I never nibbled during weight loss, but now that I'm maintaining I do sometimes. It's kind of nice to, I enjoy it, I missed it. I am just sure to be mindful of it and "calorie aware", as it has been so well put.
Sometimes I nibble a lot and sometimes a little, I go through stages with that. But I with the exception of the last week and next few, where I've given my full term pregnant self permission to eat however much I'm hungry for (provided it is an on-plan food choice), if I nibble it I record it in my food log. That way the calories don't sneak up on me.
Two of the first concepts in Dr Judith Beck's book are to only eat sitting down and to eat slowly and mindfully. Nibbling doesn't fit those rules :-).
I'm finding that I don't miss nibbling much, but I'm very aware of times when I would normally nibble--when measuring out food to put on our plates, when mixing cookie dough, when moving cookies to the cooling rack, when making the next day's lunch--all of those are times when I would have nibbled.
I tell myself I get enough food at my regularly scheduled meals and snack(s). I don't need to nibble. Part of the logic is that one is more visually satisfied if one sees all of the food in front of them. Nibbling with weight loss means the food on the plate has to decrease.
Everyone finds what works for them, but after 2 months of not eating standing up, it has gotten to be a habit. I don't even do so much as lick my finger. I find it hard now to even taste food at the stove for flavoring.
Another non-nibbler. I miss it, but am mostly used to it now, and know that it works much better for me this way.
I will have a snack if I am hungry - I always have greek yogurt and hardboiled eggs around or in the evening, I sometimes have a muffin that I make with oat bran. But to me, that's very different than nibbling.
To me, nibbling and snacking are one and the same. It's all such a mental game, which this thread shows. We all have our semantics, our rules, our allowable exceptions.
To me, nibbling and snacking are one and the same.
For me (others probably have different definitions), a snack is a planned thing--I know what I'm going to eat, I get it from the kitchen, sit down somewhere and enjoy it. My plan has an afternoon snack (due now!) and an occasional evening snack.
Nibbling (for me) is when I pop things in my mouth when preparing food, or if I wander into the kitchen looking for "something". My plan doesn't allow for nibbling.
That's the distinction I make, at any rate.
Last edited by bethFromDayton; 03-08-2013 at 03:36 PM.
For me (others probably have different definitions), a snack is a planned thing--I know what I'm going to eat, I get it from the kitchen, sit down somewhere and enjoy it. My plan has an afternoon snack (due now!) and an occasional evening snack.
Nibbling (for me) is when I pop things in my mouth when preparing food, or if I wander into the kitchen looking for "something". My plan doesn't allow for nibbling.
That's the distinction I make, at any rate.
Interesting, to me nibbling is the same as snacking. I'm eating something that isn't a main meal. It isn't grazing mindlessly, since I always write down the quantities and calories. Clarifying terms is definitely helpful when we're talking about different things with the same words
By your definition I don't nibble, I snack. If I lick sauce off a spoon, I calculate the portion of the recipe it might have been in all but the rarest exception.
For me, nibbling meant having a bag of pretzels or almonds or candy at my desk or on the kitchen counter at home, and just randomly eating a few pieces at a time throughout throughout the day.
With a snack, I get my yogurt (or whatever) and sit and eat it, and then I'm done, just like with a meal. I guess I could say I eat 4-5 meals a day instead, just that a couple of them are pretty small, like a cup of yogurt or a couple of hardboiled egg whites. But I don't eat anything randomly in between those times.
I'm afraid to nibble. It might end up like having 1 thin mint G.S. cookie and find the whole sleeve gone. Once my taste buds have awakened its hard to stop appeasing them. Maybe once I get to my goal weight, I wouldn't mind nibbling my meals thru out the day.
Last edited by wannaskipandlaugh; 03-08-2013 at 08:01 PM.
Lately, if I have found that I am in a nibbling or "grazing" mood, I will pop a 100-calorie bag of popcorn and just nip from that for the day. (There is a surprising amount of popcorn in these bags, since I get the unbuttered ones.) It keeps my numbers on track by having a set amount of calories available, and I can also nibble when I feel like it without having to think too much about it. Win, win for me. I also like to snack on fruits and veggie sticks, but sometimes I want something munchy & more savory, and this does the trick with minimal indulgence.
Last edited by opheliaphoenix; 03-08-2013 at 07:56 PM.
Nope. The only thing is free samples--if they're fairly healthy--and I try to take the smallest one. I just think they're fun, and hopefully no more than 35 calories or so.
