1. Control the portions – It’s so easy to lose yourself in a bag of chips, a bowl of popcorn, a seemingly endless container of something and forget to realize that you are no longer hungry. Large bags of anything can present a problem, even large bags of healthy snacks. Everything in moderation is the key. Graze is the perfect solution for that! Graze sends you 4 portion controlled snacks weekly or bi-weekly that are determined by your food preferences. With so many healthy and tasty choices, I get so excited to see my graze box on the doorstep. They are the perfect portion size snacks to keep in my desk.
2. Enjoy a small treat – Depriving yourself of all treats all the time is not helpful, at least not for me. It usually ends up with me going on an treat bender, eating my weight in donuts or macaroons or cake or pie. To avoid this, I let myself enjoy small treats whenever I feel that they are necessary. If I want a donut, how about I only eat a small piece. If I want macaroons, how about I only get one. Letting myself enjoy small treats whenever I need helps me avoid the big treat benders!
3. Make healthier snacks available – If all your office has is chips and candy, you’re only going to eat chips and candy. Make sure you have healthier options too! Our office has chips and candy, but they also order NatureBox snacks that come once a month. We get 5 different bags of healthy and delicious snacks sent to us each month. It makes opening up the snack drawer a lot easier when I know I can grab the healthier version of a snack I love. Two of my favorite NatureBox snacks right now are the Asiago & Cheddar Cheese Crisps and the Cashew Crumble.
4. Take a break when you snack – Do you know how easy it is to overeat because you’re too busy staring at your television, computer or pouring over a notebook to even realize that you’re full? How about taking a 10 minute break from all three when you need a snack. Not only will it prevent you from over-snacking, but sometimes it’s just nice to take 10 minutes to yourself during your busy day.
5. If craving this, then grab that – Cravings are hard to ignore, but it’s a major lesson in self-control when you learn how to manage them without totally giving in every time. One way is to find suitable substitutes for the thing you’re craving. It’s definitely a lot of trial and error to find out what constitutes a suitable alternative for you. For those craving sugar, fruit is a healthy alternative. It gives you the sugar and sweetness you want, without breaking the health bank. If you’re like me though, a piece of fruit isn’t really enough to squash that craving. If I’m eating fruit, I’ll add some honey or fruit yogurt or when fruit isn’t enough, I’ll go Cashew Crumble. The Naturebox Cashew Crumble is a perfect sugar substitute for me. It combines cookie bits with cashews, giving me a little of what I’m craving and a little of what’s good for me. Also, it’s totally delicious! Find your suitable substitutes for all your cravings and make them your new normals.
Have a great snacking tip of your own? Share them with me in the comments!
Number 4 is my biggest downfall with snacking. The only time I snack is when I'm engrossed in something… ugh!
I am a terrible snacker too, but if I brush my teeth it usually prevents from snaking!
Sometimes I'll snack on healthy things – fruit, mostly – but I did keep Graze type snacks around for a while and…I don't miss them at all. I'd just rather dig into a bar of chocolate or a cupcake. /o I do find that eating complete meals makes me less hungry in between and less likely to eat my weight in Doritos though!
I love Nature Box! My favorite is the PB & J granola. So yummy š
I eat a ton of fruit and it really helps me make better carb choices. I love Nature Box! I got to meet them in San Francisco during a food blogger convention and they hooked me up with a ton of cool stuff! Great company!
i think #4 is so important, and often over looked. great tips!
Healthy snacks are hard to come by… thanks for sharing.
These are all such great tips. I think craving "bad" stuff is a huge problem for me. Lately I've been better though about grabbing fruit instead.
I definitely need to pay attention to this. I'm having two lunches at the moment to try and stop the cravings – it's soooo hard!
Katie <3
Great tips! It's something I definitely need to work on.
Snacking is definitely one of my downfalls. I really need to portion out our snacks into one serving baggies. I think that would really help me.
Great tips, especially the one about letting yourself have a small treat – I know if I let myself have a bit of chocolate whenever I am craving it I'm far less likely to over indulge (though it does still happen occasionally)
These are all really good tips. Portion control is really what I need to work on. I tend to want to go back for seconds…. š
Portions are everything for me – I definitely need to be more careful about that!
I am in the process of trying to lose weight, so more than anything, I'm having a hard time reminding myself of the choices I should be making. Lol but these tips are awesome!
Great tips! I think we all struggling with snacking healthily.
All very good tips! I try to only have healthy snacks on hand. Makes it easier to make a good decision.
I think these are great tips, we are all good at some and not the other for me snacking healthy I find it hard because I have sweets more readily available than fruits but I am working on it.