Do you find you often eat on impulse and need to control impulse eating? There is no feeling of hunger and you have no reason to eat but you grab a pack of biscuits and just find yourself eating them? You are not alone I have definitely done this far too many times!
There are some tips to help you through. Impulse eating is often linked to boredom eating or comfort eating so check out my guide of things you can do instead of boredom eating or comfort eating.
15 impulse eating tips
Manage your stress and anxiety – the more you are stressed the more you are likely to just grab for something you don’t need.
Always sit down to eat and eat without devices, TV or distractions.
Plan your meals in advance and only buy what you need for each meal. This means there are no leftovers to impulse eat and nothing else available as it would deprive you of another meal.
Keep a diary and see if there is a pattern to what triggers you.
Serve yourself smaller portions and only one portion at a time putting the rest away immediately to reduce the chance or you impulse eating an extra little bit!
Keep foods for meals and even when you have company avoid nibbles but have separate snacks portioned appropriately not a massive bag of crisps!
Avoid fast-food restaurants and drive-throughs. It is too easy to add extras impulsively that you don’t need!
If you are eating out plan your meal ahead of time so you know what you will and won’t eat and the waitress asking if you want any side orders will not tempt you as you already have made that decision.
If you go to a buffet sit as far from the buffet as possible and look at what is on offer first before choosing what you will have. This prevents you picking up a plate full but then adding extras that you didn’t know were available!
Plan mealtimes to suit your lifestyle avoiding rushing meals or skipping meals as this will only make you pick up things on impulse at other times.
Never go shopping on an empty stomach as you will impulse buy things that once home you will impulse eat!
If you are going out for the day put an apple in your bag for a snack to avoid temptation!
Have these tips helped you with some strategies to control impulse eating?
