Six Easy Ways to Stop Mindless Eating (Weight Loss Wednesday)

Mindless eating can be a huge barrier to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

No matter how disciplined you are, how much willpower you have, and what good habits you build, all your efforts can be undone by sitting in front of the TV and shoving an entire Chicago-style pizza in your face-hole.

Losing weight and keeping it off for life is all about building the right habits. And the most important habit is to think before you eat. That’s the titular “weight loss habit” that I named my book after.

By definition, mindless eating isn’t doing that.

Here are some ways to avoid mindless eating that don’t take any effort or willpower.

1. Never eat straight from a multi-serving package

Have you ever sat down to watch TV, reached into a family-sized bag of chips, and then sometime later noticed that the bag is now empty and you regret your life decisions?

You’re paying attention to what you’re watching, while your hand is on autopilot repeatedly shoving chips in your mouth.

You’re giving no thought whatsoever to how many chips you’re eating, what their calorie count is, whether it’s a good idea to keep eating, if you’re still hungry, or if you still want them at all.

This can even happen with healthy food. It’s definitely possible to eat too many carrots.

There’s an easy solution to this, that still lets you enjoy munching while watching your show.

Simply decide how much of the food you want, and then pour that much onto a plate. Then put the package away. (Or at least, out of your reach.)

This way, it doesn’t matter if you mindlessly shove food in your mouth while paying attention to your show, because you’re limited to the amount you intentionally decided to have.

2. Use Chewing Gum to prevent mindless eating

There’s a theory that the rise in obesity in recent times was caused by smoking becoming less popular. People who otherwise would have been smokers are overeating instead.

I don’t fully buy this theory. I’m generally skeptical of assigning singular simple causes to highly complex issues. But it does seem plausible that the drop in smoking is at least a contributing factor to the rise in obesity.

It’s hard to stick food in your mouth when there’s already a cigarette there.

I’m not suggesting you take up smoking to lose weight. I’m suggesting you take up smoking to look cool.

Kidding!

What I am suggesting you do is use this same trick with something that isn’t harmful: chewing gum.

You can’t eat and chew gum at the same time. So chewing gum will stop you from mindlessly eating.

Plus, you’ll get to enjoy the sensation of chewing something flavorful, so it can also serve as a substitute for food.

3. If you’ll be distracted during your meal, prepare your plate for mindless eating

We live busy lives, and can’t be expected to spend our eating time focusing on our food.

It’s not just watching TV. We also may be working. Or engaging in pleasant conversation with friends and family.

Much like with eating from a multi-serving package, if you aren’t paying attention, you’ll just eat everything on your plate.

So pay attention when putting food on your plate in the first place.

Only get as much food as is a good idea to eat.

That way, if you mindlessly eat all of it, it’s not a problem.

4. Split your food in half immediately

What about when someone else prepares your plate?

You may have heard the advice to immediately ask for a take-home container and put half your food in it.

That’s fine if you want to do it, but it would make most people feel awkward and uncomfortable. And that doesn’t really make sense if you’re a guest in someone’s home rather than at a restaurant.

As an alternative, separate your food on your plate between “Okay to eat” and “Don’t eat now” sections.

Cut your chicken breast in half, separate your mashed potatoes into two mounds, etc.

(Just label the sections in your mind. You don’t have to make a scene or call attention to it.)

There’s nothing physically stopping you from eating the wrong section. But it builds in a little speedbump, which will interrupt your mindless eating and make you stop to think.

5. Don’t stand near the food table at parties

(To keep in mind for the future once parties are a thing again.)

When you stand next to the snack table at a party, it’s easy to mindlessly reach out and grab some chips, or a cookie, or some cheese.

The food’s right there. Your hand can pop it in your mouth before your brain even notices what’s happening.

To prevent this, stand across the room from the snacks.

That means if you want food, you’ll have to pause your conversation, walk across the room, get a plate, put the food you decide you want onto the plate, and come back to rejoin your conversation.

Which means you’re forced to make an intentional decision instead of mindlessly eating.

6. Never eat while drunk or on drugs

I’m not here to judge you. Whatever mind-altering substances you choose to take are your business.

(Though as a weight-loss expert, I’ll point out that alcoholic beverages tend to be high in calories.)

But drugs and alcohol mess with your decision-making abilities, and this extends to your judgment of what’s reasonable to eat.

It may seem like a good idea at the time to indulge in your munchies, or drunkenly stumble to Waffle House.

(Does anyone ever go to Waffle House sober?)

But you’ll regret it later.

Since you can’t trust your unsober self to make good decisions about what and how much to eat, it’s better to have a hard and fast rule to not eat anything.

Have a sensible dinner before you go out to the bar or get blazed, and don’t eat anything after.

Later on, when you’re trashed, it will be a lot easier to remember “Nope” than it would be to keep track of calories or figure out which of the deep-fried bar snacks are healthy.

Even if this advice would put Waffle House out of business.

Conclusion: Mindless eating can be beaten with a bit of forethought

Nobody can be mindful all the time. The human brain just doesn’t work that way.

And there are more important things we’d rather pay attention to than eating.

Any weight loss strategy that relies on never engaging in mindless eating just isn’t realistic, and simply won’t work.

But with a little strategy and the tiniest bit of planning ahead, we can prevent mindless eating from causing any harm.

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Did you find this article helpful? You might enjoy my book The Weight Loss Habit: The No BS, No Gimmick, (Sort Of) Easy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever. Available now on Amazon.