How to Stop Snacking on Chips and Pretzels

A 1960s Lay's potato chip ad taunted the chip lover with the slogan: "Nobody can eat just one." If you can stop at one serving of chips, or just a single ounce, you demonstrate better self-control than the hard-core chip junkie. According to the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. David Kessler, foods such as chips that are high in salt alter the brain's chemistry, causing overeating. Food companies use this knowledge to our detriment. If you want to give up the chip- or pretzel-munching habit, you'll have to change your ways.

Instructions

• 1

  Clear your cupboards of potato chips, pretzels, cheese puffs, and every other salty snack in them. If you have no salty snacks in your home, you are less likely to head to the store to get some when the urge strikes. Don't forget to throw out the stash you have at work. Also, if you carry spare change or a few dollars for the vending machine, empty your wallet as well.

• 2

  Cut your salt consumption. The more salt you eat, the less you taste of the other flavors in your food. Replace salt with other herbs and seasonings in your cooking. Buy unsalted and low-sodium foods. In a few weeks, you will notice that you don't miss the salt. It takes time for your body to adjust to having less sodium, but if you are patient, you will notice that your taste buds have become more sensitive and you will not want as much salt. If you were to try your favorite chips after changing your diet, they will seem too salty. (But don't.)

• 3

  Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. You can give up chips and pretzels more easily if you find healthy replacements for snacks. Head first to the produce department. Hard, crunchy vegetables help curb the need to chew. Celery, which is naturally high in sodium, may satisfy the salt craving without adding many calories. A pound of celery -- about 10 stalks -- totals nearly 60 calories. You could get that same total from six potato chips, but they would have far less fiber and satisfying crunch time. If celery, cucumbers, cauliflower and carrots don't appeal to you, try fruit or low-fat yogurt.

• 4

  Replace salty snacks with a hobby that occupies your hands. If you like to sit in front of the television and mindlessly eat salty pretzels, bring in knitting needles, Sudoku puzzles or a sketch book. As you complete each task, you will feel a sense of accomplishment that you will never get from reaching the bottom of a pretzel bag.

• 5

  Turn off the television and venture off the sofa. You can give up potato chips and burn excess energy at the same time. Go outdoors; walk around the block with your children, fly a kite, pull some weeds, pick wild berries ... and breathe deeply. Boredom can cause you to munch salty snacks just to engage your senses.