9 Reasons You Can’t Stop Snacking

According to Health Psychology boredom is the number one emotion that causes people to eat.  I've notice that most of the snacking I do is when I'm sitting sedentary at my desk, so this is totally understandable.  Nutrition pros recommend grabbing a cup of peppermint tea (which by the way is the bomb with Chocolate Stevia) or reading a magazine as a calorie free distraction from your boredom.

Science.  Women who are feeling blue are more likely to grab bad for you foods like chocolate.  Or a donut.  Or a brownie.  The weight I'm trying to shed came after the end of whatever I was doing with a complete douche.  When you're eating because you're sad try reaching out to a friend to chat or head outside for a walk!

There's a book out there that suggests a messy environment is messing with your mind and making you "find" the unhealthy stuff, instead of the healthy stuff.  Clean-up your kitchen and you'll clean-up what's going in your mouth.

I've seen this in relationships.  Hell, I've had significant others that fall into this trap.  Research shows that when you're in a happy relationship you don't try as hard to maintain your weight because you don't have to attract another mate.  Don't let them pull you into snacking just because their "comfortable" with packing on a little weight because they have you.  Try adding some healthy habits into the routine like lean recipe you've wanted to try or going for walks after dinner.

Think you're being healthy by having a giant salad without much to it beside the leaves?  You're actually setting yourself up to burn out later in the afternoon.  Protein digests slower so you feel full longer.  If you're going to have a salad, chop up some chicken or fish and add it into the mix to tie you over to dinner.

If you do end up heading for the vending machine for an afternoon snack, stay away from anything with added sugar in it.  Go for the higher protein options like nuts or jerky.  The protein in those won't make you crash like a Twix bar would.

If something looks yummy in your reach you're going to want it.  Like the box of Girl Scout cookies on my desk right now.  I can't eat them on this diet but I want them SOOOO bad.  This is exactly why you'll very rarely find snack food around my apartment.  If it's there I'm going to eat it.  If it's not, I'm not going to leave my place to go buy it.

We've got an office baker here at 103.5 KISS FM.  It's damn near impossible to turn down one of the goodies she brings in.  But sometimes, you've just got to.  Use the polite excuse "thank you, but I just ate" to get away from the bad for you foods.

Snacks don't necessarily have to be chips or cookies that contain ingredients that you can't pronounce the ingredients in.  If you can't say it, don't eat it.  Stick to real foods as much as you can.