[…6.5s] Hello, my friends, welcome back to the Healthy Eating for Busy Women podcast. If you’re new here, my name is Kat and I’m so happy to be here with you today. And we’re gonna talk all about […0.5s] snacking and weight loss and a lot of misconceptions that I have coached on over the years.So we’re going to clear all of that up today. But again, if you’re new here, I am here to help you make healthy eating easier. So I help you get to the root of your eating behavior.So if you have been struggling to stay on track, you find you either eat perfectly healthy or not at all. I’m here to help you.And if you want more from me, make sure to hit the subscribe button to this podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you love an episode you’ve heard so far or you find something in today’s episode that helps you, it would mean so much to me.If you left a lovely shiny 5 star review and something you Learned from the episode, it helps this podcast get found by more women who would value the work.So okay, without further ado, let’s just talk about smacking. Because while it can feel like a simple concept, there is a lot of noise I find when it comes to the concept of smacking. […4.9s]So most of us will generally assume that snacking is a habit that we want to get rid of, that it will negatively impact weight loss, that it’s something that is a bad behavior.And there actually is a lot of mental drama that comes up with myself in the past, my clients when we consider kicking a snacking habit. […6.0s]So it feels really complicated because diet culture has taught us that snacking is bad, and that it’s us mindlessly eating and that we shouldn’t trust us snacking between meals.But then on the other hand, there are some sources who tell us, well, […0.5s] it is useful to have a snack when you’re hungry, you wanna honor your body cues.And so it leaves us thinking, what the heck, I don’t know what to do, and I don’t know if when I’m snacking, it’s a thing I should trust or it’s a thing I should stop doing.And then it just makes solving for healthy eating and weight loss feel really, really complicated. And as y’all will know, I am here to simplify all of it. […5.7s] I actually had a client recently, and she’s been doing a really lovely job.I actually had a client recently, and she’s been doing a really lovely job with the owner eating habits process, which is my membership. And she […0.5s] was having some mental […0.5s] drama because while she was improving, making steps, her body […0.5s] was responding properly.She noticed she was still eating between meals, and the thought she was having was it’s still bad that I’m snacking. This means something about me. This means I’m looking for an excuse to eat more.I’m not getting it together. And because she was snacking between meals, she used it as evidence to have a lower regard for herself as an eater.And what’s interesting is that she was having a shameful relationship to the act of having a snack between meals. And this is coaching that actually comes up a lot.It’s very, very common, and what we want to sort out is potentially the shameful relationship you might be having to this concept of snacking as bad versus having food between meals, and that actually serving your health goal with this client, she actually was partaking in snacking in a way that served her goals. Her body was responding well, nothing had gone wrong. She just had this relationship to snacking that was shameful. […5.3s]So that’s what I wanna unpack for you today. I want you to look inward and discover what your relationship is to snacking now, and what your relationship to snacking will need to be in order to have the results you want.Cause what I want you to know is it so much less about snacking and whether you, you do it or not. It’s about how you snack and why that is the problem to solve for. […3.5s]So here’s what I like to offer to simplify the concept of snacking. I like to offer that there is a difference between having a snack and snacking.So let’s say for our understanding that having a snack is a deliberate food decision that you make between […0.5s] more regular meals. So let’s say by society, […0.5s] by society standards, right, we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner.A snack might be something you have between breakfast and lunch to, you know, manage your hunger, feel satiated, and feel satisfied. Maybe it’s something you have right when you get home from work, so it can tie you over before dinner.But let’s say that having a snack is a deliberate decision that you tactically make in full embodiment.Now let’s consider the act of snacking as something totally separate what I like to offer, so we have a term is that snacking is more eating without a deliberate endpoint. So we’re just ingesting food, not really being embodied about it and intentional.And the act of snacking is where a lot of us sacrifice our goals and we can feel that we’re not making progress when we’re in that behavior. […3.1s] So for us, snack can be a deliberate useful decision.Snacking perhaps is when it becomes more mindless and something that doesn’t benefit your goals in the long run.Now this doesn’t mean that we’re ever going to be perfect and that we are morally bad if snacking occurs. But I want you to notice objectively the difference between deliberately having a snack and snacking emotionally.In the case of my client, or she was having a shameful relationship to the concept of snacks or snacking. It’s because she didn’t see yet that what she was doing was deliberately including snacks in her day. What she wasn’t doing at that point because she already did the work, was not snacking like she did in the past. So I hope that distinction makes sense […3.1s] when you try and stop snacking.As this general concept without defining what that actually is. It adds pressure and perfectionism because a lot of you think that the concept of having food between meals is bad, that this is the point. And actually what I want you to consider is we just want to solve for mindless and emotional eating. So you can not sabotage your goals and be in your body when you make deliberate eating decisions. […7.0s] When you try and stop smacking as a general concept, every eating decision you make between meals will put you in a shame spiral, which will lead you to sabotaging even more. And that’s what we don’t want. […4.7s]I think it can be helpful to have a useful definition of a snack and then notice the definition of snacking. […6.0s] What we wanna have is a useful definition of having a snack and notice the definition of snacking when it doesn’t serve us. […4.6s]I want you to consider that deliberately having snacks in your home, having snacks included in your day tactically only serves your goals. And I think over the course of coaching hundreds of clients, it’s almost a non negotiable.I will occasionally have a client that doesn’t feel the need to snack between meals.But what I really teach is helping you become a well resourced eater. And I want you to prepare for any need that your body’s gonna have, and that being the case, having snacks on hand between meals can only help you. […5.6s]This is being self nurturing and providing yourself […0.5s] and setting yourself up for success when it comes to your goal. […3.0s] Snacking as a behavior is totally separate. It’s disembodying, it’s reacting emotionally.And while it is human to do this, we wanna lessen those behavior so you can hit your weight loss goals. Sometimes what can happen is because we’ll notice we’re snacking emotionally and that, that isn’t serving us will eliminate snacks completely.So some of you listening might say, okay, cat great having snacks in the house, but I’m gonna eat them all the moment I get home from work.I hear you, but we’re not gonna solve this problem by eliminating foods that actually would serve you, or by eliminating snacks that might help you […0.5s] feel more satisfied or satiate yourself in the middle of the day. We wanna solve for the root problem, which is why you’re emotionally snacking at all.This is very similar to the logic of […0.6s] not eating foods we love. Because we think we’re addicted to them, or we think we lose control with them. That never works long term, right? You’re never going to give up foods you love for the rest of your life.So we need to solve the root problem, which is why we over indulge in foods we love, which we also talk about on this podcast. Today’s podcast, we wanna solve for why snacking occurs versus just deliberately incorporating a snack in the middle of your day. […6.7s] Because here’s the thing.Long term weight loss doesn’t come from removing snacks. It comes from learning how to deliberately make food decisions based on your body’s needs, not your emotional needs. So your body will have needs where a snack between meals is valuable. But when we’re using the concept of snacking to emotionally eat, that’s not going to allow us to have the results we want. […4.3s]The only time snacking becomes an issue is when the concept of snacking is an emotionally driven behavior that disconnects you from the needs of your body. […8.3s]So instead of lumping snacks or snacking and that concept into one bad category, let’s separate deliberate […0.7s] decisions with food from emotionally driven ones without judgment. So now we can actually solve for it correctly. […1.0s]So I’d say this is a great time for us to check in. I want you to consider for yourself personally what is the difference between having a snack and snacking where […0.5s] having a snack can be a tactically valuable decision to meet your body’s needs and achieve your goals […0.8s] versus when do you notice snacking occurs in your life?When do you notice that you are eating and participating in an eating experience without a deliberate endpoint, […0.7s] and […2.6s] how are you feeling when that happens? At what time of the day does snacking occur? I want you to see how these concepts are totally separate in your life and to have that data. […1.8s]Well, it can be hard to observe our behaviors with food at first cause your type a perfectionist brain might see a lot of things your, quote unquote, doing wrong.I want you to notice how this will make everything simpler because now we’re not solving for this massive problem of never snacking or having a snack where it feels really ambiguous. Now we can have deliberate snacks. We just want to notice when we’re emotionally snacking as a result of stress. […10.6s] So let’s go through, kind of a process to move from. […2.9s]No, […12.2s] so let’s walk through how to move from unintentional smacking to literally having a snack in a way that meets your goals. This is something you can do at any time of the day when you notice you are having an urge to snack or to engage in that behavior. […5.9s]So step 1, I want you to check in with yourself and ask, what do I mean when I say I’m gonna snack right now?I want you to define clearly what you mean by that term in that moment. Are you having a snack or are you going to be snacking? In other words, are you making a deliberate controlled food decision with a set and point based on your body’s needs or your satisfaction needs? Or are you going to participate in eating behavior where it’s reactive, it’s disembodying and there’s not a set end point. Alright, let yourself answer that question without having an agenda.This is one of the most important things I teach my clients. We need to have a phase where it’s all about the data, it’s all about observation.So before you even feel the pressure of needing to make the right decision based on what you find, I want you to first get in the act of answering this question. Observe for a bit without having an agenda to, to change the behavior right away throughout your day.Ask what form of snacking, what definition of snacking is occurring here? Am I deliberately having a snack that is meeting the needs of my body, and that will set me up for success with weight loss no no no, […1.2s] no and that will set me up for success with weight loss. Or am I engaging in reactive emotional snacking that’s not gonna set me up for success. Answer that question, gather that data. […4.9s]Step 2 is I want you to notice the why, why are you snacking in this moment? Let yourself answer the question honestly and gather that data.Are you snacking because you feel rumblings in your tummy? Are you snacking because you didn’t feel satisfied from your last meal? Are you snacking because maybe you skipped breakfast or lunch and you didn’t even realize? Are you snacking because you feel stressed and you just need some relief and you need a break?What I want you to know is all of these answers are possible, and that’s okay. It does not make us better people to have more noble answers for why we eat something. We just wanna see how our body and brain is working at any given time, so let yourself answer honestly.If the answer is, I feel like I just really need a break, cause I’m stressed. Write this down jot this summer, start gathering this data, because once you have this data, we can solve for it. […5.8s] Are you actually hungry? Or are you soothing something emotionally, like stress overwhelm or boredom? Notice that. […5.1s]Now step 3, when you’re here, is to make the decision for a snack tactically, or to make a decision for snacking emotionally. So here’s what I mean, if you notice I am hungry, or I just wanna feel satisfied, and you see that there’s a bodily need there.I want you to just make that decision, or come up with the decision that you would make from that place. I know for me, a hard boiled egg can be great as a snack in the middle of the day to address when I’m feeling some hunger pings. Or I know some fruits can help me feel like I’m satisfying that sweet tooth while still meeting my goals.Whatever it is, if you notice something that tactically would meet your body’s needs, let yourself answer really quickly what that solution is without getting in confusion, and then just meet that need.Now a lot of the time it will be the latter, which is where emotionally something is coming up, and that is the need we’re having. If you notice that stress is occurring, and you just want a snack because it feels comforting, let’s check in with that emotional need.Because here’s the thing, you guys, whenever we notice a behavior that doesn’t serve us like snacking, right, […0.5s] and we know it won’t help us meet our weight loss goals. We’re like, okay, I need to get rid of that behavior.But if your body is compelling you to do something like snacking, right, it’s because there’s a gap that it needs to fill. In this case, when we feel like we want to […0.6s] involve ourselves in snacking behaviors, it’s because we’re needing some stress regulation.We’re needing some comfort emotionally. Don’t leave that gap […0.5s] unfilled by eliminating snacking. Instead, let’s solve for that more healthily.So if you notice, okay, I’m feeling stressed, and I’m feeling the need to […0.5s] snack right now in a snacking emotional way, then I want you to check in and ask how am I feeling? What feels like a problem right now? Where am I feeling stressed, where do I feel that in my body?Allow yourself to name the thoughts and emotional experience that’s occurring before you participate in any eating behaviors. Once again, you guys, I know this sounds counterproductive, but before rushing to the right actions with food, check in and see what makes you tick.Find your reasons behind the decisions you wanna make, and actually check in to do the emotional work. Because if you’re feeling compelled to engage in mindless snacking behaviors, there is an emotional gap that your body and brain is just trying to fill for you instead.What we can learn how to do is actually check in when emotionally were wanting relief from stress, and ask yourself, hey, what feels like a problem right now? Where am I overwhelmed? What thinking is contributing to this feeling?And if that’s something you want more support with, that’s what coaching helps you solve for that is why I have become very skilled at coaching y’all through your eating behavior. So go inside on your eating habits, my membership to help with that. You can go to cat rent us com forward slash membership, and we will help you. […8.4s]So let’s walk through a really relatable common example of this, and […0.9s] you can determine how this will work for you based on your day to day.So let’s say that it’s around 3 p m I feel like for me, 3 p m, was definitely the time when snacking would most occur for some of you guys. It’s late at night or whenever when you get home from work, it doesn’t matter. Let’s say it’s 3 p. M.And you notice you’re opening the fridge, looking around the pantry, or maybe you’re at the work fridge, whatever it is, […0.5s] and you think, hmm, I could really just use a snack right now, right? […4.2s]The first step is you’re gonna ask yourself, what do I mean by having a snack? So you’re gonna determine, okay, do I want something to satiate myself and to fill a bodily need, or am I wanting to participate in snacking to numb what I’m feeling, to distress? […10.9s]Step 2: notice the why. Think, okay, why do I wanna snack right now? Why do I feel like I wanna fill a bodily meat? Maybe I’m feeling hungry, I’m feeling the rumblings in the tummy, I’m feeling unsatisfied. Maybe we also feel emotionally stressed and we want to numb that feeling and we wanna just get through the day.Step 3, you’re going to decide how you’re going to meet those needs. So maybe it’s a bit of both. Maybe on one end, you do feel like you’re hungry and you wanna tie yourself over before lunch.But then also if you’re feeling stressed and things are feeling like a bit too much emotionally, check in and ask […0.5s] what feels like the problem right now. What is on, What is on my mind? What am I thinking?What am I emotionally feeling? You guys, rather than snacking, this would be a very tactically beneficial time to write down your thoughts. Pull out a pen and paper, do a brain dump of what’s coming up right now. Check in with your body and see emotionally how you’re feeling.This is where the relief is. There are solutions to filling that gap and providing yourself the ease that smacking does. It’s just doing it a different way really.What a lot of diet culture tells us to do is to just not do things that survivally are something our body and brain is compelling us to do to survive. We need to provide other means of providing new relief.Right, so in this moment, if you’re feeling the urge to emotionally snack, emotionally check in. Because that time you spent snacking and wanting to do that would have been time you could have spent emotionally taking five minutes to check in on your brain and body, and writing that down. Okay, […9.2s] Yes, we wanna make sure we’re eating a certain amount to lose weight.Yes, we want to make sure we’re not emotionally eating to reach our goals with our body.But so much more of what will lead you to naturally […0.5s] eating healthy in a way that makes this sustainable is knowing your why behind doing those things, not in this spiritual meaningful way, but in a behavioral way. […6.7s]There are so many of you who are tactically making good […1.3s] decisions by having a snack, and then shaming yourself, cause you were taught that, that is bad.And on the other hand, there are a lot of you who are mindlessly snacking, who justify it by saying, well, I just need a snack to tie me over until lunch. We wanna understand in these moments why you are doing what you’re doing. […2.3s]We wanna understand these moments what you are doing. Clearly why you’re doing it, and what the actual solution is going to be, […2.1s] and what the actual solution is going to be. […3.5s] Well, this sounds simple.I promise you if you do this, and you start building this awareness, you are going to be so much more clear and […2.5s] equipped than you were before partaking in that process, because now you’re gonna know what problem to solve for. […6.6s]So please know snacking is not bad. It’s not this moral dilemma that we have to solve for. We just want to distinctly separate having a snack from snacking emotionally. […1.4s] Clarify that for yourself, so you can know when it’s happening. […3.3s]Alright, my friends, I hope this was helpful to you, and if you want to take this one step further, and you’re new to my world, you can take my free course. […1.5s] You can sign up for my free course, solve your food struggles at cat rentals com forward slash course. That is how you can learn how to take the first steps to eating healthy naturally and losing weight for the last time. Alright, my friends, I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week, and I’ll talk to you next week. […2.8s]