It starts innocently enough. You reach for a few potato chips or a handful of nuts.
Maybe you open a bag of M&M’s. As soon as the first handful is gone, you reach for another one.
The next thing you know, you get caught in a hand-to-mouth pattern that’s almost impossible to stop. Think about all the foods that come in bite-sized servings or ones that you eat from your hand.
To be able to enjoy your hand-held snacks without getting addicted to them, you need to set up strategies that will keep those foods in the bowl instead of in your hand.
Start by putting a buffer between any bite-sized foods and your mouth. One trick is to eat small-size foods with a utensil.
For example, try eating M&M’s with a fork. Slide nuts into a spoon before tossing them into your mouth.
Pour a stack of tortilla chips or other small snacks onto a plate, and then cut them into pieces before you nibble them.
You’ll probably eat less because the reward doesn’t seem worth the effort it takes to put the food into a spoon.
Today’s assignment (my answers are in blue)
1. Select a hand-held food item such as nuts, chips, or candy pieces. Measure out a precise serving such as one-fourth cup or two tablespoons, and then put this amount on a plate. Write down the food you are using for this exercise.
Honey roasted almonds
2. Sit down at a table with the food in front of you. Using a fork or a spoon, eat one piece at a time. Notice how it feels to eat your snack this way. Describe it.
I used a spoon for them, plus counted out my serving size. I noticed they were very crunchy, and had more flavor than when I eat a whole bunch at a time.
3. Write a few notes about how you will manage hand-held foods in the future.
My most tempting are M&M’s, nuts and chocolate covered “anything” such as raisins or nuts. My plan is that I’ll eat these foods one at a time instead of by the handful.
Excerpted from Day 29 in the book, 100 Days of Weight Loss