Stressful work, long hours and shifting times do little good for our bodies. If anything at all, it just makes you sluggish, confused and hungry!

No seriously! Office snacks are major culprits for falling health graphs.

Why snacks only?

  1. By definition, snacks can be had anytime and anywhere. Feasting on snacks doesn’t require elaborate planning or pre-designated time and spot; which makes them the most popular go-to choice for a quick bite.
  2. Snacks are often consumed when one is hungry and looking for a quick bite. In theory it sounds pretty simple, however, snack appetite generally leads to unnecessary calories and unhealthy food.
  3. Boredom is the biggest culprit for unnecessary snacking. Usually, people eat snacks out of habit. In daily practice, a particular time is fixed, which becomes the default eating time irrespective of whether one is hungry or not.

How not to succumb to unhealthy snacking?

  1. Are you really hungry?

Regular snackers have fixed times for chai, samosa or pani puri, which is okay if one is truly hungry. Usually, such schedules evolve into habits and people eat because it is snacking time and not because they are really hungry.

  1. Timings

This applies to all the creatures of the night, who love to work late into the night and help themselves to intermittent snacks while they are at it. Late night snacking is tempting but extremely counter-productive if you have been trying to lose weight. This is because body’s metabolism slows down drastically at night. As a result, most of whatever you eat converts into fat and not energy.

  1. Portion

Controlling one’s portions is way more challenging than it sounds. The best and least preachy way to avoid this is to eat slow. Eating too fast will either fill you up too fast or make you eat too much. Latter happens especially when the appetite is too strong. People usually end up ordering more than what they can eat. And thus, weight increases.

  1. Healthy snacks are obvious exceptions

Snacking is not a crime. It can definitely aid you in your journey in weight loss if you make the right decisions. Snacks don’t always have to be samosas and chips. Try replacing them with granola bars, oatmeal snacks, salads, fruits or their juices.

Remember that light and occasional snacking is okay. However, the alarm should start sounding if you find yourself indulging too much and too often.