How to stop munching?
 

I know whats bad to eat, but I find myself stuffing my face before I even realize it. What do you all do to remind yourselves not to eat? Wristband? Tape on finger? Locking the fridge?

I have this problem at work a lot, and I refuse to take up smoking again just to lose weight!

Any helpfull tips would be apreciated!

How about just plain self control? Or do you just like start eating stuff without realizing it? Maybe if you eat full meals, you wont have a need to snack all the time.

as for the eating thing. If you find yourself wanting to eat most of the time if water you desire so drink instead. You'll soon find that you weren't really hungry. Self control is what is needed, everytime you desire something ask yourself do you need it, then tell yourself no.

self-control can only get you so far sometimes... sometimes you think, okay, i'm gonna go get 2 cookies, and next thing you know, you've eaten the bag without even realizing it. self control really can only keep you from the food (for some people), but once you've got it in front of you you just stop realizing it.

back to the initial post, try chewing gum. it keeps your mouth going. drink lots of water, and if you can, maybe root beer (the carbonation can make you feel full).

try to do things that truely engage your mind. if you're really interested in what you're doing, you're less likely to wander to food. do you have ADD? i got diagnosed and started taking stuff for it, and found that once i was able to focus better, i stopped eating between meals almost completely, and when i did, i had much better control over it.

i've always wanted to try to find out of if there's a correlation between having non-hyperactive ADD and being overweight. anyone read anything about that?

But be wary of this too... Soda can pack some MAJOR calories because of all the sugar, so that in the end, you're not much better off. Try diet pops maybe?
I definitely second the gum chewing idea though...

well, maybe i should have specifically stated diet, although i figured that might be implied... but root beer specifically is better than most other forms of brown/black pop because it has no phosphoric acid in it and is naturally caffiene free.

I just tell myself that I'm not going to eat anything. Sure it can be very hard sometimes, especially if you're bored and your mind is wandering, but it can be very beneficial. If you can manage up enough self control to stop eating between meals then your self control will probably increase in other things too just because you've realized that you can control yourself.

I would suggest always having some water close by because a lot of the times that you think you're hungry you're really not, and just drinking something can alleviate those urges. But if you can't handle that then just eat some low calorie foods: carrot or celery sticks (though i'd probably recommend not using dip with them because dip is rarely healthy), low salt pretzels (I say low salt because the salt tends to make them taste better which will probably make you eat a lot of them which is what you're not trying to do, and plus they won't hurt your blood pressure), flavored rice cakes, gum. I wouldn't tell yourself that you're just going to eat a couple cookies because if you do lose control and end up eating the whole bag then that would really be unhealthy, same thing goes for candy or other sweets. Try and start off slowly and then build up your self control and so in the end you won't have the cravings anymore.

1) Completely stop eating while playing games or watching TV. Your mind is on other things and doesnt pay attention to your stomach when you've had "enough", you eat till you're full.

2) Drink lots of water, it's been said by everyone but do not underestimate how good it is for you, or how bad cokes are.

3) Determine in advance what you are going to allow yourself to eat (like the day before) and suck it up to hold to it. Yes somedays you will be more hungry than others, but if you post this I imagine you are having a slight weight problem. Stick to it.

4) Shop for food on a full stomach. Yes... I know it sounds weird. When you're full you can be more picky about WHAT you get. I know I never get chocolate or munchies unless I'm hungry at the time, so I stopped that cold

5) Eat healthy snacks. I've completely switched from cookies/chips to bananas/kiwi/nectarines/etc, now I still snack a lot but it's healthy and you will notice a difference in how you feel.

Drink water instead of pop, don't snack while watching TV or going to the movies (enjoy the movie, not the popcorn), find a hobby that you get engrossed with enough to not think about eating.

Most of all, don't keep snack foods in the house (chips, candy, soda, etc)! Easiest way to avoid temptation is not to have it around to tempt you.

You've heard it over and over....drink water, and lot's of it. Keep carrot sticks around. Work out. See a therapist to figure out what is really going on.

If all else fails, work out enough to burn up what you eat.

Think about what you're buying when you shop. Getting foods that require preparation (other than fruits and veggies) will make you less apt to just munch. Don't have preprocessed snack type foods in your house then you can't eat them.

yeah all of this seems like good advice, try brushing your teeth too, that always seems to help my lass.
eating whole balanced meals too, that really helps. plus exercising, i always find that after a run, swim, cycle, whatever, that i don't want to eat and if i do i crave good healthy stuff and not unhealthy fatty snacks...

good luck.
are you trying to lose weight for anything in particular? do you have target?

As others have said, drink lots of water. I've been told, that hunger feeling is actually the first stages of dehydration. Also, exercise will boost your metabolism and you won't need to eat as often. In my experience if I skip my run/walk, I tend to eat more that day :(

I think it is important for you to know that we ALL wrestle with this problem daily. There is so much food so readily available. Maybe too readily available. So you are not alone in this problem. You have to make a commitment to yourself on this. There are no special tricks. The phrase, "there is no free lunch" no trick, no instant fix here, no hypnosis (it wears off) to correct this. It is behavioral and only you can help in the long run. Lots of others have given you what works for them. Just keep on trying different strategies. This is not easy and as I said before everyone wrestles with this on a daily basis. One final thought, exercise helps to burn off calories and often decreases the appetite after working out. Surprising but true.

1. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.

2. If you learn to hate your co-worker who brings the snacks to the office, you won't eat their community snacks and will be more likely to throw their stuff out. (just a thought)

3. Drink water.

A low carb lifestyle decreases your appetite significantly. Eating sugar and refined carbohydrates are the main things that contribute to the spikes in our insulin levels. When they spike, then drop quickly, you're hungry again.

You could start by removing sugar from your diet.

Exactly. Food is the same way as any other want a person has; out of sight, out of mind. If you know about the box of Cheeze-It's in your cupboard, you'll be thinking about it when you're watching CSI, while you're going to0 sleep, and while you do chores. Just buy healthy stuff. Practice self control at the supermarket by brining someone else with you to buy food. Diet and exercise programs are always better with a partner.

Yes! And don't feel badly about hating them. They are an unknowing enemy to your good health. Bring your own snacks to bring the battle to him/her.

YES!!! Water makes up more than two-thirds of the weight of the human body. Without water, humans would die in a few days. All the cells and organs need water to function.

Water serves as a lubricant and is the basis of saliva and the fluids surrounding the joints. In other words, exercising puts pressure on joints, which are lubricated by water. Water regulates the body temperature through perspiration. It also helps prevent and alleviate constipation by moving food through the intestinal tract. In other words, it helps you tyo digest more efficiently - so you can digest at an optimum speed - which will speed the metabolism.

Thanks dylanmarsh for the post. I hope you don't mind my elaborating on what you said.

A quote I read here that I think was posted by Plan9 stands out and makes a lot of sense. Repeat after me...."Nothing tastes as good as being in shape". :thumbsup:

Does anyone else drink milk? I support the drinking water and keeping busy and chewing gum and eating healthier things too. But when I get hungry at random intervals, sometimes I drink 6-8 ounces of lowfat milk. It helps me feel full. It isn't sugary or horrible and I don't feel guilty about it. Hot drinks like tea also work. I usually keep a large bottle of water with me and try to fill it up twice each day.

Diet pop is disgusting. Drink some fruit juice mixed with soda water if you don't want to handle a few "empty" cals from pop.

I've found that I eat less when I give up coffee. Problem is I LOVE coffee and I'm SOOOO weak.

Did you know that the half life for caffeine in the human body is 9 - 12 hours? So half the caffeine in that cup of joe in the morning is still running rampant in your system at around 7pm, trying to generate more adrenalin. But that's a whole 'nutha thread.

WillyPete - You might be a bit out of the ordinary. Caffeine usually acts as an appetite supressant in most people, albeit of a short duration. Of course, caffeine also has bunches of other effects in the body including being a diuretic. I wonder if your increased food consumption was actually a sign of dehydration? As some others in this thread have suggested, hunger is often thirst masquerading.

Back to the thread topic: Someone else might have mentioned this, but you might try preparing and eating regular meals while sitting down at a table. Many people, myself included, make a habit out of eating WHILE we are doing something else. Computer, video games, TV, etc. are just a backdrop to dining and snacking. If you spend the time preparing a quality meal for yourself and focus on eating that food, you might find that you crave snacks less and enjoy your food more.

Many of the other suggestions already forwarded in this thread regarding drinking more water, shopping for healthier foods, avoid having "bad" snack foods in the house, are all good ways of cutting down on your bed eating habits.

i'd like to agree with the not buying snack food idea. not even microwave dinners. that stuff is full of preservatives anyway. only keep food that is not particularly bad to eat or requires full preparation. if you are really hungry, you will have to make some semi-decent food for yourself. otherwise you won't eat.

also, if you want to shed some pounds, don't eat anything late at night. i think a diet company was telling people to take their product and stop eating 3 hours before bedtime. the company was in legal trouble, but the idea is valid. you don't need the diet supplement, just don't eat late. you burn stuff off if you are active and retain it if you snooze. could be a hard habit to break, and i don't have any advice for you to quit...just relaying some ideas.

Thanks guys...good ideas here. The most prevalent suggestion is to drink more water, so I'll try that route. I'm ALWAYS dehydrated, so this should help me in multiple ways.

Whoop!

I thought of another one....don't eat when you are watching TV or reading.

wrong.
the best way to lose weight is to keep your metabolism up, which is helped HUGELY by eating every 3 hours.


most of us sleep for 8 hours a night.

so..if you stop eating 3 hours before you go to bed..and eat when you wake up, thats 11 hours without fuel. Now, our body burns LESS when we are sleep, but it still does in fact burn food. You should definitley eat something before you go to bed, something like a couple glasses of milk with a can of tuna, or some chicken.

not really. the reason you really shouldn't eat a few hours before bed is because as you digest the food, it will get stored as fat. when sleeping, you're body almost entirely burns fat. you won't have muscle burned for energy, so muscle loss isn't an issue.

sleep is a (relatively) metabolically inactive time, so if you eat before hand you're body won't need the food that's coming in and will store it.

I disagree. Without proper fuel, ie protein, your body will run the risk of slipping into a catabolic state after a X hours of sleep. This is the basis behind the idea of eating cassein protein before you go to bed.

it's not a risk. while you sleep, you have a Respiratory Exchange Ratio of about .7 (maybe a tiny bit higher, like .72). The RER is a measurement of the amount of carbon being expelled when you breath and is used to determine the fuel and amount that is being burned. at .7 you are burning pure fat. at 1.0 you are burning pure carbohydrate. above 1.0 and you are in an anaerobic state.

the amount of energy your body needs while sleeping is not enough to enter someone into a catabolic state. in order for that to happen, you either need to be starving yourself (and sleep doesn't cut it, 8 hours of sleep probably won't burn the same amount of energy as 3 or four hours awake) or doing endurance training and have been running for more than an hour, it's not going to happen.

also (going back to 3 posts ago), according to my studies (i believe it was in either my sports nutrition class or my ex. phys. class) we learned that digestion will only increase your metabolism by about 5%. not that much over all. obviously any boost is good as long as the increase in metabolism is not less than than the food being eaten. and when you eat before bed yoru metabolism will be at a crawl while your digesting food, so you're going to add that on as fat since it won't be used right away.

The best advice I saw here was if you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Very simply, whatever it is you usually munch on, do not buy it at the store. If you have a regular supply at home, throw it out. Consider the lost money of throwing it out or giving it away as a down payment on stopping munching all the time. And don't try to just have one or two of anything, your goal is to stop completely because thats the most effective way to get it under control.

Water helps too, but the best thing is just to stop buying anything you might ever consider munching on, unless its something really really healthy for you. Besides, chances are your grocery bill will drop like a rock too, that shit adds up!

Drink Genmaicha Tea
 

:) If inhibiting your urges for eating is difficult, did you try taking steps to burn more calories in any way? This way, you are less inclined to gain weight. If you're not into workouts and such, try drinking Genmaicha Tea (a type of Japanese tea mixed with Bancha, Sencha and Brown Rice). A few years ago, my best friend (who was a devout Zen follower) told me to drink this tea before a meal, because it helps burn more calories. From what I understand, its caffeine level is normal and you'll love the natural nutty flavor. This tea also contains some Vitamin B1, which keeps our skin looking good!

In general thumb of a rule, essentially most Japanese teas are good for diet.

There are a lot of tea internet stores, but I personally like to recommned a San Francisco Bay Area company Teanobi. They specialize in imported Japanese gourmet teas. Their website is very pretty, and also highly informative.

http://www.teanobi.com

True, but when I drink coffee I'll go through about 1 &1/4 filter jugs at work.
With the diuretic effect I'm sure this is the case, whereas a regular coffee drinker doesn't consume that much.


Another good tip I heard:
Eat at home BEFORE you go shopping for food.

It makes you get rid of the old stuff that you'd just throw away when you brought in the new groceries and you're less likely to stuff the cart with cookies an candy that you are feeling the need for.
If you normally get home and eat several snack meals that you bought at the store, this will help you.

Also, place fruit in highly trafficked or visible areas.
If it's there, chances are you'll remember that you need to eat fruit regularly and it'll prompt you to snack on that instead.

So, from what I understand you should stop munching, yet, should you also eat something every 2~3 hours? (I assume that those off meal times should be something a bit more healthy than 12 snickers bars)

Stop eating refined foods and sugar! All sugar. Eat when you are hungry... Choose healthy food 100% of the time.

For all you coffee lovers, I just found out some interesting info:
if you cant live without a cup of java each day, try substituting it with a cup of green tea. Apparently green tea has the same effects as coffee, but is a heck of a lot better for you. Also, its not a natural laxative like coffee is, so your stomach will like you a whole lot more too!
I always liked green tea, but I recently gave up coffee for good and instead have green tea, and you know what? It does have the same effects as coffee, except I feel a whole lot better after tea. :) Give it a try sometime

i was diagnosed with ADD back when i was like 10 or younger...sometimes when i am watching tv or dvd i dont hear ppl talking to me...but i seem to be able to some what control that...anyway...the answer to your ? i am and know a few ppl that were diagnosed with ADD but are all small in size...all thru out hs and college i was 135 now i am 150...so i havent ever noticed a correlation with the 2...

IMO, drs seem to be quick to diagnose kids with ADD, they just try to med them up and IMO i think i would have had a different life if i wasnt put on Ritalin at such a young age...tho i dont have anything to back that up...sorry if this was long...hopefully you get my point


When i am at home i dont have to eat alot of food but when i work i have to eat thru out the day even if i do eat 3 meals...i usually only drink ice tea and juice...but i have to say that the carbonation does seem to fill me up alot better tho its not as good for me...i usually spend 2 or 3 bucks a day for drinks, be it water, juice, ice tea(turkey hill), or soda...that usually keeps me from munching.

You could try snacks that take a lot of effort to eat.

I eat sunflower seeds when I get the munchies, they satisfy the urge to snack and you don't actually end up eating that much.

I used to be a lightweight rower. We had a single line we had to keep, not a whole spectrum of weight classes.

Anyway - the tricks I found:
1. Water - just fills you up
2. Gum - keeps your mouth busy
3. Celery - I like it, its tasty, no calories
4. Diet soda - my experience is that if you stick to ONLY diet drinks, you can get used to it.
5. More, smaller meals - keeps your appetite more even.

Eat a small meal every 2 to 3 hours. Works for me. I have no desire to eat anything in between them.

Foods low on the glycemic index (oatmeal, whole wheat bread, brown rice) will also leave you feeling pretty full for quite some time. The higher up on the GI scale you go (bananas, for example are medium, while a snickers is ultra high) the faster you become hungry again.

Also, drink water and lots of it.