How to Handle Your Next Snack Attack

You know it’s coming; your next inevitable snack attack. You might even know when and where, as these things tend to have a pattern. Every day, say around 3:30, you find yourself scrounging around the office break room, your fridge or pantry looking for something to get you to dinner.

And if you’re lucky you find a left-over donut or muffin from breakfast or you stuff some quarters into a vending machine. Regardless, you usually end up eating whatever you find, which is almost always something at the opposite end of the spectrum from healthy. Yes, you could try to avoid snacking altogether, but then you end up overeating at dinner. There is a better way…just keep reading.

I think the term “snack” or “snacking” has negative connotations. It implies eating something unhealthy at a time other than mealtime. We usually think of candy bars, bags of crunchy things like chips, cookies, candy coated chocolate, microwave popcorn, crackers, or misnamed “nutrition” bars when we think of snacks. I think we need to rejigger (I wrote that not knowing if it was a word or not. It is) our brains to think differently about snacks or maybe come up with a new term, like “filler,” “snippet,” or “collop.” Never mind, those terms suck, but you get the general idea.

Anyway, back to the subject of this post…there are ways you can better handle your next snack attack and they are as follows:

• Be prepared as humanly possible for that next snack attack by purging your area (kitchen, office break room, desk, at-home workspace) of the unhealthy snacks you cannot stop yourself from eating even under threat of torture. You know what they are. For me it’s those damn Kinder-Bueno bars and/or just about anything that contains chocolate. If there’s chocolate within my “area” I’m going to eat it, calories be damned. Therefore, I do not bring it into the house, and I’ve instructed my wife to do the same (although there are times we both fail at this endeavor).
• Be prepared as humanly possible for that next snack attack by, not only having healthy snacks in your area, but also by having them within arm’s reach, especially around your preferred snack time. Figure out what healthy snack you enjoy most, for me it’s pears, grapes and pistachios. I’m sure it’s something different for you, but you must have a few healthy things that you love to eat like nuts, apples and peanut butter, low-fat yogurt, veggies and hummus, or hard-boiled eggs. Just be sure that if your snack requires a little prep that it’s done ahead of time…slice the veggies or apples that morning or boil some eggs a few days out. They will keep in the fridge.
• Keep healthy drinks close at hand as well. Nothing ruins a healthy snack like washing it down with soda. Ideally, water should be your beverage of choice, but boredom does quickly set in. Remember, coffee has no calories. However, most people add calories in the form of sugar and/or creamers. Tea is another healthy option, minus the added calories. Coconut water is a healthy option as is beet or pomegranate juice. I’ve also heard that once you go kombucha you never go back. I haven’t tested that theory yet.

The key to facing down you next snack attack is to simply be prepared for it. You know it’s coming, just be ready for it by keeping your favorite healthy choices within your field of vision. Like I said, if I see chocolate, I’m going to eat it, but I won’t get in my car to go in search for it. I’ll tear my fridge and pantry apart looking for chocolate, but I won’t leave the house to get it. Strange, perhaps, but I’m betting that many of you have the same odd rule. Just remember, the key to healthy snacking is the ley to just about everything else in life…preparation.