PrintEd Levine's Serious Diet Week 7: Can the 100-Calorie Snacks Be a Trap?
My wife, who has never struggled with her weight, called me out yesterday about the proliferation of 100-calorie snack packages she has noticed around our apartment. I of course got defensive and told her I had the whole thing under control. Furthermore, I was doing research for an upcoming series of posts on the best 100-calorie snacks (both sweet and savory). In other words, my longtime defense and justification for overeating was rearing its ugly (and fat) head again: "I'm just doing my work, dear."
Then yesterday evening, after I had consumed my third 100-calorie snack pack of the day, it hit me like a ton of Cheez-Its. Maybe she's right.
If the first part of solving a problem is acknowledging its existence, maybe I need to acknowledge that I have or certainly could become a 100-calorie snackoholic. This happened to me a few years ago with Nabisco's Snackwell cookies. The fact that they are called Snackwell gave me license to eat half a bag of cookies without thinking about it. Ten pounds later, I had to go cold turkey on Snackwells.
I'm glad Vicky said what she did about my 100-calorie snack-pack habit. I actually don't think I stepped over the line, but the scale will tell the tale. I'm heading there now: All right, I'm down one pound. I live to eat another bag of 100-calorie snacks.
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19 Comments:
I guess what you want to ask yourself when you're reaching for one of those 100-calorie snack packs is "Am I eating this because I'm hungry?" A lot of times we reach for food when we really are just looking for something else to do. Or are "eating emotionally". Congrats on the weight loss so far though!
Amandarama at 8:37AM on 02/21/08
sometimes those packs are helpful, if for nothing else than for reminding you what a reasonable portion size is. Good Job on the loss! I'm proud of you and as always, cheering you on!
huney_bumper at 8:39AM on 02/21/08
Ed: Now that you've made some consistent weight decreases, you should start keeping a running tally of pounds lost. How many is this total?
Adam Kuban at 8:53AM on 02/21/08
I think the controlled portions are helpful.
We have the exact opposite of your situation around here. My husband is naturally very thin and eats like a horse. Because he's thin, he thinks he's healthy and eats whatever he wants (lots o' sugar and chips, etc.). Bad, bad! I, on the other hand, look at a Twinkie and metabolize it straight to my belly!
To make a longish story less long, we disagree about the foods that are kept around the house. He doesn't want to give up any of the junk that he likes even though it sabotages me. And he doesn't want to make an effort to eat healthier either. I'm very frustrated with having to exert monumental willpower every time I open the fridge, freezer, or pantry for a healthy snack only to be bombarded with tempting sweets, etc. I'm just as frustrated that he thinks he doesn't have health issues related to his diet just because he's thin. (High cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes all run in his family and none of them are overweight.)
MelsDiner at 8:58AM on 02/21/08
My portion control is completely worse with the 100 calorie packs. I tend to eat the entire box with the just ification that really it would only be eating the equivalent of two or three servings of the regular type snacks.
The only 100 calorie snacks I can control myself on are the Genny (sp?) brownies or the Vitalicious muffins. The individual sale of each therefore makes me only eat one. However, I firmly believe if they came packaged in boxes of six like the other 100 calorie snack I would eat six in one sitting.
I've found out (Even with a president's day blowout) that I went down a pound. Surprising. But, aside from those 100 calorie brownies, I eat regular snack food, but I only do it on the weekend. Why deprive one's self of the slightly less flavorful treat if you can control either portion or habit of when you eat the regular version.
For me, after a snack addiction to the 100 calorie packets I realized that however skewed my portion size was, so was my definition of snacking. Therefore my version of snack control is slightly different. Don't change the snack, just the way you approach eating it.
souldawg at 9:46AM on 02/21/08
If you're like me, I wouldn't even keep those snack packs around. Alas, you're not like me in that you can't totally kick foods even remotely considered unhealthy out of your life. I guess you can be real about it, though--how many snack packs do you have to eat in order to complete your investigation, anyway? What else are you eating in the span of a day that tacks on to that 100 calories?
That all aside, congrats on your latest pound! Obviously, you're doing something right, and you should be proud of that!
OneWallKitchen at 10:04AM on 02/21/08
Two words: Junk food.
If you're looking for a conveniently-packaged 100 calorie snack, why not eat an apple (~72 calories) or an orange (~86 calories)? Want less carbs and more protein? Try a cup of yogurt (low fat with fruit, ~115 calories) or a stick of string cheese (~80 calories) or a hard boiled egg (~76 calories).
All the above are easy, tasty, snack foods with the benefit of less packaging and less processing. High fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and processed foods aren't good for your diet whether they come in calorie packages of 1,000 or 100.
Aside from that, yay! Congrats on the continued weight loss.
megnut at 10:35AM on 02/21/08
An apple = the original 100 calorie snackpack.
KarynMC at 12:03PM on 02/21/08
Agree totally with Megnut on this one: it may only be 100 calories, but it's still junk food. The kind of food that comes in these packs doesn't do much to satisfy or nourish. What it does is keep you in the habit of craving sugar and other simple carbohydratey rubbish. I lost over 100 pounds on my own--I know of what I speak. If you're craving something sweet and filling, here is my favorite treat: roasted fruit (apples, pears, peaches, plums--depends on the season) sprinkled with cinnamon/nutmeg/garam masala etc, no sugar necessary, spooned over plain yogurt and sprinkled with a bit of granola for crunch.
That said, congrats on the continued downward trajectory of the scale, Ed. It's not easy to lose weight for those of us who are obsessed with food 24/7.
Jenn at 12:25PM on 02/21/08
See, that IS the trap. These little snack packs do not deliver the satisfaction that regular snacks provide. It makes you long for good mouth-feel, so you eat some more. It's why we all wound up eating full boxes of those Snackwells -- no satisfaction. My way is is strict, but works for me: none of these little darlings, and instead a strictly rationed -- and very occasional -- dose of full-fat flavor. A handful of Double-cheese baked Cheetos, for example, will do the trick. A couple of spoonsful of Bobbi's wonderfully garlicky hummus, straight. Or that Zaro's brownie, if you prefer. Try it.
tantejoan at 12:26PM on 02/21/08
Sorry to double-post, but I forgot my yogurt-flavoring tip: Try adding about 3 tablespoons of pomegranate seeds to your morning (or snacktime) plain Greek yogurt. It's tart and sweet, plus antioxidant. And Fairway has been selling nice tubs of seeds, so you don't have to deal with the peeling and staining.
tantejoan at 12:32PM on 02/21/08
Oh, and another good snack for when you're feeling peckish and snacky is popcorn. You can make it on the stove in stock pot with a lid using only a teaspoon or two of oil (just make sure to keep shaking it) and it tastes waaay better than air popped or microwave. And then have fun creating spice mixtures to toss with it: cinnamon and a little powdered sugar; smoked paprika and nutritional yeast; finely grated parmesan and rosemary; chili powder and garlic salt, and on and on. You can make enough for a few days at a time and keep it in a ziploc. Only danger is, it's easy to eat a big ol' bucket of popcorn in one sitting, but it's still got way more fiber than those snack packs, and fiber is a dieter's best friend...
Jenn at 12:42PM on 02/21/08
I love the popcorn and yogurt suggestions.
Was too scared to get on the scale this morning. Maybe I'll try later.
Kerosena at 12:53PM on 02/21/08
Today's weigh in:
175/lbs / 22%
triple w00t!!! I did not expect to have rebounded from last week so well.
My opinion of 100 calorie snack packs, is that it's like giving a heroin addict a teeny tiny shot. Or giving an alcoholic a pony bottle of beer. It's still 100 calories of crap. Seriously, CheezIts and Snackwells are what you crave? Why not just forgo the 3 or 4 snacks (or more?) and just look forward to eating 400 calories more of REAL FOOD at your next meal? Why not eat an apple if you really need a snack?
seyo at 1:35PM on 02/21/08
(oops, didnt read the posts by megnut et al. above, who said everything I wanted to say better than I did.)
seyo at 3:36PM on 02/21/08
yes, i agree with megnut et al. those highly processed foods are just so unhealthy and unsatisfying in the long run. it would be far better to eat lower on the food chain and consume fruits and veggies for snacks. what about a banana or an orange and a small handful of almonds for a snack, a hard boiled egg and a couple of raw carrots, an apple with a little peanut butter on it, a small bowl of homemade granola with some almond milk, or a container of leftover roasted veggies from the night before.
.
cybercita at 6:52PM on 02/21/08
If portions is a concern Ed, you might like these bowls
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/0,21770,694417,00.html
Certainly not cheap, but they're good for portion control and certainly look nice.
ag3208 at 10:22PM on 02/21/08
I'm down 2 pounds this week. No idea how. I think it's the consistent exercise.
I have nothing to add to the comments above on 100 calorie packs, except that you can buy something similar for popcorn. I find that very filling and as we all know, has little downside. Not much nutrition, tho.
daveinfred at 4:19PM on 02/22/08
Ed, I know how tough this is...I was diagnosed, fairly recently, with Type II diabetes. I've done a huge amount of reading and soul-searching during these past few months, trying to figure out how, for the first time in my adult life, I am going to make changes in my diet and exercise patterns and make them sustainable for the rest of my life (I'm 57). In the past year, I've gone from 276 pounds to 245 (my goal is 220) and brought my blood sugar under control. Counting carbs, measuring my portions and exercising every day are so contrary to how I've lived my life up until now BUT I have designs on someday being a grandfather and a happy retiree. Please Ed, give up the junk food and focus on big flavors and on calories worth the investment. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!
Scottzel at 8:26AM on 02/26/08