Avoid Mindless Eating

jerbear1962

To lose weight, you need to get in tune with your eating behaviors. These three strategies will help bring them into focus.

1.) Write down what you eat for 3 days. The first step in reversing mindless eating is to put real effort into becoming aware of how you eat.
Tip: Jot it down, Use a notebook specifically for the purpose of recording every bite and sip of food and drink for three days. Include time, portion sizes, location of meal or snack, reason for eating (Hunger? Stress?) and who was with you. Look for patterns and make changes where you see bad habits.

2.) Study your eating environment: Surroundings make a difference! Many of us eat in stressful or distracting areas, such as work cubicle or the car while driving.
Tip: Find a calm spot - Make an effort to eat your meals and snacks in a relaxing place, such as a park bench or outside on your patio. At home, turn off the TV while you eat. These simple changes can make a difference in how satisfied you are once you are finished.

3.) Monitor Boredom: Distinguishing true hunger from " head hunger" can be a challenge, especially when you have too much free time.
Tip: Find a new hobby. Consider learning a new skill that engages your creativity and distracts you from thinking about food. Knitting, gardening, scrap-booking, or putting together a puzzle can help extinguish food and eating "chatter" and help you get in touch with feelings of actual hunger versus perceived hunger.

Positive_Thinker

Thank you......It's no coincidence that I met you today.:laugh:

Your " Boredom" section was me, all the way.

miriamwithcats

Very good advice Jer. I recently became aware that when I am reading, and the book starts talking about the characters eating, I jump up and head to the kitchen! If I wasn't trying to figure out when I mindlessly eat, I would not have made that connection. I suspect I do that because I eat alone most of the time, and I enjoy eating with others, so unconsciously (mindlessly) I was trying to eat with others!

jerbear1962

I can see that I use to mindlessly nibble all day long at the restaurant I would work at and add all the calories. Not thinking about it and of course not counting them. You would think it would fill me up but no it just adds fat.