Are you on the See Food Diet?

No, I have not made a spelling mistake. I’m not talking about an eating regime focussed on fish and seafood. I’m talking about the food in your home, especially nowadays as you’re likely spending much more time in your home and likely, also in your kitchen.

If you’re complaining about not eating well or having gained weight during Covid, you may be on the See Food Diet. How many times have you walked into your kitchen for something- not food related and not even been hungry but yet you ended up eating something that you spied on your way through?

If so, you’re not alone. That’s the See Food Diet.

While it may be a healthy option, such as fruit or nuts, the nibbling can certainly add up. While grabbing an apple from a fruit bowl as you walk through the kitchen may not add up to much in the way of calories, other foods that are more calorie dense might be contributing to mindless eating and weight gain.

In my nutrition counselling practice, it’s a common problem I’ve come across. Recently a woman was talking about her husband gaining weight as he was nibbling endlessly on the bowl of nuts she left on the kitchen counter. She told me that every time he came into the kitchen, he would take five or six nuts and by the end of each day, he would have emptied the bowl. I suggested that instead of nagging him to stop eating the nuts, that she simply keep them elsewhere, out of sight.

Someone else told me about the cookies she had baked and was overindulging on on a regular basis. We were on a virtual session and she told me she could see them as we were talking. I asked where she was storing them. It was a glass cookie jar right on the counter. Either a change of storage container or better yet, storing them out of sight – with some possibly in the freezer was what could make a difference.

It can be a simple solution.

What is currently sitting out in your kitchen – on the table or on a counter? How often are you partaking of what you see?

Those whole grain sourdough crackers in the photo were made by my daughter but they didn’t stay on the plate long. They went into a container as they were too delicious to leave out.

There are other places in your kitchen, besides your kitchen counter and table that might need a slight reshuffle too.

What do you or  family members see as soon as you open the fridge or freezer door? Is it a fruit bowl or cut up veggies or something else like packages of processed meat or leftover cake? While it’s likely you were going for something to eat, you might have also opened the fridge or freezer in order to do some food prep and then spied something appealing at the same time.

If you tend to grab something spontaneously that it is less than healthy, why not give your fridge a revamp?

The same goes for your kitchen cupboards or pantry. If you have items like chips and cookies stored there, move them from eye level so you don’t take some whenever you open the cupboard door. Maybe even put them up high so that you need to get a stool to get them. Then if you do really want to have some, take out what you are planning to have, put it on a plate or in a bowl and before you eat anything, put the package back on the high shelf.

Nibbling on foods mindlessly is not usually very satisfying so at least, if you are eating anything, enjoy it.