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Stop Mindless Eating

Submitted by Stella Morgan on December 8, 2009

Mindless eating is one of the most common complaints people have these days. It’s not just adolescents who have this nutritional problem. Stress can be a major contributing factor to mindless eating. One has to watch out for triggers or factors that lead to mindless eating. A diary or journal, if maintained for a while, can help pinpoint such eating causes.

For instance, with many teenagers, watching movies or television programs is incomplete without snacking on fast food. With adults, it’s usually job stress that provokes that craving for mindlessly eating fatty food or comfort food.

Another worrying factor is depression which could cause unchecked mindless eating.

Once the person is more aware about mindless eating triggers, he or she can be more alert when such behavior occurs. This can go a long way in keeping such behavior at bay. If fighting that urge to eat becomes incredibly difficult, you can always look for those food choices that are healthier in nature.

For example you could put away that packet of oily potato chips and try baked potato instead. If watching something on television or even at the theater is a necessity, look for plain popcorn instead of that bucket of fried chicken.

You can actually take advantage of mindless eating to stock up on food to fulfill your nutritional requirements.

Try cutting pieces of some delicious fresh fruit as a healthy mini meal. Don’t forget that green salads make great fillers between meals, if you feel so inclined. Also, since individuals often snack or eat simply because they need water (and don’t realize it), try water instead of food.

Wait a while and if the brain still sends those signals saying that hunger is the problem, then go choose a healthy snack. In some cases, since it’s the chewing action that is necessary, sugarless gum can come to the rescue. It could help get one’s brain to believe that it is consuming food, and feel satisfied as a result. Such gum can be a great way to deal with those mindless eating urges.

However, one should not overuse the sugar-free variety since large amounts of sorbital have been linked to health issues and this is found in this gum. A great natural way to deal with such niggling cravings is negative calorie food. Examples include zucchini, celery and pineapple. As you can see, keeping portions of such foods are a good way to satisfy those eating urges.