[Closed] Healthy Snacks?

Cake.... cake isn't sugar... it's cake.... cake is GOOOOD

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So, I’m addicted to sugar and want to break the habit. I have a bad habit of snacking on sweet stuff (mainly chocolate but also biscuits) in the evenings.
Partly this is actual hunger but mostly it’s just craving for sugar, and habit.

I bet it's 5% hunger, 95% habit. You may need a bit of MTFU and simply have nothing in you can snack on and eat 5% more at mealtimes.

I want to be able to go to the cupboard and grab something healthier when I’m peckish. What do you have in stock in your house?

At best, fruit. Otherwise, nothing that doesn't need some form of preparation, which is enough to filter out the habit from the hunger - if you're actually hungry, you'll make some toast, if you're not, you won't.

Fruit is sweet and (probably) won't kill you.

Make your own savoury popcorn? It's very easy, very cheap and you can make different flavours depending on your mood.

I like salt and vinegar chick peas - simply take a tin of chick peas, drain off the water then soak in cider vinegar for 30 minutes, drain them, toss with sea salt then oven bake.

Nuts with dried fruit.

The nuts will fill you up, while the dried fruit gives you a little sugar hit

Good luck

Nuts with dried fruit.

One of my faves, but massively calorific (if that matters).

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@johndoh - bake for how long.

I eat carrot sticks or Cucumber slices with a hummus dip for my snacks at work. Also a pot of nuts (mix of skinned peanuts, walnuts, cashew, almonds).
My lunch box is has become a variety of different sized tupperware's!

Big fat raisins or the massive Lidl Deluxe dates help me when I’ve got the munchies.

toast with either cheese/tomatoes & olives or humous/tomatoes & olives.
as above, dried fruit & nuts works, or just fresh fruit.

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This thread just inspired me to pull out the Crunchie that was sat in my drawer and stuff it in my face.
It was lovely. Thanks.

Oh and oatcakes are simple and easy to grab - they go kind of sweet if you chew them for long enough 🙂

Oh and oatcakes are simple and easy to grab –

Also highly calorific.

Partly as a habit from offshore where the only abundant food is apples and pears. I reach for apples and pears.

Did you know that if you drink a can of diet coke while eating a cake, the diet coke actually dissolves all the calories in the cake?

Have a fag?

..and a line of coke?

Coyote

Member
@johndoh – bake for how long.

I have some in the oven now - I'll let you know 🙂

How loooooonnnnnnngggggg?????

PLEEEEEEESSSSSEEEEE tell me!

(My chickpeas are soaking as we speak!)

Whole Earth peanut butter sparingly on Danish Krisproll crackers. They were a staple "snack" when I was a slave to MyFitnessPal a few years ago (and lost 2.5 stone one way or another)...

I find that I get very addicted to sugar. Can easily snack on cakes, biscuit, chocolate and whatever else all day long. And it's hard to stop, it takes a lot of willpower.

Once I do stop, after a week or so, the craving subsides. I still snack a lot, but like you decided to replace it with some healthier options. On the extreme end of the scale, vegetables work if you want to lose weight! Celery, pickled onions and beetroot, things like that. I almost disappeared when I swapped the cakes for that stuff. But rice cakes too. Nuts. Fruit is allowed. Any natural foods. Overall though, I've found if I can keep my diet low on sugar and somewhat cut down on the mega fatty stuff, I can still pig out on all kinds of food, yet not be ruled by it, because I'm no longer craving the bad stuff. Not until that next sugar hit...

Thanks to Jnrs Diary AND soy allergy we have a while host or pressed fruit and alternative plant based snacks. Have a look at vegan options to replace crisps.  And fruit.

Anyway, wholemeal toast with that Marmite Peanut butter - skip buttering the toast beforehand  - is good.

A bowl of plan / cold oats with semi skimmed is a good option to fill you up.

How loooooonnnnnnngggggg?????

PLEEEEEEESSSSSEEEEE tell me!

25 mins seems fine 🙂

Anyway, wholemeal toast with that Marmite Peanut butter – skip buttering the toast beforehand  – is good.

Surely nobody on this planet would butter toast and then add peanut butter?

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/banana_muffins_51549

Sorry - about 30 mins at 170deg in the fan oven is about right for me, but it depends on the oven I guess. Just cook them until they look nicely cooked and crispy 💪

Surely nobody on this planet would butter toast and then add peanut butter?

Oh yes I would. Can't imagine it any other way unless you're vegan of course.

Personally I would avoid dry fruit as I find the sugar hit can be quite strong. Initially I started out quite strict and stopped eating any fruit. Instead having vegetables for snacks. Now I have been doing for a while Fruit is back in but i still try to go for vegetables as snack.

avoid dry fruit as I find the sugar hit can be quite strong

I agree entirely with this statement but when you're trying to 'come-down' from Sugary Snacks the strong Sugar hit helps! YMMV :o)

Peanut butter crackers is also my solution

May I recommend Meridian instead of whole earth? It’s 100% peanut, so no added salt or palm oil. This means you need to stir it every now and then, but it’s healthier, tastier, and better for the environment.

Freezey pops! Or them litte cartons of apple or orange frozen, to knaw and suck on. They're maybe about 60/70 calories

Dark Rye Ryvita are tasty - add a healthy topping of choice - or maybe something sweet like honey.

You may need a bit of MTFU and simply have nothing in you can snack on and eat 5% more at mealtimes.

Ha, yeah. You're totally right - and I appreciate the mild bullying.

I don't actually need to lose weight but I want to kick the habit. I'm a bit of a slave to the sugar and my good intentions are struggling to outweigh the lizard brain cravings. So thanks for all the suggestions, I'm going to go shopping and get a few things in today.

Sorry – about 30 mins at 170deg in the fan oven is about right for me, but it depends on the oven I guess. Just cook them until they look nicely cooked and crispy 💪

Thanks for the reply - I am definitely going to try this, they sound great!

Oatcakes and Bananas

The oatcake is a low-energy dense food, meaning it has a low-calorie content compared to its serving size. Oatcakes can help you feel full on fewer calories, which can aid in weight control.

At the moment and as part of a weight loss plan, I eat snacks of celery, carrot, pepper, radish, baby plum tomatoes. These obviously require some prep, so I cut up a mix of these in the morning for PM snacking.

If I really want something sugary I tend to go for a rice cake or 2 with the whole earth peanut butter on, no added sugar and reasonably low in oil too. Either that or some 74% Tesco dark chocolate with some pecans or walnuts.

I still eat biscuits too often as well but they are on both floors at work and free, plus I have very little will power so I find them hard to avoid!

Good luck at coming off sugar, I've not managed it yet, but I am about 2 stone lighter so far this year.

Nuts - peanuts and cashews work for me, just watch the salt content on salted nuts
Whisky, lots of it - when hunger strikes you probably won't be ar%ed getting up and if you do you'll probably never make it to the kitchen

eat an apple

Whisky, lots of it

And then heroin to kick the alcohol habit, yeah?

Crumpets with loads of butter.

As a matter of interest OP, do you put sugar in your tea/coffee, on your cereals etc? If so, cut that out first, that should reduce the craving. Well, after the cold turkey has subsided.

Or a bowl of cold/hot porridge oats with dried fruit and water.

I'm a sucker for palm oil free peanut butter sandwiches and it's easy to get carried away, same for salted peanuts with dried mixed fruit. Oh and don't get addicted to cold cross buns! 😳

And then heroin to kick the alcohol habit, yeah?

Totally, and watch the weight just drop off

salted peanuts with dried mixed fruit

peanuts, yes and cashews (Lidl loose ones are excellent), love them but dried fruit just makes me fart. And not the amusingly loud odour free ones but quiet sticky and able to clear a room so avoid. Suspect it's the sulphur dioxide used as a preservative

If you're tired and lethargic after dinner and trying to compensate with sugar, maybe you're not hungry (after all you're <3 hours after probably your biggest meal of the day). Maybe you just need more sleep?

Or, do as I say not as I do, I find bombay mix type snacks has the best ratio of "least moreish" : "vaguely healthy". I can eat a handful and then stop, just about anything else I'll obliterate the whole packet.

As a matter of interest OP, do you put sugar in your tea/coffee, on your cereals etc? If so, cut that out first, that should reduce the craving. Well, after the cold turkey has subsided.

Nope, I drink plenty of coffee but no sugar. Although I have a sweet tooth, weirdly I can't stand sugar in coffee. Very occasionally I'll have a sugared tea but I don't think I've had one in the last 12 months.

Anyway, I'm having a month (May) off chocolate, biscuits and cake. We'll see how that goes and how creative I can get to sidestep the rules ("That's not cake, that's a tart so it's totally OK!").

If you’re tired and lethargic after dinner and trying to compensate with sugar, maybe you’re not hungry (after all you’re <3 hours after probably your biggest meal of the day). Maybe you just need more sleep?

I don't think I feel unwell when I'm craving, it's just a bad habit that I've got into eating chocolate most evenings. Perhaps it's less a physiological addiction than psychological.

Anyway it's day 2 and I'm doing OK, although I'd feel happier if those tiny elephants would stop crawling all over me.