Replacing the "noshing" habit with something healthier?

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Running_and_Coffee
Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I remember being super-stressed when I was in college and downing Diet Cokes and pizza slices while finishing up term papers. When I was in grad school, I hit my heaviest adult non-pregnancy weight the summer I had to finish my thesis. After that, I lost all that weight, got very into working out/running, and have been at a healthy weight ever since. But the "noshing" while working habit remains.

20 years later, when I have a stressful work deadline and need to hunker down with a PowerPoint, I really want to snack...I can't explain it, but I think there's something honestly about chewing itself that helps me work better, especially when what I'm doing involves a lot of writing. (Drinking water/tea is sort of helpful but the chewing is important.) I usually don't actually eat "real" food at these times, though--I will chew an entire pack of sugarless gum instead. And then that night, the combo of whatever chemicals are in the gum + the stress of work wreaks havoc on my stomach. I have developed IBS in recent years and it's absolute agony.

In recent days (like literally the last two weeks), being lot more lax with what I'm eating because of the holidays plus burning a lot more calories than typical with a half marathon coming up, I've gone back to my old ways and have been eating the kids' lunch snacks (like animal crackers) while working on my decks for work. While the bad part of this is those 140 calorie increments plus holiday eating are most definitely going to creep up on me on the scale--the absence of agony from gum chewing (I haven't needed the gum when I've had animal crackers) has made me realize just how much I need to CHANGE and not chew gum anymore and find a new behavior!!!!

Anyway, sorry this got long but I am just wondering if anyone else who used to eat as a sort of "thinking" mechanism found a healthier behavior? And before you mention it--yes, I do workout alone as a way to problem solve, and it helps, but I'm talking about what I can do while I'm working that isn't going to upset my stomach or add calories I don't need.

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    There really isn't anything you can do beyond just stop snacking. I was going to suggest sugar free gum but it creates more problems for you.

    Or Ice chips? Or count the calories in the snacks and make them fit into your calories for the day. Or just break your habit of needing to "nosh".
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I read it for "nothing", at least three times - and that's exactly what I think the solution is. It's just a bad habit, it's not making you more creative or effective.
  • roselover58
    roselover58 Posts: 96 Member
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    Eating nothing IS the best solution, but I don't think it is reasonable (at least not at first).

    Celery sticks, rice cakes, low to no calorie items with lots of crunch, will help. It's mindless chewing that is helping the 'juices' flow in your brain.

    One other thought - take the snacks that you would want to nosh on while working, and put them in control portioned snack bags (lunch bags, etc). Take what you intentionally wish to snack on. Once those are gone, that's it. In other words, plan ahead.

    Best of luck; we've all been there!!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,001 Member
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    Raw carrots, celery, bell peppers, snow peas, etc.? (No way of knowing if those will bother your stomach until you try.)
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited December 2016
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    This is just a habit and needs to be broken just like any other habit..

    I have a weird habit that is all but something that is now stupid, and that is chewing sugar free gum during my running, lifting and anything that I do that is labor intensive. It started out because I would grit my teeth and had a tendency to bite my jaw during exercise when I first started out, over 3 years now and its a ritual to chew gum during these activities..

    So if you want to keep thinking it is bringing you creative juices and what not, starting grazing on healthy stuff like raw veggies, etc.. or work to break it altogether.

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    No helpful advice, just came in to point out that in some parts of the world, the phrase "noshing" means something completely different.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    Pen caps. As long as you don't chew off hunks of plastic, you won't be eating anything. You can try flavored toothpicks, too.
  • mila_lova
    mila_lova Posts: 163 Member
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    Air popped pop corn without butter has very few calories. You could try snacking on that- you can bowls of it for cheap, it's crunchy and salty.

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