Hey! Hey you, PUT THAT SNACK DOWN! (Tips to PREVENT Snacking)

Snacking....

The devil of eating that we all do. But we all want to avoid, and always when snacking..thinking "I'm not even hungry, why am I eating this?" To be technical here, we will consider snacking: Anything consumed before or after meals are consumed (whether you are eating 2-3 meals or late night snacking). Most of us have no idea why we snack and most times it's out of complete boredom and randomness. People would be amazed if they had any idea how many extra calories they are consuming from mindless snacking. All those little packs of 100 calorie muffins add up people! JUST BECAUSE IT SAYS 100 CALORIES DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GOOD FOR YOU.

Let's start with some facts, because who doesn't love facts?

In a study done in 2009 (titled: Prospective Study of self-reported usual snacking and weight gain in a Mediterranean cohort: The SUN project) there were over 10,000 university graduates (mean age of 39) that were tracked for about four and a half years. After the study, participants reported that snacking directly correlated with a higher risk of gaining weight. During the study, 258 new cases of obesity were discovered in participants that started the study NOT BEING OBESE. The usual snackers in the study had a 66% to become obesity by the time the follow up study was done 4.5 years later

So, yes, snacking is definitely a risk factor for obesity. While that may seem obvious, I thought those numbers from the study really helped high light how dangerous snacking can be. WOW, 258 new cases of obesity from the study from people that were not obese before the study, isn't that mind blowing?

Now that we have the facts..let's talk about some ways to PREVENT snacking.

1. Keep water around you at all times. If I'm going to do something that might make me snack (video games, TV, etc) I'll grab about 4-5 bottles of water and keep them around me. Whenever I want to grab something, theres water there. Instead of throwing back a bunch of goldfish, its just water. It actually satisfies you a lot more than one would believe. A lot of times when mindless snacking is going on, some water will solve the problem.
2.  DON'T BUY SNACKS. This is probably the best tip I can think of. If you don't buy snacks, you'll have nothing to snack on! I don't keep many snacks in my house, I've taught myself that I don't need the snacking, that it's stupid. Keep the snacks out of your house, or to a low minimum, and the snacking will cease. You will realize its not necessary.
3. Eat enough during your meals. Another great tip here, a lot of snacking usually comes from not filling yourself up when you are eating. Make sure you eat enough so you don't grab that bag of chips at night time. I practice Intermittent Fasting, so I know to get my eating done (usually 2 large squares) in my eating period and I'm done after that. So fill up during meals, it leaves less time for mindless snacking at night or during the day.
4. Mental Strength. I'll point out mental willpower, strength, etc. during a lot of my posts. Just because it's so important. If you are mentally strong, you can do anything physically. Our mind is our biggest asset we have as humans, but a lot of times our biggest barrier. Tell yourself you don't need a snack, it's just going to add more weight. The stronger your mind is, the more you will be able to overcome.

Snacking is dangerous, mindless, and stupid most of the time. The supermarkets don't help by filling aisles with a bunch of snacks. They don't care about your health, they just want to SELL PRODUCTS. But you care about your health right? So lets start today by cutting that snacking down until it's completely gone! 

Citation for the study :
Bes-Rastrollo, M., Sanchez-Villegas, A., Basterra-Gortari, F. J., Nunez-Cordoba, J. M., Toledo, E., & Serrano-Martinez, M. (2010). Prospective study of self-reported usual snacking and weight gain in a Mediterranean cohort: the SUN project. Clinical Nutrition, 29(3), 323.