How to quit 'bad-snacking'
Losing weight is difficult. When it comes to dropping the pounds and maintaining a healthy weight you need to change your whole lifestyle. Eating healthily and changing your portion sizes is important. Some people need to change the time at which they eat and start to include more exercise in their day-to-day life. Others have to work on their mental state, as comfort eating is often a problem.
Indeed there are many different elements that must come together for a healthy lifestyle and several bad habits that need to be dropped – one of which is of course ‘bad-snacking’.
Bad-snacking is snacking on all the foods you know you should be avoiding. Snacking, you see, is no bad thing, if you’re nibbling on fruit or seeds. A mid-afternoon low-fat yoghurt can boost your energy and set you straight for the rest of the day. But bad-snacking – munching on biscuits, cakes or crisps – will just make you pile on the pounds.
Here are our top tips on quitting bad-snacking.
Drink water
Sometimes we can confuse being thirsty with hunger. We think we need a snack when in fact a drink would suffice. Next time you're feeling peckish and think you need a snack, have a glass of water first instead and see if that makes a difference. If you need more than water try having a glass of orange juice instead. It's tasty, healthy and one of your five a day!
Brush your teeth
With a minty mouth few foods taste very nice. If you feel like you could eat a bar of chocolate or packet of crisps go and brush your teeth instead or have a piece of minty chewing gum. You'll probably decide you don't fancy anything to eat after all – and you'll have a dazzling white smile to boot!
Try good-snacking!
If you’re peckish eat some fruit – bananas are particularly good as they release energy slowly. Nuts, seeds and cereals are also good options, as are low-fat dairy products such as yoghurts.
Keep occupied
Sometimes we snack out of boredom. With nothing else to do to pass the time we reach for the biscuits or packet of sweets. To combat this, keep yourself occupied. If you feel like eating out of boredom, go for a run or do some housework, go visit a friend or start a good book. Taking your mind of snacking can help get rid of your hunger pangs.
Give it one more hour
A great way to avoid snacking is to tell yourself you'll do it later. Instead of just eating as soon as you fancy it, tell yourself you'll have it in an hour or so. Then once the hour has past if you still want a snack, give it another hour. Eventually you'll have forgotten about snacking or the moment will have past. Play this little mind trick on yourself and see – it really works!
