All woman, including myself, can certainly say that the one nemesis when it comes to staying on track with your programme, or trying to lose weight, is that pesky, uncontrollable snacking. Don’t worry ladies, I have dealt with this with my clients and with my self and have come up with five of the best tips to help you regain control and get back on track.

Who knows this story well? You start the day with a green smoothie, you have your lemon water and head out to work. You forego the 11 o’clock snack because it’s Monday and you are starting fresh. For lunch, you have prepped your self a green garden salad and you can literally feel the healthy halo forming above your head.

But when you get home from work you are bloody starving, I mean who wouldn’t be? You have basically survived on leaves all day.

You hand wanders into the crips bag without you even thinking about it, before you know it your salty fingertips and are the bottom of the pack. Still not done you have a bowl of cereal and top it off with a biscuit, just for safe measure. Few now you feel full, but…shit(!) your perfect ‘starting-fresh-Monday’ is ruined!

‘Ah well, I’ll have dinner and a glass of wine in front of the TV’. And of course, you can’t have wine without some nuts… and another bag of crisps. ‘I’ll start again on the diet tomorrow.’

If that sounds like you.. read on my love. I got you.

1: Make your meals filling and satisfying, whilst paying attention to macronutrients.

As I outlined in the example above, the temptation to go super hard and fast when we start changing our lifestyle is too tempting for some. Although you may feel like you are going to fast track your results, this is the path to quickly falling off the wagon. Drastically reducing your calories, eating food that is just not satisfying your taste buds and missing out on essential macronutrients will leave you craving snacks pronto.

For example, a meal with veggies alone is not providing your body with much protein and no fat. Therefore we want to add in some protein and fat sources to balance this out. Not only will that reduces the effect on your blood sugar level, keeping it more evenly throughout the day, but the fat will actually slow the emptying of the stomach, leaving you fuller for longer.

So next time you make a salad, smoothie or snack, take a look and think if you have added protein and fat, (could be plant-based or not).

2: Utilise the 30-second rule.

This next one I did slightly steal of the awesome Ben Coomber. If you haven’t checked out his podcast yet and you are interested in training and nutrition please do.

Next time you reach for your unhealthy snack, whether it be in the shop, the vending machine, the kitchen cupboard or wherever. take 30 seconds to pause before you chomp. In those 30 seconds, decide if you are hungry, bored, thirsty, doing it out of routine, tired, desperate, craving, etc, etc.

The idea is that in that 30 seconds you are no longer acting out of habit and impulse but rather thinking rationally. Try this for a day and see how you go.

3: Change your situation.

This one requires a little bit more effort and thought. I want you to think through the times in the day that you find yourself reaching for the snacks. What is it about that time that gets you snacking? Can you do something else instead that means that you are less likely to snack?

To successfully change the pattern of behaviour we need to physically change the location or state of your body. meaning, if you snack most in the evenings when you are watching TV, can you and your other half go for a walk instead, or could you take a bath and read a book? Or if you are more likely to go to the vending machine on your coffee break, can you take a walk around the block, or not go anywhere near the vending machine and take in a homemade snack instead.

Whatever you associate your snacking habits with, needs to change in order for you to shake the pattern of behaviour.

4: Put some obstacles between you and the snack.

This one really seems like a no-brainer…but for some reason we still keep doing it. Hey, just don’t buy the snacks! Go shopping when you are full and satisfied and feeling in a positive spirit. Then fill your fridge and cupboards with healthy tasty foods.

This is all about creating obstacles between you and the snack. If you have to leave your house/call up your other half to get it for you on the way home from work, it becomes a lot harder to snack and easier to take a breath, use the 30/second rule and decide if you really want it or not.

Now, I know a lot of people have snacks in the house for other family members, so get them to hide the snacks, or put them in a place which is harder to see. All these little things help with the will power devils!

5: Be kind to yourself and persevere.

Let’s be honest, breaking old habits and creating new ones is bloomin’ hard work. Some days you will be doing amazingly and then one small thing can throw you off. Events come up and you may lose sight of your end goal for a while, or an unsupportive friend or partner can temp you over to the Darkside. Basically, LIFE happens. Now, Rather than us using the phrase ‘fallen off the wagon’ (which I absolutely hate), you are simply living life like a normal person. Some days are good, some not so good, all you got to do is make your next decision a good one.

Be kind to yourself, do your best and do that consistently

My next round of intake for VIP coaching clients is opening now. If you would like to work closely with me on your health and fitness journey, please fill out the form here and I will contact you asap.

Have a great day, and be sure to share this post with a friend x