Day 7: Snack Attack

Join associate editor Tami Fertig on a 7-day challenge to reset her sense of proper portions. Sign up to receive daily challenge newsletters here and be sure to read the magazine story that inspired the challenge here.

Believe it or not, it’’s the last day of the challenge!

I’’m pretty proud that I made it this far with only a handful of hurdles, which I handled really well for the most part.

I even skipped free chips and salsa last night, which is very unlike me. I was at this party where I didn’’t know too many people, and out of habit, I ended up at the snack table. It was fully stocked with the usual finger foods, plus an amazing-looking birthday cake topped with chocolate shavings. Yes, I wanted that too.

Instead, I vegged out. That is, I loaded up a plate with baby carrots and sat down next to my boyfriend. (OK, I took a tiny bite of his cake. It was a party, after all!)

That brings me to my next point: thank goodness for baby carrots. I never gave them much thought until this week, but man, they’’re crunchy and satisfying. Instead of reaching for a box of cookies while doing my post-dinner crossword puzzle, I’’ve been breaking out a bag of baby carrots and chomping away.

It’’s comforting to know I cannot eat too many baby carrots.

In fact, I’’m pretty sure I would have fallen off this meal plan much earlier if it hadn’t been for great snacks like baby carrots and bananas and apple slices slathered with almond butter. Is it weird that I’’d never tried apples and almond butter before? I will definitely be adding that one to my snacking repertoire.

What’’s been your favorite food in the meal plan? Join the chat to share!

—To sign up for the 7-Day Portion Control daily newsletter, visit the main page.

—Get the full 7-day meal plan.

—Read the magazine story that inspired the challenge, The Get Real Diet.

—Check out the Serving Savvy Cheat Sheet.