WEIGHT LOSS is on the minds of many, especially with coronavirus lockdown in full swing. Britons are allowed one form of exercise a day, and many are worried they will gain weight. How can you avoid snacking?
Snacking can be a major downfall in weight loss diet plans. Being stuck inside during the coronavirus lockdown makes the situation worse, with snacks just metres away and no colleagues to judge you on your third packet of crisps. However, help is at hand for this looking to curb their snacking.
NHS-backed diet plan Second Nature put together a set of guidelines to curb cravings.
Qualified nutritionist Tamara Willner revealed distraction is one useful tool to take the mind off snacking.
“We can prepare for when we feel compelled to emotionally eat by noting down some ‘if/then’ scenarios. For example, if I’m bored and feel the urge to buy unhealthy snacks, then I will do a crossword puzzle for 10 minutes,” the expert said.
She listed other examples, including, “If I feel lonely and start craving crisps or chocolate, then I will call my friend for a quick chat,” and “if I feel anxious and overwhelmed, then I will pause and read my book for 10 minutes.”
There are always ways to alter your living area to help keep cravings at bay.
Tamara went on: “We can also prepare our environment, by avoiding having large amounts of ultra-processed foods (e.g. crisps, biscuits, ice cream, chocolate) in the house.
“Instead, buying healthier wholefoods to snack on will mean we’re less likely to overeat and they’ll keep us feeling more satisfied.”
Her list of recommended snack foods to keep in the house includes things like:
- Unsweetened peanut butter
- High-quality dark chocolate (85 percent or more)
- Frozen berries
- Natural yoghurt
- Plain Ryvita crackers
- Olives
- Mixed nuts
- Seeds
- Hummus
- Carrots
- Eggs
- Hard cheeses
Reshaping thoughts about snacking can also help change habits.
“It’s important that we don’t harbour feelings of guilt when we do experience an episode of emotional eating. One way to do this is to avoid labelling foods as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘treat’ or ‘syn’,” Tamara added.
“This can foster a negative relationship with food and create an ongoing cycle of comfort eating.
“Instead, we can class foods as foods that we enjoy every day and foods that we enjoy less often.”
Start ‘snacking’ on exercise
Another helpful tip, this can get the heart level raised and shake of the feeling of wanting to eat.
Tamara said: “This means doing just one to two minutes of exercise as often as possible, whether that be press-ups, star jumps, squats, lunges, running on the spot, or going up and down the stairs a few times.
“Finding the time to exercise doesn’t always mean taking long periods of time out of our day.
“For example, doing squats while we wait for the kettle to boil, or jogging on the spot while our food heats up in the microwave.”
One woman shared how the diet plan helped her lose eight stone and reverse diabetes.
Toni feared she would lose a limb when she was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes in January 2018.
The mother-of-three, from Leighton Buzzard, weighed more than 20st 7lb and was a size 22. However, now she has dropped to 10st 11lb and now wears size 12.
Just over a year after taking up the diet Toni’s diabetes went into remission.
Toni followed Second Nature. Second Nature is a 12-week low carb programme. It was set up by Chris Edson and Mike Gibbs, both former NHS advisors, to tackle Britain’s obesity and type-2 diabetes epidemic.
Source:|Daily Express
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