To Snack or Not to Snack?
 

Last time I seriously dieted, snacking or 6 small meals a day was in fashion. I tried that but usually ended up consuming more claories.

What works best for you?

I am finding I am better not to snack unless I am really hungry and meal time is far away. Then I will have a 100 - 200 calorie snack. I prefer having the calories to make 500 or so available for my meal, 350 calorie meals just don't work for me. Mary

I think it's really whatever works for you.

Personally, on work days I eat:

300 cals for breakfast at 6:00 am
100 cals (usually fruit) at 9:00 am
300 cals for lunch at 11:30 am
700 cals for supper at 5 to 6:00 pm
100 cals for desert (always 4-5 prunes) at 7-8:00 pm

On Weekends we tend to sleep in and have:

600 cals for brunch around 11:00
100 cals (fruit) around 2:00
700 cals for supper around 7-8:00
100 cals (prunes) around 8:00

So, I guess I don't really "snack"--I just spread my meals out so that I never get really hungry. This works for me, but as we know, YMMV.

Regards,
Michael

I'm with you Kumochi
 

I pretty much stick to 3 meals a day and have a snack (like you, 100ish cal) only when the next meal seems too far away. I too have tried the grazing mode that seems to work well for others, but it just results in over eating. Plus it take a whole lot more planning than I seem equipped to do to come up with 6 little meals that are within my calorie limits. 3 well balanced meals is about all the calorie calculated my little brain can handle ;).

Pam

Yep, me too. Although I usually have a little something something around 4:00pm, but only because the kids are home from school and there is a feeding frenzy going on.

I basically realise something new about my body. I eat 2 or 3 meals a day depending what time I wake up. And yes I will snack but not having it fixed. It's more like if I'm hungry I will throw in a bite, if I'm not, I won't snack. Usually when I snack, it's nothing like a healthy snack. I snack on 1 or 2 chocolate chip cookies or some sweet lemon flavoured crackers.

But My body keeps losing weight still. In a month, with little exercising I lost 11lbs just working on finding out about my body. I still have my favourite food, still eating about the same foods as the past except for fast foods. The only difference is my food intake is literally half of what I can eat in the past.

So I feel whether you snack or not doesn't make much difference, rather "training" your stomach to feel full with lesser food is something worth working for?

As far as I know, this works for me. Good luck !

i eat every 3-4 hrs and stop at 10pm i wake up at 9 am i usually eat
breakfast-9-9:30
snack 12
lunch 3-4
dinner 7-7:30
snack 9:30-10
i eat 5 times day it works for me and i stay satified never over eat

Set meal or snack times don't work for me. I never know what time I will get hungry so I just eat when I do.

I think of it as the low fuel light in a car, my body doesn't care what time it is, hunger means I am low on fuel and I better feed it something soon. Even if it is right before I go to bed because you still burn calories when sleeping.

AsianLady,
Your comment reminds me of a advertisement many years ago suggesting that a cookie (just 1) as an afternoon snack, or before a big meal, was good diet strategy. And you know what? I think that for many it is. The trick is, of course, stopping at 1 or maybe 2 if they are small. It satisfies the sweet tooth, can help even out blood sugar, and keeps a person from feeling so deprived. So I don't think that your snack is really all that unhealthy, especially since you manage to keep from eating the whole bag ;).

I eat breakfast at about 7 everyday, samething a bagel thin with fat free cream cheese and a yogurt. I sometimes snack between breakfast and lunch, and if I do, it's usually around 100 calories. Fruit, nuts, veggies, cheese. Something along those lines. Then I usually don't eat until dinner. I usually do have something after dinner before bed. I just seem to crave things at that time of the day.

I have been doing this since April and have lost 35 pounds. If I was stricter I would probably loose faster, but I am happy with the pace and the process.

I eat an apple or orange almost every afternoon for snack to hold me off until dinner.

I eat breakfast so I don't starve before lunch, then I have a mid-morning snack 100-150 calories, then I have a Lean Cuisine entree lunch with fresh fruit and/or veggies as a side (always a variety so it's not the same ol, same ol), then a late afternoon snack 100-150 calories, then for supper I try to cook healthy, if not I half my proportions and watch my carbs.

RunBikeSki, thanks for pointing that out. Yes, most of the time I'm able to stop at 1 or 2 because that's the company's cookies haha! Can't eat them all or else my co workers are gonna shoot daggers at me!

I agree it does even out my blood sugar level and I don't feel out of energy after consuming cookies rather than having some carrots on hand to bite. When I mean healthy, probably they fall into the veggies, low fat category as compared to cookies, which are high fat and not much nutritional value.

I have a friend who lost 100lbs just by cutting down his portion by 1/3 of what he usually eats. Of course, light exercises like doing some sit-ups, push-ups and weights etc. I believe a lot in cutting down portions because, imagine we cut down half of what we usually eat but still eating what you like, you are cutting half the calories you consumed and naturally you will start losing weight.

Losing weight, to me is still enjoying what you eat and what you do. If you deprive yourself too much, you feel difficult to keep up. Like many over here say, it's a lifestyle change. Don't go obsessed with the healthy choices. Have a balance and I'm sure everyone will succeed :)

Contrats Shermaine, on your 10lbs anniversary!
 

You must be doing something right!

Pam

we got some smart people here
 

I love that everyone seems to really realize that every BODY is different along with every MIND. We have to find what works for our own selves and know our limits and temptations. I know that I MUST be active to lose weight and even though I don't devote long periods to excersise YET. The little workout breaks throughout the day help alot. It makes me feel successful and focused. As far as eating ...it's breakfast between 6am-6:30 around 300 cal. mid morning snack around 9am-10am little cup of peaches or quaker flavored mini rice cakes ( caramel is my fav), lunch at 12-12:30 around 500 cal, afternoon snack around 2:30-3pm, supper between 6-7pm evening snack of no sugar added fudgepop (I can even eat 2) or no sugar added popsicles around 8-9. This keeps me satisfied so I will stick with it till it doesn't work. I like they way you think Asianlady. If I deprive myself I'll never succeed. I want something I can LIVE with.

I also snack when I feel that if I don't I will break my diet. I keep 100-cal non-healthy snacks around (pre-packaged though, so you can't go over) and usually have 3 a day with a very light lunch (a shake) and a 500-600 cal dinner.
I really really love this chocolate snack, I can't believe it's 100-cal... They are called "Hostess 100 Calorie Packs Cake Chocolate with Creamy Filling", I get them at Stop and Shop.

hi all, i think keto diets are great in the aspect that if u eat every 2.5-3 hrs u dont get hungry and therefore will not snack.
i ate 6 meals a day consisting of 50gms protein and 15-20 gms fat and zero carbs and i have to say it was an odd feeling never having hunger pains watsoever for 4 mths while cutting.
i would do that for 5 weekdays and then on weekends i would eat lots of carbs and lower the pro and fats, and i would eat up to 3-4 junk/cheat meals over the weekend too, maccas,kfc,pizza etc. and still lose 0.5kg a week and maintain muscle mass.
results would be greatly improved if cut out cheat meals to 1 and eat all low gi carbs. just my 2 cents worth from recent experience.:D

I think I went overboard on not depriving myself too much...lol. I gained 3lbs :( I may have snacked too much and drank lesser water this week. Shall go back to what works..

Also, I think it's time to step up on my exercise routine. I have been slacking these days. I probably will be giving burst training a go again.

A little info about burst training:

Burst Training for Weight Loss

It's awesome for people with busy schedules and in fact more effective than regular exercise.

Hope this helps :D

Not a grazer?
 

I think a lot depends on if you are a natural grazer or not. I naturally want to eat and drink continuously. I am always sipping on something or chewing on something. Dispersing meals throughout the day helps with that somewhat. However I often stick to three standard meals and then carefully graze three more through the day. So, for example, I may have a health bar an hour after lunch, carrots an hour after that, et cetera.

If you are naturally a person that can go hours without eating or even thinking of eating food even if you see it, then the distributed meal approach may not work as well for you.

Yup this is great group of people
 

I agree with Janice,
This is such an awesome group of people with an amazing collection of knowledge and life experiences. Every once in a while I run across a post that seems a little dogmatic - but even that just widens the diversity.

So Hank, how does your grazing work? Do you plan your daily selection or just keep a limited selection of foods available?

I think one of the reasons why I have a hard time with it is that I am a pretty avid foodie and can't really give up the double creme brie, homemade bagettes, or wine country pot roasts. I just limit portions and (luckily) don't have much of a sweet tooth. Since those kind of foods are usually around it is easier for me to say no to between meal snacks, knowing that I will have a pretty complete meal in a few hours.

Shermaine, I am sure you will be back on track shortly. That exercise program you recommended sounds intriguing.

Asianlady...thanks for the link for burst training. I was typically doing much longer cardio/fat burning workouts on the treadmill or elliptical or bike, and someone here, I think maybe Tandoori Chicken, recommended a way to modify my routine. I've been doing two bust-like sets separated by a very moderate ten minutes in between. So I'm doing 3 sets per ten minutes because I go full out for one minute and need a full two minutes to recover on the first two sets and an extra thirty to sixty seconds to recover for the last. While I can't run anywhere near 10.6 mph, i do go full out and pump the incline way up to the point that I'm almost falling off by the end of my work set. I find this really fun and short to boot.

I was glad to see the video on the link, because I didn't get the whole thing about taking the day off in between. Also, I've tended to do my resistance training after my burst training, but may try reversing it to see if it feels any different.

Thanks again for the link.

i snack i eat 4-5 times a day so i will never get hungry and i stop at 10 pm i wake up at 9 am so i go by what time i wake up

3 meals a day don't work for me because my blood sugar drops if I go too long without eating. I graze, but eat mostly fresh fruits, veggies, stir fry, ezekiel bread. I mostly avoid processed foods entirely and try to avoid things with preservatives also. I eat small amounts of beef, chicken and fish. You can eat a lot of food if you pick the right foods. I go to work with a bag full of foods like cherry tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, peppers, apples, grapefruit, hummus.

Once I started avoiding foods with butter, salt, and sugar, I did a lot better. Everybody is different... i don't lose weight well on traditional diets anyway, they just don't work for me.