How Do You Stop Snacking? (Tips for Eating Better)

Are you having trouble controlling snacking throughout the day? You're not the only one. It's a super common problem. Fortunately, there are relatively easy fixes to help you eat better and feel better. Let's talk about a few tips to help with that.

How to Stop Snacking Throughout the Day

The first tip is to make sure that you're spreading your meals out throughout the day, and that you're paying attention to the times that you're eating those meals. This has to do with our circadian clock or circadian rhythm.

And you've probably heard about that when it comes to sleep, but it comes to meal timing throughout the day—we actually have hormones that will fluctuate and kind of get used to our eating schedule. If you eat at the same time, each day, you will have up-regulation in hunger hormones around that same time that you eat. And that is going to be beneficial. Because if those hunger hormones are up-regulated, at the time that you're eating, and you're actually eating that meal, that's going to prevent them from rising at different times throughout the day that might cause hunger and cravings and potentially cause you to snack more.

Pay attention to your meal timing throughout the day and spread those meals out so that you have a good amount of food in those meals as well. Make sure that you're actually eating enough food at your main meals to help you stay fuller longer. Make sure that you are satisfied for a long period of time after eating that meal, that's going to help you not snack as much throughout the day. Also, make sure that you're actually planning your meals ahead of time.

Prep for Success to Beat Snacking

This is one of the biggest things that I make sure that I drill into my client's head is that you need to prep for success. If you're someone who is struggling with snacking throughout the day, it might mean that you're just not planning your day out accordingly. And you're not having your set meals ready to go.

That is going to be a huge way to just kind of put things on autopilot, you go into your day, you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready to go—you know what you're going to eat their meals that are going to keep you full for hours.

You won't need to grab a snack an hour after you eat if it is a good amount of food and it keeps you satisfied. Make sure that you're preparing for success. This includes thinking about your meals ahead of time.

Another point to that is just making sure that your meals contain enough foods that are high in fiber and high satiety. So if you're struggling with feeling full after meals, make sure that you're adding in higher fiber foods and enough proteinand healthy fats.

We know that adding fiber with vegetables and fruits is going to slow digestion down. And so that's going to make you feel fuller longer. Make sure that you're getting enough healthy fats in your meal because that's also going to help slow digestion down. And that will keep you fuller longer.

All of these things will play into helping to reduce snacking throughout the day. Protein is huge. Protein is going to keep you satisfied for a long period of time—it's the most satisfying nutrient out of all of the macronutrients.

Set up the Right Environment

Another tip is to set your environment up for success. Whether it's at home or at work, make sure that you are setting yourself up make it as easy as possible for yourself to get away from the snacking. If you have snacks available, they're going to be tempting you even if you have the best willpower in the world.

Keep those things out of sight and out of mind. And that's just going to make it a lot easier for you in general. The last step is to just distract yourself. If you find yourself going for a snack and you truly know that you're actually hungry, just do something that will distract you. I like to go for a walk, take a hot bath, call a friend, text a friend, listen to a podcast, or do something that's just distracting me from that snack.

And if I am still like truly hungry 10 or 15 minutes later after I've distracted myself, then I know that it's probably true hunger versus just a craving—and a lot of snacking comes from just cravings. And this is especially true if you're snacking due to stress. If you have higher stress levels, distracting yourself can be super helpful to help stave off those cravings and help to prevent you from reaching for that snack.

Just make sure that you can find something that you know distracts you whether it's like I said taking a bath calling a friend whatever it may be then if you're hungry 15 to 20 minutes later, then go ahead and have a meal. I would say if you're gonna have a snack and it's kind of outside of your regular mealtimes, choosing protein is probably going to be your best option.

The reason for that is because we know that protein is actually the hardest macronutrient to store body fat. And we've seen that in the research, especially recent research has shown us that protein is the hardest macronutrient stores body fat. So, if we overeat protein a little bit, it's not going to do as much damage as carbs and fats.

Now you know how to stop snacking—what's next? Need help with your exercise program or other aspects of your nutrition? Check out all the other great content we have on the blog and the podcast to learn more.