1. I’m having a million snacks a day

You’re not alone. Part of it is boredom or it can be attributed to more time in the kitchen. Try what we call Snack Spacing. A good anti-graze tactic is to look at the time and add two hours. “It’s 3pm, the next time the kitchen is open is 5pm.” So much snacking is impulsive, if you delay you’ve usually won. Try for at least two hours of digestive rest between meals and snacks, or snacks and snacks.

2. My sweet tooth is more like sweet teeth

Quarantine sweet cravings are intense. Some Foodtrainers’ clients, who were previously not sweet eaters, now can’t get enough. Try what we call One Singular Sweet-sation. Pick one time in your day for sweetness. For example, if you like a sweet after dinner, try to make mid-afternoon a savory snack such as nuts or olives. Lauren goes into more detail in her latest JustBobbi article.

3. I need to crunch

There’s a reason for that. Crunching is anxiety relieving. Eating a large bag of chips? Not so much. Some healthy, crunchy options are Simple Mills or Jillz crackers, Siete grain free tortilla chips, Amazi plantain chips, pickles and apples. A trick our clients use is to Vegify snacks. Even if it’s not your only snack, have a cup of cut veggies with your snack for bulk.

4. I’m eating the right things but definitely over doing it

Yup, we’re seeing a lot of over-nutting, over-chipping etc. One solution for this is what we call No Container Eating. When you eat directly from the Costco vat of nuts, or other container, it never ends well. Use your nutcase or 1/4 cup measure for nuts. We should also point out it’s not all that sanitary to stick your hand in a bag.

5. I need a cheese support group

OK, this is a snack issue we’ll cop to. If you don’t want to eat sweets or snacky snacks, it’s easy to lean on cheese. Well, we certainly leaned. If you want an alternative to cheese – olives, pickles, and jerky are good choices. In Little Book of Thin, Lauren suggests a serving of cheese is “lipstick-sized”.

6. My timing is off

Many clients are having a later breakfast and then it’s off to the snack races. But even if breakfast is at lunchtime, we’d still have lunch, a few hours later. These TAKY rollups from last week’s newsletter are a go-to for us. A small lunch is preferred over a pupu platter of snacks.

7. I’m eating my kids/partners/roommates Cheetos

This is a big challenge when everyone is eating all their snacks at home. Keep unhealthy snacks in a different drawer or cabinet from healthy items. OR, if you don’t buy it, you won’t eat it. You’d be surprised, if you make a healthy snack plate with cut fruit and veggies, your people will eat it.

8. Baking helps pass the time

It seems like everyone is either baking banana bread or sourdough. If you’ve baked once or twice, no problem. But if your home has turned into the Great British Baking Show, it’s time to curb things. Maybe baking is weekends only? Or, try paleo recipes which use better flours and sweeteners (yes you can overeat on paleo brownies too, for sure).

9. More Netflix = more snacks

If you’re someone who snacks while watching TV or Netflix or snacks while doing work, let’s work on that. You want to decouple snacking from screen time (you may want to decouple more than that but that’s out of our domain). We’re down with both Netflix and snacks, just not concurrently.

10. I’ve given up

This is all a lot. Everyone’s emotions are all over the place. It’s easy to feel hopeless. Just start small. Pick one solution on this list and give it a try.
Here’s a snack recipe to try when you need an easy fix, perfect for those who love a little crunch:Guaccus
A Foodtrainers’ client turned us on to this recipe. It’s like a hummus and guacamole hybrid. You likely have chickpeas in the pantry and unlike guac, there’s no chopping required. This makes a large bowl of dip, feel free to ½ it.

What you’ll need

1 can of chickpeas- drain but save the chickpea juice (liquid)
1 avocado, if they’re super small use 2
½ cup cilantro
Couple pinches salt

What to do
Combine chickpeas, some of the liquid, avo, cilantro, salt in blender or food processer, if you need add a bit more liquid to thin. Transfer to a bowl, serve with carrots, radishes, or your crudite of choice.

If you have snack issues or need to vent, we’re @Foodtrainers  & @shopfoodtrainers on Instagram. If you’d like some accountability, the next Foodstalking week is 5/4. Email lauren@foodtrainers.com if you want in.