Tips for Eliminating Bored Snacking

Originally published on healthyvoyager.com

Bored snacking affects almost everyone. Many people take a break from studying or working and feel like they have to have something to snack on. If you get bored and find yourself in the kitchen when you aren’t hungry, consider the following options from Gabriel Patterson, Winnipeg nutrition coach instead of reaching for a candy bar or a bag of chips:

1. Drink some cool water

Water is an excellent option for a period of bored snacking. Fix a glass of water with a little ice and lemon juice. Your mind will be occupied, and the cool water will feel great going down. You will emerge more hydrated and less guilty than you would if you opted for a cookie and a soda.

2. Drink sparkling water

If you want something a little less plain than still water, trying sparkling water. Great sparkling water is incredibly refreshing. It provides the consumer with the chance to enjoy carbonation without the sugar of a soda. Sparkling water is available at most gas stations and grocery stores and is sold with or without flavoring.

3. Have a cup of coffee or tea

Having a cup of coffee or tea is a great choice when you are seized by the desire to quench boredom in the kitchen. Fixing the cup will require your attention, and the beverage will give you caffeine to keep you sharp. Both coffee and tea have little to no calories unless you add things to them.

4. Chew gum

If you want to chew on something, gum is a good option. Most chewing gums are relatively low in calories. Gum will give you something to “snack” on for a long time.

5. Put a mint in your mouth

Using a mint follows the same principle as the gum. A mint will stay in your mouth for a while and keep you from shoveling down one of the doughnuts that are glaring at you in the break room. The added benefit will be fresh breath.

“Indulging yourself on unhealthy snacks when you are bored will greatly hinder you on your path to achieving your fitness goals,” stated Gabriel Patterson of Winnipeg. Instead of reaching for a cupcake just because you are bored, try the tips above. If you have to eat during your spout of boredom, opt for fruit. The tips above are meant only for when you want to eat out of boredom. If you are actually hungry, eat something.

Gabriel Patterson, Winnipeg Health Expert on Ditching the Diet Mentality to Make a Lifestyle Change

Originally published on tenzinghealth.com

Have you ever wondered why so many people put a lot of effort into following a diet, religiously sticking to their diet plans, yet still struggle to achieve their weight goals? You might be one of them. Some have lost weight, but find themselves back on the starting line after weeks or months of striving. Weight loss continues to be a much-coveted goal for people stuck in the diet mindset. Here, Gabriel Patterson, Winnipeg health expert touches on ditching the diet mentality and making a lifestyle change for the better.

The idea of a diet focuses on the thought that a person needs to be overly restrictive to become healthy; it focuses on losing pounds, the number of calories, or the minutes that one needs to spend exercising. Instead of enjoying a dining experience and honoring what the body needs, many people have become so caught up in the diet mentality, that it becomes overwhelming and unsustainable. There is a more positive way of looking at diets mindfully, which will eventually lead to a lifestyle change that you can sustain for the long term.

Eating Awareness:

Years of following fad diets and quick fixes never yield long-lasting results. The problem is that diet plans are not designed to meet every person’s needs. Each body needs something different. By focusing on becoming aware of what your body needs and responding to it, you will start practicing mindful eating habits. You’ll start noticing how the food tastes, your hunger, and fullness. Mindful eating is not a diet plan. It is more of sensing how the body feels when you honor its preferences in food and nutritional needs.

Appreciating Fullness:

When one starts to become mindful of the food they eat and the sensations of their body, they also begin to recognize what hunger and fullness means. While diet plans teach portion sizes and calorie counts, they don’t teach you to listen to your body when it is already full. You can learn to notice these feelings of fullness by practicing eating meals slower and without any distractions. Take one bite at a time, then pause to feel if you are full yet. Listen to your body. It is easier to stop when you know that you’ll be allowed to eat again when you are hungry.

Food Should Feel Good:

Eating mindfully also means learning to focus on how you feel when eating. Diets place the mind in a restrictive zone, and when that happens, the mind revolts and the cravings for some foods can become stronger. There is no categorization of the “wrong” or “right” kinds of foods. When you eat the foods you like, you eat them when you are hungry and stop when you are full, satisfied, and contented. It’s that simple. This can happen whether you eat a salad, a sandwich, chocolate, or fruit. Eating mindfully is honoring what the body needs and your food preferences. It feels good because there are no rules broken, and you did something to reward yourself.

Keep Your Body Moving:

Like diet plans, how you think of a workout should also be less restrictive. Setting boundaries about what is a workout or exercise may cause a person to miss out on some of the body’s signals too. An excellent physical activity can be anything from a sweaty, cardio-packed hour at the gym or an enjoyable walk outside with your kids or partner. Become mindful of the things that motivate you to move and be active. When you do the things you enjoy the most, it will never feel like a chore, but it will give you the physical activity that your body needs, and it will make you feel good.

Gabriel Patterson, stated “the diet mentality is just a Band-Aid solution. For those who desire a realistic and sustainable healthy lifestyle, the answer lies in becoming more mindful and aware of your eating or exercise habits and honoring what your body needs.”

Gabriel Patterson, Toronto Fitness Trainer Shares 5 Ways to Help You Recognize a Fad Diet

Originally published on healthproo2.com

Even as recently as 10 years ago, weight loss diet fads were easy to recognize. They usually recommended extreme deprivation and laid down too many restrictions. Such diets have evolved. Today, fad diets are called lifestyle changes. They attempt to sound less faddish, as well, by being less restrictive. Nevertheless, these diets still aren’t healthy. “It’s important to know how to identify a faddish diet when you see one,” stated Gabriel Patterson, Torontofitness trainer. Gabriel touches on way to help you avoid fad diets.

It uses language that is black-and-white

Diets that advise an all-or-nothing approach usually have the wrong idea. If everything that a diet recommends is cut-and-dried as right or wrong, or something you should always do or never do, it’s likely not scientific. The outcome of a diet depends on how your behavior averages over an extended period of time. When you indulge in a treat once in a while, it doesn’t break your diet right away.

It paints large groups of foods as undesirable

If a diet plan demonizes entire classes of foods, there’s probably something wrong with it. Gluten-free diets are an example. While only 1 percent of the population needs to stay gluten-free for medical reasons, the gluten-free food industry has turned into one that’s worth billions promoting the diet to the general public.

Every food type supplies your body with important nutrients. You need to eat a wide variety of foods to stay healthy. Cutting large groups of foods out of your diet can only cause poor nutrition over the long term.

It promises results that seem too optimistic

If a diet is said to deliver results that seem too good to be true, it probably involves expensive and unnecessary supplements. You need to be wary of plans where pills or products advertised as miracle cures for obesity are promoted. It’s important to understand that you can only come by a healthy weight level through consistently providing yourself with enough nourishment, and getting enough exercise on daily basis.

It offers cookie-cutter plans

If a diet plan is inflexible when it comes to accommodating the needs of people who come from different cultural or economic backgrounds, there’s probably something wrong with it. Food is an important part of tradition and family life. A one-size-fits-all plan that isn’t sensitive to the needs of different kinds of people is likely too rigid to be scientific.

It attempts to deliver results by tricking the body

Some diet plans have you drinking water to satisfy your hunger pangs, or eating mindfully to make your body think that it’s getting more food than it really is. These plans don’t work. Hunger is a complex mechanism that’s evolved over millennia. It can’t be tricked in simple ways. When you try to trick the body into eating less, the body usually finds another way to get its calories. You should, instead, try to eat a balanced diet, and get enough exercise.

Gabriel Patterson, shares “fad diets attempt to lure people in with quick answers to a complex problem. It’s important to train yourself to understand the science behind claims made, and make wise choices. It is your responsibility to understand what your body is consuming.”