When we diet, it can be hard to make it to the next meal. Snacking can easily become a daily habit that sabotages weight loss — it adds calories, often from food with poor nutritional value, and sometimes we don't even notice we're doing it.
Why is snacking unhelpful?
It adds calories
Studies have found that the foods we typically snack on tend to be higher in calories and lower in nutrients than meals. Extra calories are fine if they mean we eat less at meal times — but most of us don't compensate, so snacking ends up adding calories on top of what we'd normally eat. Even "healthy" snacks have calories that add up, and some contain more than people expect.
It can disrupt the rhythm your body needs to burn fat
Constant grazing keeps your digestive system working continuously rather than getting proper breaks between meals. Giving your body clear gaps between eating supports the processes that help you burn stored fat rather than constantly processing incoming food.
Why do we snack?
Our first answer is usually "because I'm hungry" — but research shows most snacking is driven by temptation rather than true hunger or low energy. Emotional triggers, social pressure, and boredom are often the real reasons we reach for food.
We snack because we’re stressed, sad or bored. Working out what kind of snacker you are is key to stopping.
"I deserve it" snackers
These snackers work hard to eat well all day, then justify a blowout in the evening or on weekends — "I've stuck to the plan, so I deserve a treat." Or they reward a hard day at work with food.
You do deserve good things — so make sure the things you choose are actually worth it to you.
Try this:
- Ask yourself: am I actually hungry?
- Decide honestly whether the snack is worth it
- Find non-food ways to treat yourself
- Remember: rewarding yourself with empty-calorie food can end up feeling more like a punishment than a reward
"Bored" snackers
This is when we have nothing else to do and fill the gap with food — made easier by how much leisure time and the easy access most of us have to food.
Try this:
- Ask yourself: am I actually hungry?
- Find something else to fill the gap
"Clockwork" snackers
You snack out of habit — it's mid-morning, so you reach for a biscuit; three o'clock means afternoon tea; a movie means popcorn. The more you snack on autopilot, the less you listen to your body's actual hunger signals, which can result in overeating without even realising.
Try this:
- Ask yourself: why am I eating right now?
- Check in — have you stopped listening to your body?
- Schedule a distraction for your usual snack time, like a walk with a friend
"Sleuth" snackers
You eat in secret, sometimes without even registering it yourself — through the drive-through, in the car, late at night when everyone's asleep. This can be intentional (hiding it because you feel judged) or subconscious (snacking on leftovers from the pan, the kids' crusts, chocolate from your desk drawer without noticing).
If this sounds familiar, try tracking absolutely everything you eat for one day — every crust, every taste from the pot, every half-biscuit. These small bites often add up more than people realise.
Try this:
- Surround yourself with people who support healthy choices without judgement
- Try eating only when others are around for a while, to break the habit
- Keep snacks out of easy reach
- Bin leftovers straight away rather than picking at them
- Chew gum — it makes eating a conscious choice, since you have to remove the gum first
"Night owl" snackers
Some research suggests that calories eaten in the evening may be more likely to be stored as fat than the same calories eaten earlier in the day, and that eating within a more limited daily window is linked to better metabolic outcomes.
So, when we snack at night we are more likely to over snack because we have more time, possibly less potential judgement from others and we are more likely to store those calories as fat.
Try this:
- Set yourself a cut-off time, e.g. "I won't eat after 7pm"
- If you wake hungry in the night, try a warm drink instead of food — warm milk contains melatonin, which can help you get back to sleep
"Emotional" snackers
You reach for snacks in response to feelings — a bad day at work, bad news, stress. High-fat, high-sugar foods do trigger a short-term mood lift, but it's followed by a crash, and the guilt that often follows overeating tends to leave emotional snackers feeling worse, not better.
Try this:
- Ask yourself: what's actually going on here? What's triggering this? Try to deal with this head on instead of hoping food will solve the problem
- Find non-food ways to look after yourself — call a friend, go for a walk, take a bath
A smarter snacking strategy
To lose weight, every calorie needs to be worth it. Ask yourself honestly: am I actually hungry? A useful test — would I eat a bowl of vegetables right now? If not, you're probably not physically hungry. Try rating your hunger out of 10 - anything less than a 9 and you should look for solutions other than food.
If you're getting your full nutrition from your meals or shakes, your body has what it needs. Hunger that shows up anyway is often habit or psychological, especially in the first stretch of changing how you eat. That discomfort is real, but it does pass as your body adjusts to a new rhythm.
Have low-calorie snacks ready
Prep them in advance so the healthy option is the easy one:
- Vegetable sticks (carrot, cucumber, capsicum)
- Air-popped popcorn (no butter)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Fruit, in moderation
- Rice cakes, in moderation
Watch for sneaky calories in "healthy" snacks
Foods marketed as healthy, low-fat, or low-sugar often carry more calories than people expect. To give you general guide, consider the ‘health’ foods below (calories may differ across brands).
- Bliss balls (70g): aprrox 270 calories
- Muesli (typical serving): approx 280 calories
- Dried apricots (a handful): approx 100 calories
- Cashew nuts (a handful): approx 290 calories
Fine in moderation — just don't eat a lot of them on the assumption that "healthy" means "low calorie."
Drink plenty of water
Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. Aim for around 2 litres a day, more if you're feeling hungry between meals. Herbal tea can be helpful — it adds to your fluid intake and gives you something soothing to consume.
Plan non-food rewards
Keep a list ready for the moments you're tempted to soothe yourself with food: a bath, a call with a friend, sparkling water in a nice glass, a walk, a massage.
Get moving
If boredom is your trigger, get up and go outside instead of to the kitchen. Do some stretches in the ad break instead of making popcorn. Walk around the block while dinner's cooking.
So — can I snack?
Yes — but you don't need to, and if you do, make it count nutritionally.
A few things worth remembering:
You're not starving. Most people following a structured plan like Fast FX are getting enough to function well — your body isn't in danger, even if your brain sends urgent "feed me" signals out of habit.
Eating solves hunger — not much else. If you're genuinely hungry, eat, and make it count nutritionally. If you're eating for any other reason, food won't actually fix what's going on. In the long term food can’t make you feel happy or accepted or better about yourself. You need to find other things to fill those gaps. Food is not the answer.
Choose nutrient-dense, low-calorie snacks. Prioritise vegetables and protein over sugar, fat, and heavily processed options.
Hang in there. What matters most for weight loss is total calories and the nutritional quality of those calories. Snacking tends to push both in the wrong direction. Give your body time to adjust to your new programme — it will happen. Stay distracted, keep temptation out of easy reach, and give yourself credit for the days it's hard. You've got this.
