Does mindless snacking feel like a habit that is impossible to quit? When I’m thrown off my schedule or in times of stress it can substitute for one of my hobbies. In fact, I’d much rather they make snacking an Olympic sport. I’d win Gold EVERY time. And it’s not just sweets, I’m also accepting of savory chips, trail mixes and granola. I’m very friendly to all my mindless snack friends. When I’m in my “healthy zone” I feel in tune with my body’s needs. I’m eating healthy 90% of the time but also leaving room for indulgences. Generally my body feels calm and strong in this space. But, life throws you curveballs, like the major one we are in now, and it can throw me out of the zone.
Mindless snacking differentiates itself from eating healthy snacks. I’m not referring to all snacks such as eating raw veggies or fresh fruit. I’m referring more to emotional and disconnected eating. When we aren’t mindful when eating, we can’t even connect with how it tastes, smells and makes us feel. This disconnect can also make it difficult to hear our body signaling when it’s full. It’s as if we go into screensaver mode; we are functioning but we are not fully awake. When I find myself in that mode, it’s as if a part of my brain is saying: “snacking has begun and will not end until significant food supply damage has been done. I hope you have snack insurance.”
The current state of social distancing and isolation has triggered that screensaver mode. Whether it’s stress or boredom, I find myself wanting to snack randomly throughout the day. I know I’m not REALLY hungry. It’s just something else to do and it distracts from all the uncertainty going on around us. Unfortunately, eating unhealthily doesn’t help our bodies in a time when we need to focus on our health and building up our immunity. So, I thought I’d offer some tips that help me hop back on the healthy wagon when I fall off.
1. Drink Drink Drink
Water that is. Staying hydrated is essential. Dehydration can mask itself as hunger so sometimes those mid-day snack cravings are really your body telling you to drink more.
2. Plan Ahead
If you have an idea of what you’re going to eat throughout the day it will help keep you on track. Also, while we are trying to limit grocery runs during social distancing, meal planning is the easiest way to go. Meal planning isn’t a new concept yet we don’t always plan our snacks. It helps prevent the inevitable opening of the pantry door and scanning for what looks good. My healthy favorites at the moment are celery with almond butter or a spinach and berry smoothie with protein and super greens.
3. Focus on the Fruit and Veggies
I make it my personal goal to have vegetables at least 3x a day. It can be spinach in my morning eggs, a salad at lunch, raw veggies for my snack, a smoothie, or multiple servings at dinner. I find when I try to plan how I’m going to add vegetables throughout the day, my “daily plate” fills up pretty quickly. With fruit I focus more on sticking with berries which are rich in anti-oxidants and lower in sugar than say grapes and bananas.
4. Move
One thing I’ve enjoyed about being forced to stay home is that I’ve had more time to just relax on the couch and catch up on my favorite shows. Unfortunately, it does come with a catch. When I’m more sedentary, I can go into screensaver mode in a snap. If you catch yourself feeling that uncontrollable need to snack, take a big sip of water and get moving. Go for a walk outside, get your exercise in for the day, or just stand up and walk around your living room. During this time, boring tasks like emptying the dishwasher or doing laundry can actually be a kind distraction from the snack monster inside us. Move your body and it will better be able to tell you what it really needs.
5. Be Kind to Yourself
If you fall into screensaver snacking mode, don’t beat yourself up or punish yourself afterwards. It’s not a mistake it’s just where you are in that moment. Be proud that you are in tune enough to notice. Also, part of being kind to yourself is allowing for small indulgences. Allow yourself that piece of dark chocolate, cookie or brownie. Although you might find that the cleaner you eat the more you crave healthier choices. But the point is to allow enough flexibility that you don’t feel restricted. When we feel restricted our inner toddler kicks in and we want to rebel. Give yourself some breathing room and if you jump on the mindless snacking wagon, take note, hop off and start again.
All of us know these tips. I’m not reinventing the wheel. I just know that a reminder always helps me stay on track. If you find yourself in the mindless snacking mode and you want to make a shift in your eating start small. Pick just one of the suggestions above and then go from there. Take good care of your body during this time. It needs all the love we can give it.