Here are some of my personal tried and tested additional tips for managing those tricky snacking habits…

• Have one of something sweet (or savoury), then wait it out.  

I do this quite a lot – I’ll just have one chocolate, or one small biscuit (and ENJOY it!), then intentionally pause before grabbing more.  I’m not saying this is easy to do, but it can work really well as the craving often disappears after about 10 mins, but you have to wait it out!  

• Opt for a low calorie snack

Sounds like basic advice, but the smaller snack bars, protein yoghurt pouches, small packets of dried fruit, etc, can really hit the spot when you’re craving something sweet!  In the evening, my go to is a low calorie hot chocolate with a few marshmallows.  No, it’s not the same as a chocolate bar, but it allows me to stay on track with my goals!  And that’s important to me!  

• Eat proper meals.

If you eat 3 proper, satiating meals it will impact how you feel psychologically and physically.  If I have a ‘small’ meal, I tend to automatically want to pick later in the evening.  I have found that it’s much better to plan, look forward to, track and cook a larger meal in the evening so that I feel satisfied.  I’m MUCH less likely to want to snack afterwards.  ‘Spend’ more of your calories on a filling, nutritious meal and you will probably consume fewer calories overall.  

• Say it out loud.  

I read this ‘tip’ in Atomic Habits by James Clear (great book!)…  And I do sometimes do it!  I feel like an idiot, but it helps!  Haha!  Before you eat a snack, say it outloud…  “I’m going to eat this KitKat now” – it interupts the usual pattern and should give you an opportunity to think about whether you really do want it.  Sometimes I just put it straight back in the cupboard (not every time though)!  Haha!  

• No powders / tricks / supplements needed!

In my view, there’s no need to invest in appetite suppressants / other pills / shakes, etc…  It’s simply about being more mindful and helping yourself as much as possible to make choices / decisions that are in line with your overall goals.  Willpower will only get you so far, so trying new ways to implement some discipline can really help.  

Please remember – snacking isn’t bad.  Just think about moderating what you have, using whichever methods work for you.  Hopefully these tips (plus the ones in the other blog) help with that!  

If you’d like more structured advice or help with overall nutrition, target setting, accountability, someone to lean on and someone to help you develop better, healthier habits, please reach out to me via the website or via Instagram – I’d be more than happy to chat to you about what you’d like to change / achieve.   

The post More tips to help with snacking! appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

I believe that everything worth having requires some level of investment (usually time, money or  emotion) – if it’s something which requires a short term investment, then motivation may work just fine (e.g. buying something, being a good friend) – but sticking to something longer term (e.g. learning to drive, studying for an exam, fat loss) is likely to require more than just motivation…

A lot of the time, the end goal is the driver – you imagine yourself driving your own car and not spending a fortune on lessons, you imagine passing the exam and bagging that dream job, you imagine feeling confident on holiday…  But the motivation to achieve that goal can come and go because sometimes the goal feels to far away in the future to be real.  We crave instant gratification instead.

“Yeah I want my bikini body but I’d rather eat that ice cream right now”

Or

“I just had a rubbish driving lesson, I’m not going to book another for a few weeks’

Or

“I’ve had a stressful week, I’m going to go out and party instead of studying”

Sometimes motivation disappears.  Sometimes that’s ok.  But for fat loss, when we are aiming for consistency, not being ‘motivated’ can often set us back.

Having a plan in mind can really help with this. It’s almost like a promise you yourself, especially if you write it down!  I find that Sunday is a great time to do this and plan the week ahead. Write down your goals (to remind yourself of them), write down which workouts you are going to do and when. Write down and plan what you are going to eat.

Planning in this way takes a lot of the daily mental load away… everything you need to do has already been considered and thought through, you just need to execute the plan.  An added beenfit of this is knowing that you’ll be staying on track to achieve your goals if you do. WIN WIN!

Some easily implementable ideas you can do NOW…

• Take 10 mins on a Sunday to plan the week ahead
• Get a weekly fridge planner and put workouts/meals on there
• Write your shopping list based on which meals you are going to cook (don’t just wing it!)
• Put your workouts in your diary (or shared diary, or work diary!) and treat like an important meeting with yourself – don’t miss it or cancel it.
• Share your plans with someone – get some accountability!

Please give this a try – I do all of the above, every week and it really works!

Don’t rely solely on motivation.  Set your intentions, do it like you mean it.  Stick to the promises you make to yourself. 🫶🏼

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