Mindless eating is when you eat without paying attention1. It might even be a habit you didn’t realize you had.
For example, maybe you’ve grown accustomed to coming home from work, heading right into the pantry, grabbing a back of Whole Grain chips, and some hummus, and sitting on the couch every evening. You think, why not, hummus is good for me, and the chips are “Low Fat & Whole grain” so they must be healthy too, right?
*Remember – Just because one food might be better for you than another type of food, doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want of it.
So, 30 minutes go by and without noticing, you ate half of the hummus (80cal/serving with 10 servings in the container = 400calories), oh and, an unknown amount of chips. With just 1 serving = ~150calories, all those mindless extras could easily add 800+ calories a day without even realizing it 2.
Remember to gain a pound, we need to eat in an abundance of 3500cal. So 800cal/day x7days = 5600 or 1.6lbs.
It Sneaks up easy!
In my opinion, mindless eating can sabotage a healthy lifestyle more than having a “cheat day.” Why? Because mindless eating is intertwined with daily habits, making it incredibly difficult to pinpoint, let alone STOP.
Here are 8 habits you can put in place to stop (or at least control) mindless eating.
#1. Track food
The best way to stay accountable for the food that you eat, is to track everything. I know🙄, some people hate this and find it tedious, but it’s the only way to be aware of the food you’re eating. I don’t think it’s necessary to be militant about tracking food the rest of your life, but in the beginning, and when you fall off track, taking stock of the food you’re consuming can be very helpful in moving you back towards your weight loss or maintenance goals.
Remember my Hummus example from the beginning?
I use My Fitness Pal to track food and exercise. There are other online food journals, but My Fitness Pal is free, but find what works for you and use it..
Tracking food helps you make a truly educated decision before eating it. For example, someone brings donuts 🍩to work, and you want one bad. Instead of just acting on impulse, and eating the donut, you plug it into My Fitness Pal first and see that it is 500 calories.
If you decide to eat the donut, at least now you know what you’re eating. The key here is to track food BEFORE you eat it. This way, you can choose not to if it’s not worth the extra calories.
I like to think of it like how you set up your budget 💵. For example, is that donut worth (500cal) eating less of something else to “balance my budget” in the day? Or would I rather eat a meal with the same amount of calories but a lot more volume? Like getting a BOGO deal Vs. paying FULL price for just 1 item. I usually like a deal any day! More for your money err, calories, and more freedom of choice!
#2. Meal Plan
A meal plan is your food road map for the week. It tells you what to eat and typically when to eat it. By creating a meal plan, you can plan out all your calories (or spending) for the week. Some people only meal plan dinner, but I recommend planning out every meal and snack. Remember, if you don’t know what to eat, you can make choices based on your feelings and emotions which are far less helpful when trying to control mindless eating.
Don’t let there be a question to what’s on the menu that week – have it planned out.
But don’t make it difficult! Keep it simple. You don’t always need to plan a different meal for each day and time or get all fancy. Generally, I eat the same things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks and then switch dinners up. Or if you hate eating the same things, make a rotating meal plan (Like in my 3-step simple method blog- click here) This makes it easy to plan and prep.
You can even use the website Plan to Eat, which solves both problems. First, every meal plan (they call them menus) created in Plan to Eat can be saved, so you don’t ever have to worry about losing it. This means it can be reused over and over again. Second, you can easily create and print out (or keep on your phone) a grocery list. Writing a grocery list is my least favorite part of meal planning, so this tool was huge for me.
#3. Meal prep and portion food out ahead of time
In my opinion, this is one of the most essential strategies to prevent mindless eating. A meal plan will only work if you make the food, right? Essentially, meal prep means preparing meals and snacks when you have the time (weekends), so you can eat healthy when time is limited (during the week). Meal prepping alone will help prevent mindless eating because the food on your meal plan is ready to eat.
I talk about meal prep a lot because I truly believe it can be a massive game-changer for you. If you struggle to eat healthy during the week, for whatever reason, then try to prep food ahead of time and see if that helps. “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail”
Don’t worry it doesn’t have to be a lot more work, PROMISE! One way is to take some of the work out, like purchase already cut-up fruits, veggies, and heat and eat rice or potatoes. It may cost more upfront, but the pay off is in the TIME you will save.
Also, make it simple start with foods and meals you like, and as you make a routine of it, you can make each time better and better.
#4. Keep food triggers or temptations out of the house
When you are starting out especially, willpower is a real thing, until you form habits and get consistent. So, I think it’s important to save willpower for when you need to make choices outside your home2.
For example, if you’re going to the movies, you can’t control the overabundance of popcorn 🍿and candy 🍫everywhere. The smell alone is so powerful I can imagine it while I am writing this blog. So, if you’re trying to stay on track and not give in to temptations, you will need to dig deep into willpower.
You don’t want to practice that same type of willpower when in your own home, right? Right! So I recommend to limit the most tempting foods that are easily eaten, and hard to stay balanced out of your home especially at first until you are more comfortable with the changes you are making.
I used not be able to keep any icecream in the house, but slowly as I gained confidence in how I was managing my food choices and recognizing ways to include it here and there, I started being able to see that if I “Budget” right then I can have some icecream and it doesn’t have to be a willpower thing anymore.
I promise, it all gets better!
#5. Have the right tools
When mindless eating happens, you’re likely not paying attention to portions and serving sizes. One way to really start recognizing how mindless eating may be a reason for weight gain is to understand what a serving size ACTUALLY looks like.
The best way to learn both is to start measuring and weighing the food you eat. Again, this might seem tedious, but it’s essential to understand the size of a serving and or portion. Things like peanut butter or hummus, or salad dressing can be really sneaky and add up if you continue to keep your blinders on.
Remember you don’t know, what you don’t know. We do not have an automated system built in to say when we are at the limit, so we still need to do this ourselves, and every calorie counts!
The tools I recommend are:
- Measuring cups (liquid and dry)
- Measuring spoons,
- Food scale
All three of these tools will give you a better understanding of serving size and food portions. You’ll recognize that if you eat more than what’s measured, then you’re probably overeating. And NO, you do not have to do it forever, but you might be surprised as how far off you have been on some foods.
#6. Set limits
My favorite habit of controlling late-night snacking is not eating past 7 pm. That is one of the top habits I set to prevent mindless eating. Now you can obviously change that time if your schedule is later than mine, but setting a time to stop eating late at night, preferably ~2hrs before bed time.
Other limits can include setting time frames for meals during the day. Setting limits is helpful because it trains your brain to only want or expect food at certain times. If you eat between those times then you can guarantee you’re eating mindless calories you didn’t plan for. For example Breakfast is between 7-9am, Lunch is between 12-2pm, and snack is 3-5pm and dinner is between 6-8pm, or something like that. Its flexible yet still routine.
By setting limits, you are creating structure in your day. This structure will lead to routine and ultimately settle as a new healthy habit.
#7. Drink Lots of Water
Water is a huge component of weight loss, more than most would ever think. Water keeps you hydrated, satisfied and your system moving. Often, what’s mistaken for hunger is your body saying it’s thirsty.
I tend to do better when I use my water bottle because I can track the amount of water I’m drinking. Prioritizing water prevents all of that. I recommend keeping a water bottle with you all the time. The water is there to help with hydration, but it also serves as a reminder not to mindless snacks.
Set a goal for yourself, and use a water bottle that has measurements on it. One goal to work towards is to be able to take in at least half of your body weight in ounces each day. So a 150lb person needs ~75oz. If you ar no where near your recommended number of ounces, then start with a goal that is reasonable for you and work towards increasing it as you can.
Remember you never have to be perfect at anything, making an effort to be always improving is all you need!
#8 Set reminders
When all else fails, set a reminder in your calendar, I live by reminders! I have one set to pop up on my phone to remind me to stop eating at 7:00 pm. I also have a reminder (Alarm actually) pop up at 4:30 am reminding me to get to the gym. If I choose to ignore, them I need to turn it off physically. But these simple reminders have been helpful many times over in keeping me focused on goals.
If you tend to mindless eat at 3:00 pm, then, on top of planning a healthy snack and prepping it ahead of time, I suggest setting a reminder to go off at 2:50 pm reminding you to eat your snack.
I know this might seem a little over the top, but if you struggle and can’t remember to eat your snack, or stop eating, then something as simple as a phone reminder might help. Plus, it only takes 30 seconds to add it, so it’s not that big of a deal.
Key takeaways:
Mindless eating happens but each of these tips will bring organization, structure, and peace so you can focus on creating a healthier lifestyle that keeps you aware of the food you’re eating.
- Track Foods
- Meal Plan
- Meal Prep
- Minimize Triggers
- Have the Right Tools
- Set Limits
- Drink Water
- Set Reminders
What is your favorite Tip? I would love to know! shoot me an email laura@empowernutrition.info I love reading my followers’ emails, I read every single one!
References
- https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/mindful-eating/
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-tips-to-stop-mindless-eating#TOC_TITLE_HDR_11
