It is when your
fingers transport things into your mouth and you swallow without truly being
aware of your actions. Is it possible? Yes we do it all the time. As humans
research shows we make around 200 eating decisions a day. Are you aware you do
this? No. Take a look at this. John is fat he doesn’t know why. He eats
sensibly, not as much as other people he sees shoving food down their throats,
goes to the gym have his greens but he still tips the scale.
John is asked to keep a food diary of all the food he consumes
in a week. He does this and list his breakfast of cereal and two toasts, lunch
of jacket potatoes and tuna bake and dinner of roast chicken, and salad. All
well and good and calorie intake per day shows a healthy 2500 ideal for a guy. So
what is the problem?
On investigating in detail without his knowledge John is
followed to see what exactly crossed into his mouth. What John fails to record
is on the way to work he stopped to get a newspaper and added a mars duo bar to
it and munches as he drives, the six choc biscuits he unconsciously picks from the open
tin on the staff table each time he passes it on his way out. After his workout in the gym he goes to the pub
with his mate for a well deserved rest
where he downs 3 pints of larger and two packets of crisp and handful of nuts.
After dinner which he has mayonnaise smoothed ofer his tuna bake whilst
watching TV he has a slice of chocolate cake along with his daughter and washes it all down with two glasses of wine.
Total calorie intake 4870, almost twice the recommended daily
amount. Is john really aware of his actions? No. They really don’t register as
he was not thinking about it as he snacked away and promptly forgot about it.
When confronted he was actually shocked at this behaviour and was not really conscious
of how much he really ate.
We do that all the time. Take a chip or two off someone’s
plate, finish leftovers from the kids plate, munch on a biscuit or two offered by
a friend whilst gossiping, grab a bad of crisp on the way out of the store.
Ever wondered why stores line the pathway to the payment tills with high
calorie fat chocolates and sweeties? If
you have resisted them whilst shopping surely you can’t resist them when queuing and them looking at you and
calling your name, whispering pick me up. Yep. We pick things up we never went
in to buy.
The only way around this is to make a conscious effort to be
aware of what you put in your mouth and when. That way you can honestly tell whether you are
over eating or not.
Mindless eating causes weigh gain. No argument.
**
Follow @ditchthedietG
**
