Struggling With Snacking?
One of the biggest problems people have when trying to lose fat is snacking.
Whether it's a handful of nuts, some chips, chocolate, or bites and licks off of random foods during the day, it adds up.
If you're not careful, then you can easily eat up to 300+ calories, which erases the deficit you created to lose fat.
Of course, the general advice to deal with snacking is to just stop doing it, as if it was that easy.
These are the steps that some of my clients have used to overcome their snacking issues:
1. Find your trigger - A lot of people who are snacking aren't really doing it out of real physical hunger. It usually comes down to stress or boredom.
Whenever you feel the need to snack on something, check in with yourself. Instead of acting on it, sit with the feeling for 5 minutes.
Ask yourself why you have the urge to snack, and what's causing it. It could be work stress, you're bored at night and have nothing to do, or something is happening in your life at the time.
Once you've acknowledged it, time to move onto the next step.
2. Replace with a non-food action - Instead of reaching for something to eat, replace it with another activity that doesn't involve food. A positive action.
It could be going for a walk, drinking a glass of water, journaling, taking an epsom salt bath, or getting in a workout. This will help rewire our old patterns into new habits.
3. Eat right during the day - Even though cravings can happen anytime, they mostly happen during the afternoon or at night.
No matter what your eating style/schedule may be, you have to make sure you're getting the right nutrients.
Many people don't eat enough protein throughout the day, or have vegetables with their meals.
When you eat enough protein, it keeps you full longer and the fiber from the vegetables fills you up and slow down your digestion.
Aim for at least 1 gram per pound of lean body mass of protein each day, and at least 1 cup of vegetables with each of your meals.
With hydration, many of us mistaken hunger for thirst, so shoot for half your bodyweight in ounces.
Take a look at your diet during the day and notice if you're lacking any of those three things.
Overcoming snacking is not easy, and something you can't fix overnight.
But when you consistently apply these three principles, eventually you'll stop the snacks and end up looking like one.
And if you need help with putting together your nutrition plan and a proper workout program, let's talk. Apply here:
-Tim