Snacks constitute almost a quarter of a day’s calories in U.S. adults and account for about one-third of daily added sugar, a new study suggests.

Researchers analyzing data from surveys of over 20,000 people found that Americans averaged about 400 to 500 calories in snacks a day—often more than what they consumed at breakfast—that offered little nutritional value.

Though dietitians are very aware of Americans’ propensity to snack, “the magnitude of the impact isn’t realized until you actually look at it,” said senior study author Christopher Taylor, professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University.

    • SendMePhotos@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      For me, I don’t have a fuel guage in me. I don’t mean it to be a smart ass. I mean like, I’m always hungry until I am full. That’s my food fuel guage and it sucks. If I’m not full, I’m hungry. I dropped 60lbs over a year or two by dieting. Not necessarily eating healthy, but reducing my calorie intake to 1200-1800/day. That’s it. I dropped so much weight and was able to fit in my old size from high school. Here’s the kicker. I was hungry the entire time. I refused food, but I was hungry. I woke up hungry. I went to bed hungry. I wouldn’t call it gluttony because I didn’t ever enjoy it but I don’t have the same thing you do. My body doesn’t tell me, “that’s enough food” until it’s screaming, “too much food!”

      It’s been my whole life. I can lose the weight. I can gain it back. I can diet, I can control it, but I also will never do it comfortably. I will never be able to eat a small portion like my friends and say I’m good. I always feel like I’m the odd one out.

      To all those who feel like I feel, you can do it! It sucks the entire time, but it’s possible. 1200-1800 calories per day. Don’t dive in. Just make adjustments until you get there. You never would’ve realized how many calories you’re putting in. Also, I lost the weight not going to the gym. I fucking hate the gym. Going to the gym is good for you heart, but to lose weight, it’s calories.

    • littlecolt@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      I struggle with it every day. Fuck you.

      Edit: I am loving these numbers, lemmy. Let’s kick the fat shamers and dipshits back towards reddit. Good God, reddit was a cesspool of fat haters. Even those of us doing well to control our condition were met with hate if we dared to speak or appear. Fuck that. Reject hate masquerading as “common sense” when we all know damn well we would never choose to face these difficulties.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It’s normal to be hungry. I’m sorry no one every told you that. But you don’t have to be packed full all the time.

        • littlecolt@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          Realizing that was a big deal to me about a decade and a half ago. So you know the Rage Against the Machine song called “Freedom”? If not, please go give it (and everything they ever made) a listen. At the end of each verse, lead singer Zac De La Roca whispers “Anger is a gift.” Well, I warped his words to help me push myself. “Hunger is a gift.” I would growl this to myself if I felt hungry. It would help me keep going.

          It is a FUCKING STRUGGLE every day, and whether you meant your words to mock me or side with me doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. If you side with me, thank you, and I hope other who need to see all this see it. If you meant to mock me, it’s truly hilarious. As if any person could amount to the pain my own obsessed mind has caused me in my life. The mockery of others means very little anymore.