Mindless Eating

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lizzardsm
lizzardsm Posts: 271 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Our very own SideSteel wrote an article about mindless eating! Has some great strategies that he's helped me implement on the regular (been working with him for about 1.5 years).

http://rippedbody.jp/mindless-eating/

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  • asjt678
    asjt678 Posts: 60 Member
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    Thanks for sharing!!!
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Thanks Liz!

  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
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    This is so helpful. I've been working on a lot of these strategies, and just having "bad food" (calorie dense, not satiating) out of sight (and similarly, "good food" like fruit on hand) makes a huge difference. The strategies and tips here are the things no one ever seems to think to talk about -- things that make adherence easier.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    In the first few weeks in, I also used avoidance (soda, starchy foods, tasty foods). It worked well for me. I gradually refined my approach, and still do, avoidance as such has become unnecessary.

    But yeah, if you are bad with self control, don't hang around pastry shops a lot. Don't hang out with friends, coworkers who prefer going out to eat. Better yet, while you cannot change your friends or your route passing a good pastry shop, change your perspective, senses on foods. That's going directly to the source of the problem!
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    It's pretty obvious though. I mean we all know if there's a pack of biscuits in the house we're more likely to eat them than if there isn't any.
    And I know all the food I have in my fridge/freezer so hiding them isn't going to stop me eating them if I know they're there, but as he said if you don't want it in your diet don't buy it, so that kind of contradicts it's self.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    It's pretty obvious though. I mean we all know if there's a pack of biscuits in the house we're more likely to eat them than if there isn't any.
    And I know all the food I have in my fridge/freezer so hiding them isn't going to stop me eating them if I know they're there, but as he said if you don't want it in your diet don't buy it, so that kind of contradicts it's self.

    Thanks for the feedback.

    I actually think this is a topic that seems obvious when you read about it but the majority of people neglect to implement it.

    You can know the food you have in the refrigerator or in the house and you're correct that hiding it isn't going to prevent you from eating it but the difference is that you will not be influenced by your environment to consume certain foods if the environment doesn't prompt you to eat said foods.

    Think of it in terms of percentages, in a way.

    If you don't have chocolate in your house the percent chance you will eat chocolate tonight is low.
    If you have chocolate in your house but it's not in a convenient and visible location in your house the percent chance that you will end up eating chocolate tonight is slightly higher than in the previous example.
    If you have chocolate in your house and it's out in the open in a dish that you walk by frequently, the percent chance you'll end up eating chocolate tonight is higher than the previous two examples.

    It's certainly not an "on/off" switch or an all-or-nothing scenario however. Proper management of food environment isn't going to suddenly cause you to never eat a certain food, but it will likely change those percentages in your favor and it will ALSO cause you to make fewer food decisions and face fewer temptations and these are all advantageous.
  • SapiensPisces
    SapiensPisces Posts: 992 Member
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    This is a great read.

    In response to the "obvious" comment above, I agree with SideSteel entirely, but I'd like to add that, for people who live with other people who enjoy those calorie-dense nutritionally-poor foods and wish to keep them in the house, making them less accessible can be a big help. This is especially true for people just starting out who are trying to break years of bad habits.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    tagging
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    SapiensPisces wrote: »
    This is a great read.

    In response to the "obvious" comment above, I agree with SideSteel entirely, but I'd like to add that, for people who live with other people who enjoy those calorie-dense nutritionally-poor foods and wish to keep them in the house, making them less accessible can be a big help. This is especially true for people just starting out who are trying to break years of bad habits.


    You're a rockstar.
  • asjt678
    asjt678 Posts: 60 Member
    edited June 2016
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    SapiensPisces wrote: »
    This is a great read.

    In response to the "obvious" comment above, I agree with SideSteel entirely, but I'd like to add that, for people who live with other people who enjoy those calorie-dense nutritionally-poor foods and wish to keep them in the house, making them less accessible can be a big help. This is especially true for people just starting out who are trying to break years of bad habits.

    Yes. Some of us have families and roomates. And some of us just want an occasional treat that can fit into our daily caloric allotment. I have cake in my freezer right now, I didnt need the whole thing. Thanks Sidesteel for a great article.

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