Munch, Munch, Munch
 

What do you guys do when you have the munchies? I'm in serious need of some suggestions.

Well I distract myself with something else. Read a book, leave the house, clean, walk the dog etc. If I'm at work, then I'll drink water or get a cup of fruit flavored herbal tea .

Basicly it's getting your mind to understand that you are not hungry for munchies and that munching tends be connected with a time of day or TV show. It was for me. I still have a hard time.

Strategies for munchies:

1. The "bad" foods--the ones I tend to overeat--have to be out of the house. OUT! Period! If they are there, I will want to eat them. This doesn't last forever, but at first it's really important not to have those foods around.

2. I keep "good" alternatives on hand. For crunch, baby carrots, celery... for sweet things, fruits... for salty things, brands of foods I don't overeat but still like. I personally can't have nuts be one of these choices because I go nuts on nuts. :dizzy:

3. Chew gum, preferably sugar free. Or find some other kind of "chew toy."

4. Drink something instead of munching. A cup of tea, some hot 1% milk... even diet soda if I must.

5. Have snacks planned at regular times. It's easier to keep from munching if I know that I can have a snack at, say, 2:30, than if I have to wait until dinnertime.

Jay

If distracting myself doesn't work. I munch on celery. It's just crunchy enough, and if I overdo it... it's just celery!

I think first you need to identify if this is true hunger or just a case of the munchies. I eat frequently, every 2 hours or so in fact, avoiding that hungry feeling. Meals are full of protein and fiber. If it's hunger, I would need a protein based munchie - like an egg white omlette with sauteed veggies or a salad with tuna.

For out and out munchies - raw green beens really do the trick for me. I also munch on homemade cucumber salad - all day long. A hot cup of tea does wonders for me too. Sugar free sucking candies and/or gum. Sugar free ices. Frozen grapes. Grape tomatoes. Baby carrots.

If I have eaten too much already, AND I'm not truly hungry, I do my very best to distract myself. Puttering around the house or something like that.
Eventually it does pass. Usually. Sometimes. Hopefully. ;)

Me and lowfat cottage cheese have become best afternoon snack friends!

Tons of protein (11g) and 90 calories for the 4oz cups of the 2%milkfat kind.

i sprinkle some pepper on top of mine.

It's weird, I am very very very rarely hungry or snacky after dinner, but I am always munchy in the afternoons. I think it has something to do with being a latchkey kid - I came home from school, wasn't allowed out of the house, nothing to do but watch TV and eat.

I am munchy all afternoon, so I plan for 3 snacks. At 1:00 I have a cup of no sugar added cocoa. At 3:00 I have fruit (it's tangelo season right now - YUM) at 5:00 I have a baggie of cut up veggies. I also drink cups and cups of herbal tea - I particularly like Stash Blueberry herbal.

If I was at home and bored/munchy, I would try to distract myself. Eating a pickle also works a lot of times for me, my mouth gets so surprised by the sour taste, my craving goes away. Brushing my teeth works great too, I can't stand the way food tastes in a minty mouth.