One of the main things that use to hinder my weight loss journey is snacking. Right in the middle of a snack attack, something came over me. I sat there and asked myself “why am I snacking”…yup! WHY?!
I believe snacking is more of a mental event than the actual snacking itself.
You sit on the couch, dig your hand in a bag or bowl of whatever and you completely zone out until your snack is gone. The funny thing is once it is gone you look at the bowl or bag that use to hold your snack and wonder where did it go! Now you feel cheated. You look around and somehow think someone helped you eat it. Your power of reason comes into play and you confess out loud “I ate the WHOLE thing”.
To be honest I’m still working on snacking but now I try to make it more meaningful. I can say that it use to really hurt my feelings when I took the time to measure out the proper portion and all, then sit in front of the TV and eat it in 60 seconds flat. I mean REALLY?! So you know what happens next don’t? Sure you do! You want MORE! The 1st commercial to your favorite show didn’t even come on yet for goodness sakes!
Okay let’s draw this down to a point. You cannot mindlessly snack and stay on your pursuit towards your weight loss goal. If you are an emotional eater you are snacking to divert your mind and attention away from a task or problem. Here are the reasons why mindless snacking won’t help you at all:
• the task or the problem will still be there!
• you’ve now made yourself numb to the actual sensation of being satiated, it is just a hand to mouth action.
• once you’ve realized there was no connection to the food mentally and it’s all gone, you want a do over, and you go back for more!!
What’s the solution? I’m going to keep it real with you. I know there are going to be days of the month when I’m more stressed than others, not because I have a “woman thing going on” but it is true for ALL people. Our stress level & hormones fluctuate from day to day. Just as unpredictable as the weather or stock market. Plan those moments! You know they are going to happen! I call it my “break glass in cases of emergency” moments. Make your snacking meaningful!! When I’m ultra stressed I want something either cold & creamy such as chocolate pudding or ice cream; or something savory and crunchy like peach cobbler with a crumbly crunchy top. Oh yes, I do go there during my “break glass” moments. The cold and creamy is a frozen banana in a food processor with cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and 2 tbsp of Greek yogurt. The savory & crunchy is diced peaches sprinkled with 2 Tbsp of granola thrown into the oven. It smells like cobbler and tastes like it too.
Lastly before you can EVER connect with your food, you must connect with your feelings! Write it down. Take voice notes. Use your laptop and make a video journal. Whatever you have to do to connect with your feelings and WHY you’re feeling that way. You owe it to yourself to do it. You owe yourself the effort.
Notice I didn’t say call someone and talk about it! Do this AFTER you’ve connected with yourself first. Why?! Because my darlings… Depending on who you call it just might intensify your feelings. How? Because they will share with you how to solve the problem or they just might dismiss your feelings, albeit unintentionally; their input may do more harm than good. Journaling your feelings will help YOU help YOURSELF! After you’ve connected with your feelings and you still feel it is a “break glass” snacking moment then have at it. Just don’t do it mindlessly. Make your snacking meaningful. Eat purposefully.
movewiththefitnessgirl 