Tricks to Help You Not Eat

Healthy food is needed to keep your body functioning properly on a daily basis. Eating too much can negatively affect your health and lead to weight problems. Stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, fatigue, cravings and boredom can all make you reach for unhealthy, weight-sabotaging foods. If you want to avoid eating completely because you are on a detox diet or if you want to avoid over-eating or giving into cravings, there are various things you can do to achieve this.

Drink Water

• Drinking water can keep you from eating because it fills you up. Water has no calories, so your weight is not affected. Water keeps you hydrated and a hydrated body functions best. When you feel hunger or cravings coming on, reach for water instead of fatty, salty or sugary foods. The liquid makes you feel full and eliminates your hunger and craving. Drinking a glass of water before your meal may also help you cut calories because you feel full quicker and end up eating less.

Find Distraction

• Keeping yourself busy may keep you from eating. When the urge for food sets in, find something to do. Listen to music, exercise, go for walk or talk on the phone with a friend. Distract yourself so your thoughts get diverted. Instead of thinking about food, which only feeds your urge, think about the conversation you are having with your friend or focus on the exercise you're performing. Plan ahead of time on what you'll do when food cravings set in.

Chewing Gum

• When desiring unhealthy fare, chewing gum may keep you from giving into your cravings. The gum keeps your mouth busy and the sweetness of the gum may eliminate cravings for sweets. Sugar-free gum is the best choice of gum because it doesn't damage your teeth. High levels of stress may lead to cravings and overeating. The act of chewing gum helps relax you and reduces stress.

Avoid Temptation

• Temptation to eat is everywhere. Billboards, television commercials and fast-food restaurants can all trigger cravings. Some of these are hard to prevent. Having unhealthy foods in your home and knowing that they are in the house is also a trigger and may also result in eating and over-eating. Destroying, throwing out or giving away all unhealthy foods in your home is the only way to avoid eating the food and giving into temptation.