Giving up snacking - finding it hard

R

redryder

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Hi guys, newbie here. I'm a 34 yr-old male, 6ft 200 lbs. My target is to get my weight down to 180lbs. I eat healthy during my 3 regular meals, no fast food, lots of fruits and vegetables. BUT I love snacking - especially potato chips & beer (or sodas) while watching TV at night. In the past I could finish 1 to 2 large bags of chips a week. In the last 2 months, I've haven't changed my diet except to cut out snacking completely. I also started running 5 km thrice a week.

I've lost about 4lbs and almost 1 inch of my waistline since. The thing is though, that I crave my chips and beer when I watch TV. Its getting harder and harder to resist. Everytime I walk in the grocery store, I linger at the bags of chips on display, but so far have resisted buying any. Should I give in and treat myself occasionally or go cold turkey until I hit my target weight? Which is worse?

I'm not giving up watching TV either - I just spent like $5000 on a whole new Home Theatre
 
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When losing the weight becomes more important than indulging in chips, you'll find the resisting becomes all that much easier.

I had troubles with resisting goodies too until I finally said to myself, enough was enough...nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

Took years to get to that point, but once I did...no stopping me!
 
i get that way sometimes but i have not once in the past 2 1/2 weeks that i have been on cheated my slef. when i feel the need for something good like that i have the baked wheat thins which i love to me now those are my treats . you can have like 14 or so chips for a lil over 100 cal. i think. but if you are using them only as a snack you should be fine. they also come in veggie and something else. i like the whole grain kind. also almonds are a good snack to nibble on, high in fiber and good for you. i know its not a bag of chips or beer but it helps. my thing is i like something crunchy every once in a while and thats when i will crave the chips or something. so i have the wheat thins. my big thing is pizza i love pizza and i actually found a low cal, low carb pizza that is actually pretty good or you can make your own. good luck you can do it
 
Buy a snack size bag of chips (like the ones they have at Subway) and have that as a snack. Don't go buy a whole box of the snack size bags, but one at a time, and do not purchase them daily. Once you ate your snack, you're out of chips, and probably won't want to go get more at night.
 
redryder said:
Should I give in and treat myself occasionally or go cold turkey until I hit my target weight? Which is worse?
Click to expand...

That's a tough question, which probably doesn't have one right answer. I would say it depends on yourself. Remember, this is a change that you're going to hopefully be doing for the rest of your life. So to wait until your goal weight to get your "snacking" doesn't really make sense to me. I say, if you want a snack or a "treat" for your hard work, then have it! It's just going to be a lighter option and smaller size.

I like beer. So when I am craving a beer, I'll go for the MGD 64 (64 calories) and have two or three. When it comes to snacking I'll have some baked tostitos and pico de galo or some chex mix or something. You just have to maintain the smaller portions and not BINGE on the snacks. :D

I think cutting them out it a bad idea because it makes you want them so much more! If you want a snack, have one. :)
 
I am right there with you my friend...chips are a personal kryptonite for me! Something I learned about chips really helped me though...when you find that you're craving chips, most of the time it's that you're craving salt, and that means that you're dehydrated. Pop and beer make that dehydration worse!

My recommendation is that, when you get your chip/pop/beer craving, get a big glass of water and drink that down first. Don't rush the water, take it slow and drink it all. If you're still craving chips when you're done that, get yourself some carrot sticks and substitute those. Everyone's cravings are different...some people are craving the actual item, some people are just craving the motion of eating, it all depends on you! But carrot sticks have a lot of water in them as well so that will help the dehydration.

Give it a try, it really helped me through this. I still indulge once in a while, but I'm much more careful about how many chips I eat (like Shep said, I get a small bag if I can't resist the craving!), and I don't keep those in the house and don't drive to the store...so if I want them, I have to walk for them. That usually helps deter me also :)
 
In my experience - and this is just me, personally - me telling myself "NO! Absolutely NONE" on anything has been a recipe for disaster. I'll withstand the cravings for a while, but when I caved, I'd cave HARD. I'd say no to junk food for a month or two....then binge on an entire weekend of nothing but fried, fatty stuff, then get down on myself and go back to eating junk all the time.

What has worked for me is allowing myself the "treat" food every so often. Sometimes, like with a cheeseburger, I'll allow myself a full-blown burger. Just a single patty....maybe even the "junior" burger...but a real burger. Or make one at home. Same for pizza...nothing's better than a homemade pizza!

Other times, like with potato chips, I'll buy reduced fat or fat free options. Just a small bag, or portion a big bag into smaller servings.
 
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