i posted this as a comment in a friend's lj; i thought some of you would appreciate it.


munching is.. bad. i tend to smoke too much or eat too much when i'm front of the computer myself.

here are some things i learned with regard to snacking (i love munching):

- instead of buying cookies, buy granola bars. a low-fat granola bar is 100 cals, and two small cookies is 150. but you're more likely to eat 5 cookies instead of 5 granola bars.

- popcorn is great. 3 cups of popcorn is 90 calories! 3 cups!

- veggies are great as well. if you find them too bland on their own, buy a low-fat salad dressing and dip it in them.

- be weary of nuts! they look healthy but they're high in calories. (problem solved with me though - i don't eat nuts because i can't afford them..)

- cut juices and soda. empty calories. i hate aspartame though.. so thicker juices (like oasis) i will mix with water to drink less but still retain taste. i also found some snapple "lighten up" ice tea that is just divine and low in calories and free of aspartame. lemon perrier also makes me happy, so does green tea.

- grapes, cherries & strawberries are wonderful to snack on. small fruits are more expensive these days, but i would rather snack on cherries than on cheetos.



random observations:

- vegetarian meat or chicken patties are low in fat and as tasty as the real thing & they make great hamburgers. about hamburgers: use only one slice of bread instead of two and top it with a low-fat slice of cheeze, sort of like a croque-monsieur.

- buy whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta.

- buy low-fat everything. compare calorie content.

- dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.

- ask for salad instead of fries in restaurants.


when i write it down i can't help but to think that i sound like a crazy person, but these things worked for me.. i didn't magically become thinner and contrary to popular belief, i did not starve myself to become as such. ;)


ps: when you reduce your portions, it's normal to be hungry at the beginning, but afterwards your metabolism adapts and your stomach "shrinks". also, once i got over my fear of starving (i feared i would die if i didn't eat all the time), it made the process easier to deal with.