Snacks will be the hard part....

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating

Post Reply
lostone
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:01 pm

Snacks will be the hard part....

Post by lostone » Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:23 pm

Hi all....I'm a big fan of people telling me obvious things I should have figured out for myself. So I was pretty excited to start skimming the Everyday systems pages. Anyway the No S Diet sounds great to me except for one thing....I have no idea how I'll be able to give up snacks. In between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner, my stomach starts rumbling and many times I start to feel sick to my stomach if I don't put something more substantial than water in it.
Anyone else get that way? Did it go away when you got out of the habit of snacking?
Thanks for reading. I had a surprising revelation about myself the other day reading these bulletin boards...something about my emotional eating clicked in a painful and necessary way. so thanks for being here.

thtrchic
Posts: 1234
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:09 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

Post by thtrchic » Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:29 pm

Yes, it goes away. I felt the same way before I started. I was sure it was impossible for me to go more than 3 hours without eating. Turns out that's not true and I feel much better for it.

The key is to eat big and balanced meals. After some time you'll probably also decrease the size of your meals, but to start pile the plate high and make sure you include fiber, fat, and protein.

Reinhard suggests having a glass of lowfat milk between meals if you really can't make it. Other people do something half way between this and water -- coffee or tea with a little milk in it.

Give it a chance -- I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Julie

lostone
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:01 pm

Post by lostone » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:16 pm

Thanks for the reply, that was sort of my hope but I wanted some reassurance. Conveniently I've decided to start this on a Friday...there's a nice two day cushion before it all gets hard core on Monday. And I started my HabitCal with a few things I really need to improve. :shock:

kccc
Posts: 3957
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:12 am

Post by kccc » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:11 pm

I used to be very dependent on snacks to make it through the day. I found that part of the reason was that my meals simply weren't substantial enough. Adding more protein/fiber really made a difference.

I also phased in the "no snacks" part. I dropped the easiest one for me, and after that habit was established, worked on the afternoon snack. I started with a limited allowed snack list - only fruit or veg, nothing else - and only "if I needed it." Over time, I found I didn't need it.

I have been pleasantly surprised by what a difference it made. I can go from meal to meal easily. And I eat better, because meal-food tends to be healthier than snack-food.

Good luck!

User avatar
ClickBeetle
Posts: 410
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:28 pm
Location: North Carolina, USA

Post by ClickBeetle » Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:03 pm

Eat plenty of fiber at meals to fill you up, and include a little fat with every meal for a sense of fullness.

Don't buy anything that comes in a krinkly bag.

Have "safe snacks" on hand if you need them, such as apples or whatever produce you prefer.

Allow yourself only snacks that you have to prepare; nothing that you can just open a bag or box and stick your hand in.

The snacking urge is an acquired habit and will go away if you keep working at it. Yes, it will!
Chance favors the prepared. - Louis Pasteur

bizzybee
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:40 pm

Post by bizzybee » Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:18 pm

I was in exactly the same state of fear regarding dropping snacks, low blood sugar issues, how would I ever do this? I work out early and need food in my system first... it just seemed insurmountable.

It took about 2 weeks, the first week I was often hungry, mostly before dinner and before bed. I drank lattes every afternoon, heavy on the milk.
The second week it was easier. Now, I often look up and realize it has been 5 or 6 hours since I last ate and I'm just starting to feel hungry.

I also have started blending soy milk and frozen fruit as part of my lunch, I save half in case dinner gets delayed or I get really hungry for bed. I hardly ever need it.

Hunger, it turns out, was more intellectual and emotional than I had ever imagined. I anticipated being hungry and soon I was.

Also, the first week, eat big meals, make sure you get enough fat and protein. My old low fat way of eating was not cutting it that first week. Now, 6 weeks later, I can eat a bit less, I become full much more quickly, eating is really intuitive now. I polished off a sub for lunch last Friday and ate very little dinner later. The first week i felt like I deserved 3 BIG meals. Your body will begin to tell you what it needs.

User avatar
reinhard
Site Admin
Posts: 5918
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:

Post by reinhard » Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:02 pm

lostone,

Welcome!

"No snacks" is the hardest rule for most people -- but it's also the most important (90% of the increase in daily caloric intake for American men and 112% for women since 1976 has come from snacks). And though snacking is initially difficult to give up because we're so used it it, it's really very dispensable: no one in history snacked anywhere close to the level we do until quite recently (when they promptly started getting fat).

On a practical level, here's what I'd advise:

1. give yourself big meals in the beginning to better your odds of making it to the next without getting too hungry and breaking down to snack. It's ok if you wind up overeating a bit in the beginning to establish the habit of sticking with meals -- it's a long term investment. Get this habit in place and long term you will eat far less, without counting or even thinking about it.

2. feel free to reach for a drink if you get hungry. Even a caloric drink (as long as it's not sugar soda). Yes, liquid calories are just as bad as solid ones, but again, this is an investment in habit. Once you firmly establish the habit of no solid snacks between meals, then you can turn your attention to caloric drinks if you find they're an issue (which I doubt, besides sugar soda and perhaps booze, no one really drinks *that* much milk and pure fruit juice: they *taste* too caloric).

3. if the above don't do the trick, consider adding an official fourth mini meal. Others have done this successfully. Another possibility is not count some healthy, low calorie food as food and permit snacking on just that. Both of these refinements to the basic rules introduce new dangers, and I'd recommend trying vanilla no-s to start, but keep them in mind as potential plan Bs if plan A doesn't seem to be working.

Reinhard

florafloraflora
Posts: 219
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:03 pm
Location: Washington, DC USA

Post by florafloraflora » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:27 pm

I'm piling on to agree with what everyone else said: I thought I'd never, ever be able to give up snacks, especially the afternoon one, especially because I had an official diagnosis of blood sugar problems. But much to my surprise, I can now go 6-8 hours without eating, no problem.

If the no-snack requirement is too daunting, just work on making a solid habit of no sugar or seconds, and phase in the snack ban slowly. When I first started I relied a lot on milky tea, or sometimes just plain milk, especially before exercising after work. One way to phase in the no-snack rule might be to choose a small, limited snack you allow yourself (it could be a yogurt, or a piece of fruit, or a small portion of nuts), that you define ahead of time, instead of a blanket permission to eat something at 4 PM, which has more potential to go wrong.

Anyway, welcome! Let us know how it's going.

Post Reply