These days, it feels like our shopping environments are constantly barraged with junk food. The majority of food and beverage checkout offerings are candy, gum, chips, and soda. Placement is a powerful retail marketing technique that can prompt impulse buys. Simply seeing a product can activate an urge to consume it. You do not have to eliminate sugar or say no to every treat. By making small changes and indulging occasionally rather than regularly, you can stay on track toward your goals.
Strategies to Say No to Junk Food in Any Food Environment
- Don’t let yourself get too hungry. If you are hungry between meals try fresh fruit and a small piece of dark chocolate or carrots with hummus.
- Don’t drink your calories. You might be surprised by the calories in your total daily beverages if water isn’t your main drink of choice. Our bodies don’t recognize liquid calories the same as when we chew solid foods.
- Find foods that don’t cause an intense internal struggle. This means identifying foods that you enjoy but won’t cause you internal stress for eating them. Or stick to the one bite rule of the treat that you are craving and enjoy it mindfully.
- Address your stress. Stopping ourselves from doing things we want is taxing and when we are stressed, we are less likely to be able to resist a craving.
- Get enough sleep. If you aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep, your appetite increases the next day and you are less likely to feel full.
- Give yourself a break. Make good decisions, not necessarily perfect decisions, and know each day is a fresh start.
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