If you’re not hungry, why are you eating?
We can find ourselves in situations where we are eating for no reason — what has been coined “mindless” eating by experts at Cornell University consumer behavior professor Brian Wansink. He too is a hero in the Fight against Obesity in America.
The phrase “Mindless Eating” refers to the empirical finding that people make nearly 20 times more daily decisions about food than they are aware of (an average of around 250 each day). These can easily be influenced by a number of factors including: family, friends, packages, plates, numbers, colors, smells, pantries & containers.
Do you ask yourself, “How to stop eating when your not really hungry?” I recommend a couple of tricks to avoid eating when you are not truly hungry…
- Eat 5 meals per day. Start each day with a nutritious breakfast and plan your snacks ahead of time! Here are 8 Clean Eating Power Snacks you want to check out!
- Consider the five Ds: Delay, Determine, Distract, Distance and Decide. Waiting before eating reminds you to be mindful about your snack… and actually thinking about whether you are hungry or not forces you to consider what exactly you are putting in your body. If you’re not hungry, distracting yourself with something else or distancing yourself from the food could help you to avoid the temptation of eating.
- Break free from Emotional Eating!. This can get to the best of us. Recognize the situation and apply the above D’s.
Pack healthy snacks when you know you will be away from the 3 hour range of eating time. Make a rule to only eat at the kitchen or lunch room table to avoid eating when bored in front of the tv or at your desk.
One of my favorite things to do to avoid mindless eating is to put a powerful mint or piece of gun in my mouth to change the way anything would taste after that. Do you have any tricks to share? Please post and share!