Snacking Mistakes That Can Cause Weight Gain

The experts always say it is good to snack between meals to keep up your metabolism, but snacking in the wrong way can have an adverse reaction to your health. The wrong type of snacking can pack the pounds on quicker much faster than you think. Learn better ways of snacking and try eating healthier snacks throughout the day. It is important to be aware of these snacking mistakes so that you can avoid unknowingly adding on the extra pounds.

Snacking Before Dinner

It is important to avoid grabbing anything to eat when you walk through your door after work. Even though you have had a long busy day and are left starving, it is better to wait that little while until dinner than to fill up on unhealthy foods. Quick processed snacks not only leave you just as hungry as when you walked through the door, but they also pack unnecessary calories into your diet. If you cannot wait until dinner to eat, then opt for a healthy snack like fresh fruit or vegetables and just enough to tide yourself over. Remember to stay away from foods high in carbs.

Waiting Until You Are Starving To Grab A Snack

You should never wait until you are beyond famished to grab a snack. Waiting until you are starving to grab a snack leads to overeating when you do finally eat. It is best to grab a healthy snack when you first start getting hungry instead of letting your blood sugar drop significantly and go into survival mode. Try snacking on fruits and vegetables to mitigate hunger but stay away from processed foods and foods that are high in carbohydrates.

Counting Calories

Counting calories is one of the oldest weight loss tips around, but if you are counting calories and skipping the handful of chips you eat here or the couple of cookies you eat there in your calorie count, counting calories is as good as worthless. Snacks should amount to no more than 500 calories per day and if you eat the snack and count calories, no matter how big or small the snack is, you have to count the calories in the snack. If you do plan on counting calories, then read the Beginner’s Guide To Calorie Counting: Eat Right To Lose Weight to learn how to do so properly.

Grazing When You Walk Through The Kitchen

Snacks throughout the day are good for your health, but grazing every time you walk through the kitchen can quickly pack on the pounds. If you are going to have a snack, you should commit to a certain amount of your healthy snack. If you graze as you walk through the kitchen you can easily accidentally overeat and add significant amounts of extra calories to your daily diet. So start keeping track of how often you're snacking while in the kitchen and try to limit that to 500 calories per day.

Eating A Healthy Snack With A Soda To Drink

Meals are only as healthy as you make them. A healthy snack is a healthy snack, but washing it down with a soda can easily add extra pounds to your figure. Any type of soda, regular or diet, adds extreme amounts of unnecessary processed sugars to your diet. One can of soda typically contains 150 calories within it and up to 39 grams of sugar. It is best to try limiting or completely avoiding sodas and soft drinks from your diet altogether. Instead of drinking a soda with your snack, drink a glass of water. Water will help you stay hydrated and not confuse hunger for thirst.

Eating In The Car While Driving

Sometimes busy days can lead to the only way you are able to eat is in the car. When possible, avoid eating in the car. Most people eating in the car will be snacking on fatty fast food that they just bought. Your main focus while driving is the road and staying safe instead of what you are consuming and this can lead to incredible amounts of accidental overeating. Try to eat when you are able to focus on the food that you are putting in your mouth.

Eating Too Many Processed Snacks

The best snacks that you can eat are the all natural, healthy kind. Even though there are processed snacks that are generally low in calories, the snacks are still processed. The healthiest diet a person can have is cutting out as many processed foods as possible. Processed foods generally contain unhealthy fats like trans fats that are hard on the body and can lead to extra fat absorption and weight gain. To learn more about healthy and unhealthy fats, read Healthy Fats And Where To Find Them.

Eating More Because You Worked Out

A good workout is a good workout any way around it, but the workout can be counteracted by overeating before or after it. Just because you worked out does not mean you should eat unhealthy portions and unhealthy foods. A cheat meal here and there is perfectly acceptable, but making a habit out of unhealthy snacking because you worked out will add pounds to your figure. To effectively maintain a healthy weight, one must eat healthy and exercise. Exercise is not simply a consequence for eating unhealthy meals and snacks. Remember to do everything in moderation.

Snacking Because You Are Thirsty

The brain sends the same types of signals through the body for hunger and thirst. Snacking because you are dehydrated is one of the worst snacking mistakes you can make. It is important to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to ensure you stay properly hydrated. Not being able to distinguish the difference between hunger and thirst can quickly put on the pounds.

Snacking Mindlessly In Front Of The TV At Night

Snacking mindlessly is possibly the worst snacking mistake you can make. When you are focusing on your favorite show instead of what you are putting in your mouth, overeating is sure to occur. You should never eat if you are not focused on what you are eating. Focusing on what you are eating helps you be able to stop eating when you become full.

Whether it is snacking mindlessly, eating healthy but drinking a soda with your healthy meal, or mindlessly grazing as you walk through the kitchen, any of these bad snacking mistakes can easily put on the pounds. The best way to avoid accidentally putting on extra pounds is to be aware of bad snacking habits and to avoid them. These are just a few of many that can add unwanted weight to your body.