May 31, 2013

June Challenge: Mindful Snacking

I cannot believe it’s the last day of May already – this year is flying by! It’s been a while since I’ve talked about my monthly challenges, in part because I made the decision to keep my May challenge to myself. However, I’m guessing some of you may have figured out what it was anyway! I decided that for the month of May, I was going to try to focus more on my blog. I added a few pages (check out my brand new About Me page), and also embarked on a complete redesign. The finishing touches went on the design this morning (basically some problems with comment forms, that I now think are fixed), but of course it will always be a work in progress. If you see anything wonky, or even think I could improve something about the design, please drop me a line and let me know – I’d really appreciate any feedback.

One thing that you may have noticed even if you’re reading this in an RSS feed instead of on my website (hey, RSS readers, click on over and check out the pretty design you’re missing!) is that the official title of my blog has changed. Instead of being “Absolut(ly) Fit,” I’m now “50by25” – mirroring my URL and social media handles (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram). I hope this isn’t a confusing change for all of you; personally, I think it more accurately represents who I am.

In short, when I first started this blog, I thought that the “Absolut(ly) Fit” name was a great one. It encapsulated what I believed then – and still do – that everything in life is about balance. However, it was a tough title to spell and also just a bit juvenile. Since my URL was already 50by25.com, I thought it made more sense to rebrand with that name – though of course, I still do enjoy my post-race margaritas and Tuesday nights at the wine bar 🙂

As far as 50by25 goes, although it does reference a goal that I reached a few years ago, it’s been an important life achievement for me. I’m certainly not going to stagnate there (I have so much more I want to accomplish in life!), but it serves as a great reminder for me that I can do things I never before thought possible. Plus, I think 50by25 is also the perfect example of a good goal. It’s clear, it’s concise, and it’s timebound. If only all my goals could be that neat! Which brings me to discussing my June challenge, which I absolutely am going to share and would encourage you to join me in working toward reaching it.

I’ve always heard that people have different “food personalities” that keep them from losing weight. For example, I have always thought that I get tripped up by being a clean plate clubber (I always finish what’s in front of me), whereas my mom’s pitfall is that she is a “grazer” (eats a bite of this snack, a bite of that snack). However, lately it seems like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – because I am definitely developing some grazer-like tendencies.

I have always kept plenty of healthy(ish) snacks at my desk area (protein bars, apples, etc), so that if I’m really hungry during the day, I have somewhere to turn. But at my current client, I work in a big “bullpen” of desks, and there is always some yummy treat going around. (Have you tried Pangburn’s Texas Millionaires? My coworker Barry generously brought them in and they are fantastic!) To “reciprocate”, I’ve started bringing candy in to keep on my desk too – but now I am guiltily nibbling on it all day long. A chocolate pretzel here, some gobstoppers there… and when I log it into my calorie tracker later, I realize that in total I’m eating a good 300-600 calories in snacks every day. Yikes! That’s a full meal! And even if I’ve snacked away the afternoon, it’s often pure sugar that doesn’t fill me up and still makes me hungry for dinner – so I’m not dropping the calories elsewhere.

I don’t want to say that I’m giving up snacking for the month of June, because I do think that snacks are an important part of the day. We typically take lunch breaks around noon, and that’s a long time to go until dinner at 8 or 9pm! But I want to make sure that I am having a snack mindfully. Right now, I’m grabbing little bites every hour or so, which is just not that satisfying so I keep eating more and more. It’s so easy to tell yourself that one munchkin donut won’t matter, but when that’s combined with all the other single bites you take, it adds up.

So instead of giving up snacking, I’m limiting myself to one in-between-meals snack per day. If that’s one nibble of chocolate that I eat without thinking about it right after lunch? Sucks for me – no more till dinner. I’m hoping this will encourage me to sit down and have a mindful snack (say, a chocolate square PLUS an apple with peanut butter) at a more strategic time that will actually tide me over until dinner. If there’s an occasion where I end up eating some junk food before I was planning to have a real snack, I think it will also be a good reminder that I’m not going to keel over into a dead faint just because I didn’t eat for a few hours! I think a lot of the snacking I’m doing lately is due to stress or boredom, and this plan should help eliminate that.

Anyone else in for this month’s challenge?

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6 thoughts on “June Challenge: Mindful Snacking”

  1. I really like the new look of the blog and think 50by25 works really well, it’s a huge part of your life and always will be!

    I’m totally on board for the June challenge of mindful snacking. I’m really trying to get a grasp on my nutrition right now, it’s not that I eat horrible or in excess I just really want to analyze it more and see where I can improve. So I have been tracking my food again using My fitness pal. When it comes to snacking I feel like this tool really helps you keep snacks in check because you have to log it so I can see if I have had too many snacks in one day or something!

    1. I use MyFitnessPal too! Feel free to add me – my username is 50by25Laura. (Though gosh my log is pretty embarrassing!)

  2. I’m up for the challenge because I always have a few dark chocolate almonds here or there (not terrible) but really need to have a sufficient enough snack so I don’t keep going back for more and more.

  3. What a great challenge! I have to admit, I have fallen back into the “nibble and munch” category of eating lately, with traveling, moving, and lots of special end-of-the-school year events offering temptations. This has, however, been GOOD for me, since it has truly made getting over my calorie counting obsession a much easier feat. I would like to get back into more mindful snacking territory, however… 🙂

    1. Nibble-and-munch is DEFINITELY a great way to start eating more intuitively! Unfortunately, for me I don’t end up nibbling intuitively – I nibble because “oh it’s only one bite” and out of boredom, and then I eat my full meal after anyway. I am definitely a bit too scheduled in my eating and could benefit from going more intuitive 🙂

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