Is your mind on something else while your mouth is taking in snacks?
Mindless snacking happens to the best of us. But here’s why you want to tackle it! Did you know that when you are doing something else, your body doesn’t do its digestive work as well? That’s right, it isn’t an excellent multitasker. In fact, ons of the worst consequences of mindless snacking is we don’t register, mentally, what we eat so we don’t feel satisfied from a better amount. So its critical that we eat mindfully. But we have so much to do! Here are some of our better nutrition better snacking tips.
Set an eating alarm.
Allocate time in your calendar in the day for when you will have pit stops (Ideally about every 3 hours) even if you only make it a 5-minute block, observe that time or reallocate as needed (but not more than an hour later). It is how we make time for the things that are important to us, and eating/getting the results from your food should be 🙂
Turn off the TV.
Today we don’t have commercials (or we have the ability to fast forward through them) so we lose time to eat during them (that was the old tip). Use your TV viewing as the reward. I get to watch the end of Billions AFTER I take 5 minutes to eat (and not check my email).
Ditch Technology.
Use your meal as a time to spend with someone where you are both eating. This allows for you to be connected to them, but have less distraction. Make it a “phone on airplane mode or at least turned over” date.
Don’t Eat and Drive.
If you need to get something in, turn off the car. Eating while driving is bad on several fronts – but we have to be realistic. Make a rule (like no texting while driving) and stick with it: I don’t eat while I drive. That can mean you are in the parking lot and you eat the bar and then sip some water and then turn the car on. There is time.
Shorten your to-do list.
One of the reasons we don’t “have time” to eat mindfully is because we aren’t managing our to-do lists better. One of my favorite things to do daily and weekly is to make my to-do list and a) remove at least one item (I give me bonus points if I can remove more) that is just NEVER going to happen b) review and reallocate – what doesn’t need or just isn’t going to get done today, when will I reconsider it – assign it there. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, you will too!