Mindlessly snacking is a common culprit that wrecks fat loss progress. Here are 5 ways to stop snacking to lose weight for good.

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My kids eat a pretty decent variety of nutrient dense foods. I actually do practice what I preach when it comes to cultivating their relationships with eating.

Each meal for the young Lady and Lord of House Cataldo includes a protein source of some kind (even if that’s just dairy), some kind of fruit or vegetable and a variety of carb options.

But, they are kids. And kids also can and should enjoy some snack-type foods from time to time.

Which means that while my kitchen is mostly set up to support my healthy lifestyle and way of eating, we do still provide plenty of options that I’d consider off-plan for most people:

• Pretzels
• Gummy Bears
• Jelly Beans
• Crackers
• Chips
• Lollipops, etc.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having any of this in the house. And it’s totally cool if you enjoy those snacks with your kids from time to time, too (moderation and 80/20 Rule and all that).

But, where we get into a problem is when you give into the snacking bug and find yourself jumping off-plan to grab tastes and bites of those foods without giving it much thought.

One of the biggest enemies of the fat loss phase is the habit of snacking.

Randomly picking through various options at your disposal and mindlessly tasting food.

It might happen once a day––late afternoon and late evening tend to be the most common times.

Or it might happen sporadically and lead into a binge.

Either way, whatever it looks like, if random snacking is a problem for you, it can make it really difficult to stick to your plan to lose weight.

Today, you’ll learn some of my strategies to stop the random and mindless snacking. As with most of my approach to nutrition, this is not about restriction, so you’ll learn how to have your cake and actually eat it, too.

Within moderation and reason, of course.

Let’s get into it.

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1. Before you grab that snack, check in with your body and mind first

Your body and mind are both much more complicated than we think. While you might be thinking of the fat loss journey in terms of numbers, like crushing calorie deficits and protein, the body doesn’t see it that way.

It’s much more complex.

Your metabolism is not one fixed set point. It fluctuates from day to day depending on various factors.

And as a result, your hunger cues can oftentimes be greatly affected by the various things going on in your life at any given time.

A few reasons why you might want to reach for a snack randomly:

• Boredom
• Stress
• Poor sleep
• Dehydration

All of these things can mask themselves as hunger. And in particularly stressful situations, the body and mind will want comfort to get out of that rut. Which is why you will start craving comfort foods.

Your job is to check in with yourself each and every day and every time you are ready to eat. This is even more important when random snack cravings come about.

Are you really hungry? Is this a product of some craziness going on in your life and schedule?

If you are so hungry that you’d eat some broccoli, it’s a sign of true hunger and you should probably reach for a meal.

But if you are simply craving something like chips or crackers, then you are not actually hungry and you can probably hold off.

Once you’ve settled this, we can really dive into how to stop snacking for good.

It starts with your surroundings.

2. Fix your food environment to stop snacking to lose weight

One of the first things you’ll need to do in order to stop snacking is to adjust your environment.

I mentioned the multiple kid-friendly food traps that exist in my house. To ensure that I do not end up randomly stuffing my face hole with those snacks throughout my day, I’ve made sure to keep them out of sight and out of mind.

Do not keep foods readily available within eyesight.

Place trigger foods in hard to reach areas of the kitchen:

• High up in cupboards
• Back of the cabinet
• In the freezer
• In the oven (only if you do not use your oven regularly)

If there is a jar of jelly beans out in the open space, you are much more likely to reach in there and grab one or two.

One or two jelly beans is okay. And they shouldn’t impact your fat loss journey. But, that’s not the point. The point is that you need to practice mindfulness and intention around your eating.

And randomly reaching for foods that you do not need without hesitation and just eating them mindlessly leads to poor relationships with eating and can lead to an eventual binge.

3. Stop snacking by eating more

Huh?

Sometimes, the urge to snack does come from hunger. Other times, it comes from boredom. Here’s an article on how to tell the difference between real hunger and boredom eating.

If you are consistently finding yourself ravenously hungry throughout the day, there are a few common reasons for this:

• Your calorie deficit is too low and you need to readjust
• Protein consumption can be increased
• You are not eating enough fiber

In all of these cases, the answer is to eat more food. Specifically, you’ll want to eat more nutrient dense, protein rich and fiber heavy foods.

Doing so will promote better satiation (in other words, it will keep you fuller for longer).

4. Stop snacking with the 20 Minute Rule

When that craving hits, the real test will be to see if you are truly hungry.

Set a timer for 20 minutes. And during those 20 minutes, your job is to stay busy and distracted.

Getting up and being active can really help here, too. So, pop up from your couch or desk and do some push-ups and squats, practice some yoga poses or mobility exercises, walk around your office, house or neighborhood.

After those 20 minutes pass and you’ve actually stayed busy without giving food much thought, you should be able to go about your day without that snack.

However, if you are still hungry, then that is a sign of true hunger. It might be time to actually satisfy that hunger with a real meal. Not a snack. But, a meal focused on protein and fiber––an apple with a piece of cheese works wonders here.

5. Prevent random snacking by actually planning for snacks

If you’ve been following me for some time (and you should follow me, because I’m pretty awesome), you’ll know that I’m all about moderation and balance.

That means no foods are off-limits. Including snacky foods.

You can have those foods and still see significant weight loss progress. But, you just need to be smarter about it.

One thing that I coach my Lean4Life Academy members to do is to actually plan for snacks and work those foods into their daily eating routines.

Remember, after you hit your calorie deficit and protein, you have wiggle room to include some of your favorite foods, within reason. Aim to eat those fruits and veggies, of course. But then you can practice the 80/20 Rule of allowing for 20-percent of your calories to come from those fun foods.

In this case, you’d simply plan to have those 200 calories worth of chips into your day and account for those calories. Eat this snack around the same time every day. It gives you a carrot at the end of the stick to reach for, instead of randomly reaching for snacks, you’ll be able to step back and realize that your actual snack time is coming up and you can wait to enjoy it.

When you do enjoy that snack, you’ll do so with the following rules:

• Eat it slowly
• Be mindful of your eating
• Do not eat the snack out of the packaging
• You must be seated
• Avoid feeling guilty about that snack, just enjoy it and then move on

When you leave room for your fun foods, you’ll avoid feeling so restricted.

As a result, it’ll make it easier to avoid the snack attack bug from breaking your progress.

Let me help you learn to stop snacking to lose weight for good … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Stop snacking to lose weight” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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