Day 125 – Solution for Snacking

by Bill Wallace on August 9, 2008

Exercise Summary:

  • Wednesday: 6.85km; 41:30mins; 552 cal; heart: 142bpm
  • Saturday: 6.07km; 33:48mins; 515 cal; heart: 150bpm
  • Month to date: 26.5km

These last 3 weeks at work have been pretty intense and I have not been posting like I should. I have read through my favourite blogs for inspiration though so thanks to those who have continued to blog.

The only thing I think I have been maintaining is the running schedule. Where once it was the last thing I would do it has become the exercise I CAN do with little effort (to get going) and know that it’ll have a positive impact on my weight, fitness and mindset.

In term of getting healthier it still comes down to Eat Better : Move More.

So what gets in my way?

I have to say my appetite is seriously worrying me (aka snacking!) I used to come home after work, have my Jenny Craig meal, a snack and that was pretty much it. Now I am finding I am just hungry and it seems to be all the time.

That means snacking is increasing and while I am still running my weight lost isn’t as good as it could be.

Snacking has to go. So I did a search on ways to stop snacking and came up with this. Ryan blogged this back in 2005 but it makes a lot of sense to me – brush your teeth after a meal.

“So here’s my simple technique to help you stop snacking: Brush your teeth immediately following a meal.

I find that doing this prevents me from snacking between meals for three reasons. One, whatever I eat after brushing my teeth will most likely taste bad. Two, I don’t want to go to the trouble of brushing my teeth again. And three, I don’t want to mess up that fresh feeling in my mouth by eating junk food.”

So this week, after my evening meal, this is going to be what I do. Just to see if it works.

Sometimes the simplest solutions are often the best. :)

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

cathy August 9, 2008 at 5:40 pm

This is so true! The minty taste really kind of kills snacking urges. I’ve also heard that eating an Altoid mint can kill the urge too.

Andrew is getting fit August 9, 2008 at 6:12 pm

I hope it works. Let us know.

I found that as the mileage per week increases the appetite increases as well. A nasty side effect of increased calorie burning seems to be increased calorie wanting!

Bill Wallace August 10, 2008 at 12:51 am

@ Cathy: Thanks for confirming my thoughts Cathy. I’ll see how I go. It gets pretty frustrating doing the exercise then ruining it with eating.

@Andrew: You’ve hit the nail on the head I think. The more I eat the more the body needs the sustenance. I am getting really thirsty after a run (diabetes test results will be in soon) but need to drink copious amounts of water and not Pepsi! :(

Andrew(AJH) August 10, 2008 at 6:23 am

Might have to try that trick myself – I snack far too much at night.

Iceplielp September 22, 2008 at 6:01 am

I wanted to research this subject and write a paper. Your post what a thousand words would not. Nice job.

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