The surprising reason snacking isn’t stopping you from seeing weight loss results
Mama, have you ever blamed your lack of weight loss results on not being able to stop snacking? Whether that’s sneaking a cookie in the pantry when no one’s looking, or eating the leftover dino nuggets off your kids’ plate on the way to the sink, mindless snacking seems to trip busy mamas up.
When mamas are struggling with snacking, they usually tell me that they lack the willpower or discipline to stop and that’s why they can’t their goals.
But what if snacking wasn’t the real issue? When I ask mamas about their eating habits, I can quickly see that it’s not the food that’s the problem. It’s the things going on around the food.
Imagine, you’re not allowed to use your phone for a day. You’ve decided to do a phone fast, and while it’s something you’re capable of doing, it’s challenging.
When you wake up first thing in the morning, you roll over and go to grab your phone, but quickly remember that you’re not allowed to, so you set it back down. Not bad, you almost slipped up, but it’s fine.
Then your kids ask you what the weather is supposed to be like for the day. And you go to check it on your phone buut you can’t. Ok, this is getting harder, you usually use your phone to check the weather but you can just ask Alexa, no biggie.
Then your mom calls to chat. Buuut still no phone. This one’s harder. You can’t talk to her and you forgot to tell her that you were doing a no-phone day. So you’ll just have to ignore the call.
The day keeps going like this. You keep having a situation where you’d normally grab your phone to solve a problem, but you’re not allowed to. And after a little while, you’re going insane and starting to resent the whole process.
It’s not your phone’s fault that you can’t use it! There’s no reason to be annoyed with the phone, but you still are.
That’s just like snacking. It’s not the Oreo’s fault that you want them. But we’re mad at them for being so good that we can’t resist.
Instead of blaming the snacks, - or you! - let’s talk about the real culprits behind mindlessly snacking and solve those problems so that you can reach your goals..
Plan YOUR meals ahead
Almost all snacking, overeating, or craving issues could be solved with a solid meal plan.
A few weeks ago, one of my Macros Made Easy clients was really struggling with snacking. Despite knowing how to reach her goals, she couldn’t seem to stop taking bites off her kids’ plates or having snacks that she hadn’t planned for her day.
Then, she would feel guilty and like she’d failed, so she would just eat whatever she wanted for the rest of the day. This kept happening and she kept having to restart. It wasn’t healthy physically or mentally for her to be stuck in this cycle.
I see this happen for a lot of mamas and it’s usually because of two reasons.
#1: You don’t have any sort of plan
When I hear about mamas snacking off their kids’ plates it’s a huge red flag for me. It usually means that they didn’t take time to cook food for themselves.
I know this from experience! When all of my kids were little, instead of preparing food for myself, I could just eat anything they didn’t. It seemed like a time saver and it helped cut down on food waste. But the problem was that I became a human garbage can - who still wasn’t getting enough food.
I was technically undereating and should have lost weight. Instead, I was gaining weight because I was basically malnourished! I wasn’t giving my body the right amount of nutrients it needed to keep up with my life.
When I started planning my meals, I started cooking for myself and eating food that nourished my body! Once I was meeting my nutritional needs, I was able to lose weight.
#2: You don’t plan food you like to eat
If you are meal planning, like my client was, but you’re still snacking, I bet it’s because you’re planning to eat food that you don’t really like.
Mamas who are new to meal planning usually fill their plans with “healthy” food. Salads, veggies, chicken breasts. All the things they think they’re “supposed” to eat.
But guess what, they don’t like those foods. So instead of sticking to their meal plans, they say, “That doesn’t sound good. I don’t want that.” And they grab Chick-fil-A instead.
Just because a food is “healthy” doesn’t mean you have to eat it! If you’re just starting out on a healthy living journey, fill your meal plan with the food you normally eat. If you love mashed potatoes and gravy, then put that on your meal plan! If you normally do chicken nuggets one night to keep things easy, then plan a chicken nugget night! That’s totally fine!
Step one is developing the habit of meal planning. Once you’ve gotten that down, try a new healthy recipe once a week and start incorporating healthy food that you actually like and are excited about!
Mama, if you create a meal plan that you’re excited about, you’re less likely to eat off your kids’ plates, snack or give into cravings.
Drop unrealistic food rules
Mama, when you tell your kids they can’t do something what’s the first thing they want to do? Exactly what you told them not to! Guess what, you’re no better than your kids. When you’re told you can’t do something or can’t have something, you want it even worse!
That’s our primitive brain, or the toddler brain, as I like to call it.
That’s why even though you said you were going to give up sugar, you’re madly craving it.
Your toddler brain wants what it can’t have.
So, instead of saying no, no, no. What if you set up new rules that actually served you?
Learning about your nutritional boundaries can help you determine when to treat yo’ self, and when to pass.
That’s exactly the lesson my client, Rebekah, learned inside the Macros Made Easy program.
“My favorite food in the whole wide world is chocolate chip cookies. And for the longest time, I told myself I couldn’t have them, or if I did, then I had to workout extra hard to work them off.
It wasn’t until I understood, what chocolate chip cookies cost me nutritionally, that I understood how to make them a healthy part of my life! Now when I eat cookies, I budget for it. I plan to eat one with my kids and I don’t feel guilty about it at all. And I don’t ever feel the need to to an extra workout in because I ate something ‘bad!’”
There are no good or bad foods, only food accountability. When you start becoming accountable for what you’re eating and how much you’re eating, you can get rid of all the food rules and just eat in a way that works for you.
If you’re not sure how to learn how much food to eat, then let me help you create your nutritional blueprint! It’s a game-changer for women!
Limit exposure to foods you don’t want to eat
I know I just said there are no good and bad foods, and that’s 100% true, but that doesn’t mean all foods are for you.
As you go through your journey you’ll start to understand that as much as you may love milkshakes, how you feel after you drink one makes it not worth it!
Start taking notes of how foods make you feel, both mentally and physically when you eat them. And for the foods that aren’t making you feel the way you want to, start limiting your exposure to them!
I love the idea of limiting exposure to foods that don’t make you feel good because it puts you in the driver's seat.
I talk to a lot of mamas who say, they don’t want to eat chips, cookies, donuts, or whatever but they’re always around so they can’t help themselves.
That’s a victim mentality. When you think that you can’t do anything about it, then you won’t! But when you realize you have the power to choose whether you have food near you or better yet, eat food, you are no longer a victim.
If the problem is having snacks at home that don’t work for you, the answer is really, really simple. Stop buying them.
Now, I know the next thought you’re having is, “But my kids or my husband want them!” Then they can go out and buy it themselves. But you don’t have to buy them! If it’s harming you and your health, it doesn’t have to come into your house.
If not buying it isn’t an option, then put it somewhere where it’s out of sight and out of mind. Maybe ask your kids or husband to hide it somewhere so you don’t know where to find it.
Either way, you get to be in charge of the food and your proximity to it.
Mama, if you’re struggling to figure out how to eat healthy and you’ve been doing it on your own for years without getting any closer to your goals, then we should chat.
I offer a free Healthy Mama Blueprint Call to see if my program would benefit you and help you reach your goals. If you’re looking to change your lifestyle instead of going on another diet, then schedule a call today.
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