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Old Wed, Mar-07-18, 13:36
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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It sounds like you have many of the same issues as I do - even over-doing the same allowable OP foods as I did. IMO - you are doing the most important thing. You are sticking to OP foods. Keep doing that no matter what. I had (and sometimes still have) a problem with snacking. I didn't worry about it for several months. For me it was most important to stick to the right foods. In time, though, the weight loss slowed and I realized that my habit of snacking was likely a major reason why. It was a tough habit to overcome. Munching in front of the TV was my norm for decades. Being hungry all the time was, too. Every time I went into the kitchen I wanted to pop something in my mouth. So when eating LC, was it hunger or was it habit? I concluded that it was more habit than hunger and I wanted to break that habit. I had some weight to lose. Here is what I did...

I had to put certain OP foods like peanut butter, roasted almonds, LC sweetened things, etc. into time-out for a while. If I was going to snack it was going to be something zero carb or less tasty -- things like raw almonds. pork rinds, cold chicken thighs, or raw veggies. The point was to avoid foods that pushed those 'more, more, more' buttons in my brain. My head was expecting a goodie. I gave it food instead.

I cut out between meal snacks from breakfast to lunch and lunch to dinner. At work I have a no snacks rule, no matter what shows up in the break room. That one was fairly easy to do. It is easier when rules are black and white like that. I will admit, though, that I found this a little tougher to accomplish on the weekend.

In the evenings I set a cut-off time. No snacking after 9pm. Then I dialed it back to 8pm. Eventually it was no snacking after dinner. One thing that helped me was to eat my dinner and then immediately go out for a walk. I'd walk at least 30 minutes. By the time I got back satiety had set in and I was less likely to want to snack.

It was important to me to spread my carbs out across my meals. If I ate a VLC breakfast and lunch I could have the bulk of my carbs for dinner, right? Well, that wasn't the best idea. Too many carbs in one meal gave me the munchies. I started this WOE with net carbs < 30, but soon realized that I should keep carbs < 15 net for any given meal.

Finally, I found that intermittent fasting was quite beneficial in getting me used to the idea that I don't need to be constantly eating. Even a 12 our fast, not eating from dinner until breakfast is beneficial. Making a point not to eat during that time makes snacking off-limits. Later I added 18 hour IFs once or twice a week. No food from dinner one day until lunch the next. Eventually I worked up to a 23 hour fast from one dinner to the next. It was not as hard to do as I thought it would be. I'd get a little hungry at my normal meal time, then the hunger would go away. I only did a few of those longer IFs and I did them well into my WOE (11 months in). It was a big deal for me. I don't think that I'd missed a meal in 20 years. My brain needed a little reeducation. I still do IFs from time to time.

Getting a handle on stacking didn't happen overnight. It happened in fits and starts. I've had some relapses, too. Make a plan and just keep working at it. See if you can get to where you only eat at mealtime. IMO, longer breaks without eating does a body good.
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