Mindless Snacking is Killing your Progress
The number 1 thing I work on in my nutrition coaching is mindless snacking.
There are so many reasons we eat when we’re not hungry.
1. Boredom 🥱
2. Emotions 😿
3. Cravings 🍫
4. Routines 📆
Despite what you’ve heard, research shows that 6 small meals actually leads to weight GAIN over time. Crazy right?!
What we have been told by certain eating styles is that if you eat small meals throughout the day, you will "keep your metabolism activated" which is just not true.
Eating all throughout the day actually just creates a pattern of "managing hunger" (and oftentimes obsessing about foods anyway) rather than listening to your built-in hunger cues and eating satisfying, nutritious meals 3-4 times a day.
When we eat more frequently than that, whether through incorporating planned snacks, smaller meals, or the ever common "grazing" behavior, we end up overeating.
THERE IS A BETTER WAY!
One of the first skills I practice with my clients is practicing fitting all of the food they eat in the day to just 3 or 4 eating occasions without any snacking in between.
When we eliminate or reduce snacking from our day, we end up eating less food, we tend to not overeat because we are paying attention to our natural hunger and fullness cues, we are thinking about food less and having fewer meals to prepare for.
Are you a self-described "grazer" or have you kept snacks on hand as a part of your routine?
Maybe you work in an office where there are snacks on snacks on snacks for free and you eat them simply because work paid for them and they are available, but you're not actually hungry.
Or maybe you are someone who just loves your nighttime snack in front of the tv after you put the kids to bed or to wrap up your day because it helps you wind down.
Do either of these sound familiar to you?
If you are a person seeking weight loss, or just wanting to tune into your body's natural hunger cues, I encourage you to try this habit.
One of my favorite things with working with clients one on one is that we can focus on the things that are specific challenges for you within each habit, and practice the ones that will give you the MOST benefit for you now.
If snacking is currently a big part of your life and this feels like too big of a stretch, remember not to have all or nothing mindset about it we can always tweak it to meet you where you are.
Maybe eliminating snacking all together feels too difficult for you to start off. If that's the case, it's perfectly fine to try it out first with just no snacking between breakfast and lunch first and then add no snacking between lunch and dinner, etc.
If you find yourself taking bites off the kids’ dinner as you clean the table or put the food away, some clients have found it helpful to put a mint in their mouths, brush their teeth, or pour some hot tea to help their brains switch gears before cleaning up.
You may be skeptical about whether this would actually work for you when you've read so much contradicting information and that makes sense.
One of the best parts about practicing eating skills is that we get to practice them, collect data, and then figure out what is actually working and what is not!
I would love to hear how it goes if you try this out and see what you notice. You can also email me with any nutrition questions or challenges you have at christina@christinajodoin.com. I will respond to each one!
