Mindless Munching - What Should You Do To Control It?

Mindless munching is usually caused by boredom as well as stress and fatigue, in many cases. Also, not eating your meals on time is another reason why we suddenly feel hungry and end up eating all types of wrong food. This kind of mindless munching usually makes us ingest empty calories, which can make us put on weight and face other health issues in the long run as well. Many of these snacks also contain lots of oil, fat and salt which can cause a range of diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions.

So, how can you cut down on mindless munching? Read on to know more!

1. Visual reminders: A great way to ensure that you do not succumb to sudden and unhealthy cravings is to place visual reminders on your desk and on the fridge. Get a print out of the things that motivate you, eating healthy, the daily calorie intake that you need to follow, your goal weight it can be anything! Place these around you so that you realise how much better off you are without the mindless eating. 
2. Small plates and tall glasses: You can use tall glasses in order to ensure that you are ingesting plenty of water. Many times, mental hunger can be cured with a big glass of water. So even when you are having a snack or a meal, keep a tall glass of water to fill yourself up instead of feeling hungry later and eating mindlessly. Also, use smaller crockery in order to eat less. As per psychologists, this tends to have a bearing on the eating patterns of the person by creating a visual reminder of one helping at a time. 
3. Variety: Eat all colors of food in order to get more variety, but limit the variety to more healthy food. Keep the various kinds of chips and wafers away from your home and pantry so that you have no choice, but to snack on fruit and dry fruit as well as other healthy options when the munchies strike!
4. Be deliberate and present: When you eat slowly, you allow the satisfaction of a good meal to wash over you. This ensures that you have less scope to indulge in mindless eating later. Also, you will feel fuller when you have been more deliberate and present with your meal. This can be done by switching off all devices and the television or smart phone, in particular and actually taking the time to enjoy your food. Many psychologists say that distractions tend to make us eat more, and more often. So it is best to cut these out before you start eating.