Snack Attacks: 10 best ideas for outwitting them
Do you sometimes get “obsessed” with an overwhelming urge to snack? Do you get up in the night and raid the fridge? Do you discover you’ve popped a bag of candies or a carton of cookies into your shopping cart, to be astonished when you get to the cash register?
Nobody wants you to starve, so by all means eat if you’re hungry. But what if you’ve eaten your regular meals and you still want to eat some “junk food?” Well, we all know how that feels. The members of the local TOPS group shared their favourite answers to the snack attack. Some of these ideas have worked for them and maybe one or two will work for you. Here they are.
- Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge. When you get the urge to snack, drink a glass of delicious, cool water, and the urge will go away.
- Buy a big bag of nuts (when they’re on sale.) Bag them in separate, small containers and put in the freezer. Take one or two little portions out of the freezer and leave them in the fridge for a high-protein snack.
- Keep apples on hand. A crunchy apple is very satisfying.
- Carrot sticks and celery sticks are great for a healthy snack.
- Walk away from food. Leave the house and go for a walk.
- Divert your attention. Plan to do something else for half an hour and by the end of that time, the urge to snack will have passed.
- Call a friend.
- Do a task that uses both hands, like knitting or chopping wood. You have only two hands, after all.
- Brushing your teeth can make eating less attractive.
- Chew gum or a little coriander.
I hope a few of these ideas will work for you. Maybe you’ll join us and share some of your own strategies.
One of our members shared a list of foods that are said to help decrease the appetite. These are: apples, oatmeal, lean protein, green tea, almonds, broccoli, and eggs. If these foods agree with you, you might want to include them in your meal plans more frequently or use them for a healthy snack.
Please know you’re welcome to join us every Wednesday morning at the Community Centre, from 9:00 to 10:00. We’re a low-cost self-help program that welcomes everyone. If you want to Take Off Pounds Sensibly with the rest of us, please call ...
Submitted by Amber Harvey