 tea (they have them in citywest spar). They have hibiscus in it and I have found it is starting to wean me off the cravings (been drinking 3 cups a day for the last 4 days). Failing that green tea will also help as after a few cups you wont want sugar as much and once you get used to it it tastes lovely. (no really it does Im a chocoholic without it)
I also swapped chocolate bars for special K bars (still not ideal but less fat and sugar) or some squares of the dark chocolate. (sorry lads im not at the place where a half chicken breast will fill a craving yet ! )

Stark

jdivision wrote: »

Strawberries have a lot of sugar in them.

No they don't. Strawberries have far less sugar than most fruits.

biko

Faith wrote: »

I normally have a small appetite but I snack a lot (on bad stuff). I know if I cut out the snacking, I'd probably cut out half my daily calories.

The small appetite could be because you eat snacks and therefore don't get hungry enough. My flatmate is similar to you and since she gave up snacks she eats better and a have taken to buy weight watcher snacks. She only snacks after meals.

If you increase proper meals and cut out/down snacks you still will get "better calories", less sugar etc...
If you feel the urge try a soup or a sandwich instead.

lizzyvera

Instant hot chocolate is nice and hits the chocolate spot! Other than that you just have to get used to eating less and your appetite will gradually change...

Gavin "shels"

Rice cakes, almonds, fruit and nuts. Maybe eat more nutritious meals and it will stop you from wanting snacks.

stick_figure

EAting more regularly should help you. I'm a junk fiend but at the moment I'm trying to eat every three hours, and the knowledge that I'm never that far from my next feed helps me get the cravings.

I haven't yet managed to kill the after-dinner cravings though

How Strange

nuts and fruit work for me. I eat two or three apples during the day and another one at night around 9pm

Green tea really is great too - I try to have two or three cups between breakfast and lunch.

CareBear99

I always get cravings too! I'm trying to cut down on tea because i always want to have a biscuit or something with it!! Peppermint tea is really nice instead as im not a big fan of green tea and you cant really eat anything with it! Options hot chocolate is good too when you have chocolate cravings, its only 40 calories and you can get in lots of different flavours like toffee, mint, orange...... Oh and I like popcorn aswell when I want a "naughty" snack!

ApeXaviour

CareBear99 wrote: »

Options hot chocolate is good too when you have chocolate cravings, its only 40 calories and you can get in lots of different flavours like toffee, mint, orange...... Oh and I like popcorn aswell when I want a "naughty" snack!

They're both pretty high GI though. You'll end up in a vicious circle. Your insulin will spike, making your cells convert the sugar into fat. You'll quickly get a low blood sugar again, which will lead you to crave more simple carbohydrates. Better to remove the underlying cause of the cravings (rid yourself of them) than to feed them.

Stark

Popcorn is low GI afaik.

ali.c

ApeXaviour wrote: »

They're both pretty high GI though. You'll end up in a vicious circle. Your insulin will spike, making your cells convert the sugar into fat. You'll quickly get a low blood sugar again, which will lead you to crave more simple carbohydrates. Better to remove the underlying cause of the cravings (rid yourself of them) than to feed them.

Just to put it in perspective though even if it is high gi it only has 6.8g of total carbs in it, about a 1.5 level teaspoon of sugar. Granted its hardly ideal but i doubt it will make/break anyones diet tbh!

ApeXaviour

Stark wrote: »

Popcorn is low GI afaik.

Point taken. It's about the same as pizza apparently.

Just to put it in perspective though even if it is high gi it only has 6.8g of total carbs in it, about a 1.5 level teaspoon of sugar. Granted its hardly ideal but i doubt it will make/break anyones diet tbh!

The calories are paltry granted. But the OP was asking how to curb snack cravings, any kind of refined sugar is really not the way to do that.

Lady Lainy

Find projects to do, I've recently taken up photoshop classes in the local school, get me totally engulfed, i find thigns to tweek and fix, i was up till 4am last night and i didnt even notice. and i didnt even snack, late night snacking was a big thing for me.

invest in a crosstrainer, once off big expense, but it'll last you YEARS, when you get that bored feeling which is ofen followed by snacking hop on the cross trainer. it'll keep u busy. and afterwards the only thing u'll want is a nice decent dinner and a bottle of water. plus having the cross trainer in the house...if u do snack, u dont have to kick ur self over it, you can just hop on the cross trainer for 10 mins or so, and damage is fixed.

Try home made smoothies. with honey and fruit & yogurt. no sugar required. just becareful with the amount of honey you use, alot of empty carbs in honey. and go for low fat yoghurt.

try if you can to just keep your temptations out of the house. out of sight out of mind.

Visualisation - picture your self looking slimer, toned, healther at a big event. and everyone want to get with you or be you. every snack not consumed is one step closer to being that. this was a tip given to me by a nutrionist. and it really works. i use it during those tough moments of the workout, just before i get my second wind, when i just wanna quite and fall into bed.

If your going for hot chocolate go for water based than milk. Every little helps.

End of the day, think before you eat it "am i hungery" if the answer is no, put it down and be proud of your self for being aware of your habits. not many people are until its too late and they've ballooned.

If your stomach is hungery, then feed it, its your bodys way of telling you it needs food. its just about giving it the right foods to get the most amount of energy.

If you must have a nibble, try McCambridge brown bread toasted with some light cheese spread. the cheese spreads are normally horrible i add some herbs and chili sauce to them for some extra kick.....that way your getting fiber & calcium and satisfying your hunger.

snacking on too many nuts will only encourage your body to retain water. so just be carful of that. Carbs hold water!

EileenG

Last time I went through Paris airport, I bought a packet of "No snacking" by Arkopharma. I thought that you just sucked one to distract yourself when you get a sweet craving, but I've discovered they have another advantage: They completely kill the ability to taste sweetness for a couple of hours after sucking one.

Believe me, chocolate with no sweet taste is just nasty. Sucking one after each meal has really stopped me nibbling between meals.

The active ingredient is called gymnema slyvestre. I believe you can get it in capsule form in Dublin, but I think you'd need to suck it to get the sweet killing effect.

LivingDeadGirl

I reckon this thread will be busier from tomorrow onwards

OT: Doing something to keep you occupied is the simplest and probably most effective method of killing a craving. If I want something but go and practice violin after about 20-30 minutes my craving had vanished. I don't always feel like playing though!

Faith

Lol, when I give stuff up for lent, I go INSANE trying to find replacements. I start baking like nobodies business!

I've been really good about cutting out snacks actually. I'm quite proud of myself. I still slip, but I've exchanged a giant bag of malteasers for a curly wurly. I feel a lot better for it too. Between that and going to the gym, I've far more energy than I used to, and feel way better about myself! (Although my 21st is next week, and I'm already planning my indulgences for the day ).

Serpentine

I'm an obsessive dieter & get the awful sugar cravings too Its all about swapping something bad for a lesser evil with me so instead of choc bars I would eat a few Snack A Jack caramel rice cakes (about 50 cals in one) & I eat about 8-10 portions of fruit a day, berries & cherries or a ripe pear are the best if you have a sweet tooth & I find way more enjoyable than junk food. Best nuts for sweet cravings for me are cashews, almonds & pine nuts but be careful the fat content is really big! :eek: The only reason dietting worked for me (apart from substituting the crap I was living on like cheese!) was cos I realised being thin was way more worthwhile to me than eating that mars bar or eating a takeaway ok rant over!

EileenG

I love Lindt 99% chocolate. Even a confirmed chocoaholic like me can't eat more than a square or two at a time, and there is absolutely no question of binging on it. Also, that much cocoa content makes it a bone fide health food.

Beerlao

drink tons of water. eat stuff with a low GI like porridge for breakfast, banana for snack, sandwich for lunch, and normal dinner, maybe a yoghurt later on, and stick to that. That's what i've been doing mostly for the last 2 months. you'll get used to it if you really want to. it's all willpower. either you want to do it or you don't. it's really quite easy to say no.

have you tried smoking?

flaka

Your snacks are probably a symptom and not the problem.

Eat 5-6 meals a day - you'll eat because its been 3-4 hours since last meal, not cos you are hungry. You'll lose weight because you don't need to store so much reserves (non-famin)

Anything Lo-Gi in the morning will reduce your want for Hi-Gi later on.

For snack try:
Almonds
Mixed seeds
High fiber bread toasted
Can of tuna
Cottage Cheese on crackers
Pears

Snack on anything that is not from a vending machine or confectionary counter.

Unless you need bursts of energy you don't need Hi-Gi.
Read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index and figure it out for yourself. Its not rocket science.

EileenG

Ok, this sounds pretty weird, but it might be worth trying. Intermittent fasting.

This was suggested by a couple of body builders I know and respect, so I agreed to have a go at it for two weeks. I'm almost finished the first week, and it's going well.

Basically, you eat only for a specified amount of time, usually around five hours in 24, but when you are in your eating window, you can eat all you want, though I still stick to the sort of food I normally eat. Yes, you do get hungry during the day, but knowing that when you do eat, you can eat till you are full, makes it a lot easier to stick to.

My eating window is from 3 to 8pm. I don't have breakfast, and I eat lunch with the children when they come home from school, then a normal family dinner. Afterwards, I stop eating. I'm quite surprised to find that I have the normal amount of energy, and my lifts are not affected. And I haven't snacked or nibbled once since I started.

Beerlao

who has time to make 6 meals everyday?