Many people get into the habit of eating even when they’re not hungry, often as a distraction or to have a break. However, doing this regularly can leave you feeling frustrated, and it’s also bad for your health in the long run. We’ll show you how to reduce your snacking with these five easy tips:
(1) Pause and think before you eat
Firstly, get into the habit of pausing before you eat. As snacking is usually an unconscious act, you’ll need to create a prompt to remind yourself to do this. For example, you could move your nujjer wristband to your dominant wrist or mark a small symbol on the back of your hand. Once you’ve paused have a good think to yourself about how hungry you really are. You could even give your hunger level a number on a scale of 1-10. If you realise you’re genuinely hungry go ahead and eat! But if you’re not, try to put down that snack and work out what it is you’re really craving.
(2) List some positive distractions
Create a small list of possible activities you can do to distract yourself when you get that urge to eat even when you’re not hungry. Some ideas could be reading, watching a video, or going for a short walk (which has added health benefits!). Leave the list next to your biscuit tin or food cupboard so the next time you feel like snacking you can remind yourself of some positive distractions, and hopefully do one of them instead!
(3) Eat 3 meals a day
Make sure you have all three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) every day. Some people skip breakfast as they feel they don’t have enough time in the morning to eat, or they believe it’s a good way to lose some weight. However, if you don’t eat in the morning, you set yourself up for a day of feeling hungry which puts you into the habit of regularly snacking.
(4) Keep unhealthy snacks away
Stop buying your usual snacks and keep them out of your home. Identify which unhealthy snacks you usually eat and try replacing them with healthier alternatives. It’s a lot easier to stop snacking when the foods you usually grab aren’t easily available.
(5) Use the Nujjer app
Make use of the Nujjer app that is connected to your wristband. Whenever you feel like eating unhealthy food, click ‘Crave’ on the app for a distraction. You can then play a game, read a news article or watch an online video. If you still end up eating that naughty biscuit, click ‘Lapse’ to record that you’ve given in to your craving. This will help you to become more aware of when your tendencies to lapse are, and help you devise strategies to avoid them.
By applying these few simple tips, you’ll soon find yourself reaching for that biscuit tin less and less! Remember, small changes can make a big impact on your health.