Tips for "mindless" eating

Boy I can't wait for your responses....I have my pencil & paper ready.

first...get rid of them in your office! take out everything that holds empty calories and replace them with fiber rich, filling, low calorie snacks!!! you can also try sugar free gum..... and i hope your drinking lots of water, i always have a water bottle filled and i keep filling it while i'm at my desk, keeps me from getting hungry. also, eat a protein rich breakfst and snacks too.

Gum. Also I found that buying a pro-hands grip master helped a ton with my eating-as-a-result-of-needing-to-fidget.

stack your fridge with snacks that you won't feel guilty about eating. There's some 0 calorie foods (foods that apparently take more energy to digest than they provide) that you may like.

I don't know if Zero Calorie foods are a myth, or not, but I keep some celery and cucumber sticks in the fridge as some go to foods, and I bring a container to class with me as well.

This list is from

http://www.squidoo.com/zero-calorie-foods-negative-calorie-foods

Asparagus, apple, beet, blueberries, broccoli, cranberry, cantaloupe, carrot, celery, chicory, cauliflower, cucumber, dandelion, endive, garden cress, garlic, grapefruit, green bean, honeydew, hot chili peppers, lemon, lime, lettuce, mango, onion, orange, papaya, peach, pineapple, radish, raspberries, spinach, strawberries, tomato, tangerine, turnip, watermelon, and zucchini

So... my trick (and I have a bunch of them) for night eating- I brush my teeth at 7pm. I also don't keep snacky stuff on hand if I can help it. On nights when I am around for dinner- I will eat dinner and prepare some kind of desert- last night I cut up a pear and left it in a bowl in the fridge for me to come back and "discover". That sort of handles the need to open the fridge and hunt for snacks.

I also try to do something enjoyable in the evenings- like a bubble bath, reading or watching tv- I wont (usually) eat in the bath- so that's a good one for me.

At the end of the day- I found alot of this for me was habit- or reactions. When things get tough at work- I would forage for food- now I wont keep any food in my office- and I go to the bathroom, walk outside, go get a glass of water etc but not food. Or have a piece of gum- it does help.

And many of these habits were learned early on- what time did you get home from school growing up? around 3 right? what time do you start snacking at work in the afternoons? Around 3 right? Probably the same time you got home from school and received some kind of food to tide you over to dinner.

I also bought some silly putty from crazy arons putty world (not a plug I promise) and I keep a tin in my desk drawer to occupy my hands- which keeps me from eating out of boredom.

Don't keep mints in your desk. Try chewing gum instead.

If you are eating dinner early and snacking later, maybe try eating dinner later. Or plan a healthy snack ahead a of time and have it ready rather than mindlessly hunting for something when you want the snack.