I'm not going to eliminate anything.
I will try to reduce "junk food" snacking between the hours of 1 pm and 6:30 pm, when I am almost always very hungry and will cram just about anything in my mouth. I will at least try to revert to my "eat healthy snacks first, and if I am still hungry I can have chips or cookies" plan, which is good because I end up eating more fruits and veggies that way.
"Healthy" is up for debate - my short list of "healthy" snacks for me includes: clementines, carrots with hummus or ranch dressing, apples (plain or with peanut butter), bananas, cheese sticks, cheese (in moderation - for the protein?), hardboiled eggs, cottage cheese. In between healthy and junky are pretzels, and a bowl of cereal. (I tend to run 6-8 miles in the morning, and I'm currently trying to listen to the hunger cues my body is giving me. I know this isn't a normal amount of snacking for most people).
Yesterday, my snacks included: birthday cake, a cheese stick, a bunch of pretzels, and some pineapple. I can do better. (Birthday cake is almost gone - it is hard when there is cake lying around.)
I'm going to point out here that I often get "extreme afternoon fatigue", which could be thyroid hormone related (I have no thyroid and am still having fatigue most days), it may be anemia related, or a combination. What I do know is I make some of the worst food decisions in the afternoon when I'm in this fatigue period, I'm not sure if I just have no will power, do not care, brain is not functioning to its full potential, or what, but I can do better than I currently am.
My goal is to lose the extra 6-7 pounds I'm currently up this year. The hormone suppressing medication made my weight go up quite a bit in a short period of time (peaking at 12 lb up in May, June, and July), so I know it isn't all fat to lose, I'm still unclear how much weight is from water weight and how much is actual fat or muscle I have gained.
My other goal is to be kind to myself. Nothing is off limits, but that doesn't mean I can eat donuts, Cheetos, and Sour Patch Kids all day every day (those are my favorite junk foods).
I'm also trying to not be hard on myself for gaining a few pounds. This year has been exceptionally tough for me - in January I had exploratory surgery, found out I had a large fibroid, and was getting progressively more anemic until starting medication which knocked estrogen down to stop the bleeding in February, this was all before the pandemic hit the US, and delayed my fibroid surgery. So, a few pounds is not going to make or break me, and as long as I stay healthy, it is ok if it takes a little longer to lose the weight.
That being said, I feel much better after eating a clementine or carrots and hummus than after I eat a donut or Cheetos, so maybe that is something I will think about when thinking about snacks.
I'd have to start with chips because that's always been my downfall. I'm a firm believer that we have to start slow and work into things, so I'll focus on eating less, with an eye toward not eating any... :-)
Mostly I'm just trying to not gain. People write about getting the "Covid 15" the way they used to write about the "Freshman 15" when I was in college. If I wanted to kick the afterburners, I'd drop all snack foods that come in packages that crackle (those contain greasy things like chips and fatty things like cookies) and ALSO cut out the Dr. Pepper. But I can much more easily drop chips and cookies than the D.P., our affair is long and habitual. Last few weeks to match my reduced activity in quarantine, I have consciously eaten smaller servings. I don't miss the extra food (not hungry in the night, etc.), but it's not enough to knock weight off. This week I might ixnay cookies. It won't get me far because I don't eat many of those anyway -- we keep some pretty plain ones around for my son to eat and they're boring. But at least, making it a point to never eat one is better than casually eating one every now and then.
I'm going to start with giving up . . . any and all chips and cookies. I'm going with two things because both should go. I have kids so this stuff is 'around'. But I don't need to be eating it!