Mindless Eating is Not Frugal

Mindless eating will not help your waistline or your wallet. So what is ‘Mindless Eating?’

Have you ever sat down with a bag of chips to watch TV or started munching cookies while talking on the phone? I’ve even been known to sit down with a good book and a bowl of pretzels. An hour later, you realize that you’ve eaten half that bag of chips and you didn’t even know it.

Mindless eating is not eating for enjoyment or for nutrition, but because the food is there. You end up wasting food and money on empty calories.

Should you stop eating any and all snacks while you entertain yourself? While you could, you don’t need to deny yourself the occasional treat. The solution to stopping mindless eating is quite simple.

1. Don’t store food any place but the kitchen or pantry. This includes things like candy bowls.
2. Educate yourself on proper serving sizes. Read the labels on your treats and make sure you’re clear on how many calories are going down the hatch.
3. When you want a snack, serve yourself a single serving and then put the container back. It’s much harder to mindlessly overindulge if you have to get up to get more.
4. If measuring out 2/3 of a cup of Chex Mix every time seems like too much work, pre-measure your snacks into snack-sized sandwich baggies. Don’t forget you can reuse the bags! (Don’t buy ‘single serving’ sized of anything at the market. You are just paying for extra packaging.)

• Consider waiting until the show/phonecall/whatever is over to have your snack. You will enjoy your food more if you can give your full attention to what’s going into your mouth.
• If you are out in public and can’t bring your own snacks (or just want to indulge,) split the snack between a few people. You really shouldn’t eat that entire bucket of popcorn yourself anyway!

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