I drink alcohol instead.

I am not a good role model.

looks down

…

badly?

by being poor and not able to afford a lot of food

Somebody once recommended pumpkin seeds as a snack to me. Not because they are especially healthy or something like that, but because they are really annoying to peel. Yes, I could eat them unpeeled, but the entire point of the idea is to make the snacking just a bit less rewarding. I tried it. Worked for maybe a week or so before I stopped. But it had a much more interesting long term effect: it got me used to unsalted nuts as viable snacks. Of course I immediately fell back into my old habits after the pumpkin seed experiment, but from then on I made sure to always buy a pack or two of unsalted nuts or seeds or dried fruits together with my other snacks. And at some point I managed to figure out the one rule that worked for me, and had the biggest impact long term: only buy new snacks once I’ve fully run out of old ones. And maan, that bag of wallnuts/peanuts/pumpkin seeds/dried apples could last for a long time. In turn I also started snacking on stuff that I didn’t really consider a snack before. Like, I’m bored, and the only snack in my cupboard is a bag of wall nuts - so I’d make myself a cucumber salad instead (which is just cucumber and soy sauce. Maybe some olive oil if I’m feeling fancy) . I didn’t really stop snacking. And the amount I am eating hasn’t really gone down either. But what I’m eating has become a lot less fatty and sugary in general. It took me about five years of very slowly changing the ratio of sweet snacks to healthy snacks, and by now I basically never have more than one single pack of cookies, chips or chocolate at home (which is gone within a day, but it’ll take about a week before I buy another one). At social events I find myself constantly eating whatever is on the table. But all in all, my weight is very slowly, but consistently, going down, and I am feeling better about myself in general.

Tldr: buy a bag of unpeeled pumpkin seeds, and force yourself to peel each one of them before eating it. See where the journey takes you.

Intermittent fasting, 16 hours of fasting, 8 hours eating period. It simplifies the problem to “am I allowed to eat right now or not”.

Don’t shop hungry and make sure you only have healthy food in the house. Celery and hummus work for me.

Grab a no or low calorie drink to sip on instead. Water, flavored water, or something carbonated. Plan snacks like carrots or celery, pickles, or seeds or nuts or grapes etc. And yeah, gum, mints, suckers or cigarettes.

Try telling yourself things you can have instead of things you can’t. Then keep those things in arms reach. And try to always start with water. I even drink water with a splash of vinegar and salt bc the salt sparks your dopamine. But of course be wary of overindulging in salt.

As for meals have something that signals the end of the meal for you. Some people wait to drink until they’re done eating. Smokers light a cigarette. Maybe a hard candy or gum so you know you’ve completed the meal at least for you?

Stock healthy food. Almonds, carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, plums/peaches/nectarines etc

A couple of people mentioned sparkling water, and I want to join the train.

I got an off-brand sodastream. That and some Aarke flavor drops (https://aarke.us/collections/flavor-drops), and I have an infinite supply of la croix-esq bubble water.

I keep 2 bottles of (fridge-filtered) tap water in the fridge at all times and when I get the “I’m bored and don’t know what else I want” pangs, I go there first.

I also generally try drinking more water, especially at the start of a meal, to push back against the tendency to over eat.

Finally there’s the “just buy healthier snacks” but I struggle with that one the most

Being short of money pretty much covers it for me. Yeah sure I could whip up some sustenance but I’m not “that” hungry. Where if there was a dirty nachos pile with hot dog pieces I could make appear from the local 7-11 for 2 bucks … .HELL yes.

Being too poor for food.

I make up for it on those days where I ate 3 grapes all day because I couldn’t be bothered with cooking or even going somewhere.

Get some multigrain snack (like a bun not chips) or an apple. You eat less after.

A low-sugar (Monster, Nightwatch) energy drink can be a temorary substitute. Zero-sugar just get me more munchies(?) long-term.

What i noticed:

• less pasta/potato in my diet: less appetite for snacks
• two meals over the day is better than 3, as long as they are not too far apart, or else you can’t trick your wish for a snack with “i’ll cook in a hour anyway”.

Embrace being on your phone while watching a movie. (If you’re not at a theater)

Movies aren’t enough stimuli for me either. So I just scroll a bit during boring parts.

Don’t buy snacks and leave them in the house unless they’re healthy. Some nuts. Baby carrots. Fruit.

Find fun sparkling water drinks to sip

I don’t think snacking and overeating have to go hand in hand. You can snack without overeating - if you know you’re a big snacker, try having smaller portions at meal time to compensate for it.

Replace snacking with drinking water or chewing on ice cubes. It’s the same stimuli, and it’s healthy.

Celery sticks/carrot sticks are good, healthy and give you something to bite into that isn’t ice. 1 carrot gives you probably 20 carrot sticks, which would probably get you through a movie. And I wouldn’t be concerned about 1 carrots worth of extra calories a day.

Or a charcuterie board, not as healthy as above but at least it’s not full of sugar. Having some crackers with hummus, and some cornichons is a relatively healthy snack, maybe some cherry tomatoes and prosciutto, and a little bit of cheese to go with it although that’s getting into meal territory - but I found that if I’m having a charcuterie board for dinner, you can drag it out, eat it over a couple hours, slowing down your intake and satisfying your craving for snacking without it being in addition to a meal - it is the meal.