Snacking when working from home

Do you tend to snack all day when you are working from home? 

We have put together some tips to help you stop snacking when working from home: 

• Keep to the pattern of 3 meals a day.
• Add sources of protein and complex carbohydrates to your meals. They fill you up and help you keep going until the next meal.
• But if you still feel peckish, choose a piece of fruit or some chopped vegetables.
• Drink 1.5L of water every day.
• Find alternatives to ultra-processed products that are high in sugars, salt and fats :

A balanced light meal consists of fruit and/or vegetables, a cereal product and/or some milk/yoghurt/cheese :

• Yoghurt with fresh fruit.
• Home-made fruit milkshake or smoothie.
• Chopped vegetables with cottage cheese and aromatic herbs.
• 1 slice of wholemeal bread with cheese.
• 1 slice of wholemeal bread with unsweetened fruit compote.

How to deal with the urge to snack?

Step 1: if you are tempted to eat a  snack : 

• Wait a while to see if the urge passes.
• Sometimes the reason you feel like eating chocolate is an external factor such as an advert you have seen.
• Try to understand why you want to eat - there can be lots of reasons: hunger, thirst, frustration, emotion, feeling of rejection, anxiety, nervousness, sadness, stress, etc.
• Ask yourself if it's really necessary, e.g. half an hour before your mealtime.

Step 2: If you really do want to eat something after 15 minutes:

• Choose your favourite snack.
• Choose the right moment to eat it: mindfully and not in front of a screen, while you are walking or just before a meal.
• Enjoy your snack without feeling guilty.

Snacking means eating between meals. It can be made worse by insubstantial meals, stress, boredom, etc. Snacking is a response to a feeling that you want to eat when you are not actually hungry. When you graze, your stomach is working constantly. As a result, it may no longer recognise "true" hunger.