Weight Loss Information

7 Ways to Stop Nighttime Snacking in Front of the TV


Stop Being Influenced by Food Ads on TV

There is much in the news today about obesity and you can be assured that the food industry fully intends to place the blame squarely on the individual, despite the fact they spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year in an effort to entice us to buy more and more of their products. Children are especially vulnerable to the advertising for cereals, snack bars, crackers, cookies, candy, and fast foods. Colorful packaging, and now even colorful foods to encourage the little shoppers to badger their parents into buying the "convenient" snack packs for them. "Mommy I want it" is exactly the result advertisers are paying to obtain. They know that many adults will give in to the child's demands, just to "keep the peace."

If you live in modern society, you can't escape advertising. How many times have you been happily minding your own business when suddenly the TV screen flashes a big, juicy, something! Your stomach may start gurgling, your mouth starts watering, and the launch sequence for hunger has begun. Once the countdown starts, nothing can stop the launch into the kitchen, or for the seriously dedicated, out the door to go get something to eat. This can happen only an hour after a big dinner. The ads are designed to do this, and they work well as we prove with our food dollars every day.

Count the Food Ads

Next time you watch TV keep a note pad nearby and make a little hash mark every time you see a commercial that encourages you to eat. You'll also notice there are certain ads that seem to trigger the hunger response more than others. What is it about those ads? Do you start to mentally taste the food? Does it remind you of happy occasions? It can even remind you of unhappy occasions which then drives you to want something to eat because you "deserve" it.

Notice whether it is the people in the ad, the message itself, the words they use, even the background music or scenery? See if you can pin-point what, exactly, it is about the ad that draws you in. Notice what you don't like about ads that simply do not interest you. Play college student and do this as homework, and if you can get your kids to do it with you, all the better.

My son has come to me many times to tell me about something he's seen on TV and now wants me to buy. He gets caught up in the half hour infomercials and becomes so convinced their product is the single best thing, that it's difficult to change his mind.

Evenings are an especially rough time for dieters because of the over abundance of advertising for food. Seeing delicious things to eat can create the sensation of hunger until it becomes a patterned response. Turning on the TV then begins to make you hungry, even without the food cues.

7 Ways to Combat Evening Snacking Habit

1. Mute the commercials or switch to another channel (channel surfers already do this anyway). Not watching or hearing the ad can help enormously. Remember, out of sight, out of mind.

2. Use commercial break time to do housework. You'd be amazed at how much clutter you can clear in three or four minutes, and every hour you get at least four of these breaks.

3. Mute the ads and keep your hands busy until your show comes back on with a project like knitting, reading or finishing that book you've been writing.

4. Start a new business (then you're probably not in front of the TV anyway).

5. Step outside and breath some fresh air for a few minutes.

6. Exercise during the ads. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, do this for a full minute. It's a great leg exercise. Use a kitchen chair rather than the couch to be kinder on your knees.

7. Move to another seat in the room. Sometimes just getting up from your usual spot in the room (the coach, or your favorite chair) and moving to another location can help, so can getting a glass of water. Sometimes it's thirst.

Be Willing to Experiment and You can Overcome the Allure of the Food Ads

The worst thing you can do is simply watch and then attempt to combat your growing desire to eat. Once the idea that you're hungry is planted, it becomes much more difficult to change your mind. Instead stop the idea from occurring in the first place by finding something else to do instead of watching another Burger King commercial.

Advertising only works when we're paying attention, either watching or listening. I've no quarrel with advertisers, I advertise my services too, but watching one hundred ads all featuring food after dinnertime is a bit much for anyone to endure. Food ads are designed for you to simply sit and be mesmerized by the flashing words, snappy slogans, colors and lights. Pay closer attention, or pay none at all, but either way you'll gain a much greater understanding of how advertising influences you.

~~ Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of the free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

Get The Daily Bites: Inspirational Mini Lessons Using EFT and NLP for Ending the Struggle with Weight Loss.


MORE RESOURCES:

For weight loss, cutting back on calories matters most | Gustafson
Auburn Reporter
There is no real evidence that low-carb, low-fat or high-protein diets make as big a difference as overall calorie reduction when it comes to weight loss, according to Dr. George Bray who worked on the study. "Earlier research had found that certain ...
Cut Calories For Weight Loss: ReportHuffington Post

all 6 news articles »


Weight Loss Success: Linda Goff Ditched Fad Diets And Lost 150 Pounds
Huffington Post
For almost two decades, I tried to buy my way out of obesity, spending thousands of dollars on fad diets, weight-loss shakes and pills. I learned from experience that all those drugs could do was turn a 300-pound woman into a 300-pound woman with the ...

and more »


Sydney Morning Herald (blog)

A smarter weight loss workout
Sydney Morning Herald (blog)
It's a message that anyone grappling with weight loss needs to hear, especially if trimming down is proving frustratingly slow – often a clue there's an underlying problem with insulin resistance that makes it genuinely difficult to lose weight.

and more »


PsychCentral.com

Weight Loss Programs In Church May Be More Effective
PsychCentral.com
In a new study, investigators determined that the location of the program, and the level of experience attempting a weight loss program, may influence an individual's success. In the study, published in The Journal of Black Psychology, ...
For Successful Weight Loss Don't Separate Church and WeighteMaxHealth
Weight-Loss Programmes Most Effective When Hosted In A ChurchHuffington Post UK
Weight loss program for African-American women in a church may become more ...News-Medical.net

all 6 news articles »


PR Web

Best Weight Loss Apps
Mobiles Please Blog (blog)
What better weight-loss buddy than your smartphone? It never leaves your side and it can play your favourite music to keep you motivated throughout your workout. Many apps are available to help keep you on track during your diet and exercise plan and ...
HCG Weight Loss Plan by Slim Again With Something New in ItSBWire (press release)
Diet Doc Weight Loss Introduces Artery Clearing Foods as Part of Their Overall ...PR Web (press release)
Super Bowl Temptations Derail hCG DietersSan Francisco Chronicle (press release)
DigitalJournal.com (press release) -Houston Chronicle -ReporterNews.com
all 16 news articles »


Weight Loss Impacts Leg Muscle, Strength in Knee OA
Doctors Lounge
Marius Henriksen, PT, Ph.D., of the Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues used dual X-ray absorptiometry and isometric muscle strength testing to evaluate the effects of a 16-week low-energy diet-induced weight loss program on knee ...

and more »


Daily Mail

Weight-loss clinics are handing out dangerous slimming drugs with lethal side ...
Daily Mail
By Sophie Borland Patients are being put at risk by doctors selling them potentially dangerous weight-loss pills at private slimming clinics. A number of centres in England were found to be handing out drugs which could have lethal side effects, ...

and more »


SILive.com

Get extreme about weight loss with casting call on Saturday
SILive.com
By Staten Island Advance Those looking to make a lasting lifestyle change — and don't mind the entire country watching — can audition for season three of ABC's “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” this weekend. View full sizePhoto Courtesy of ...
Casting call: 'Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition'U-T San Diego
Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Michigan Casting CallUpNorthLive.com

all 3 news articles »


FDA needs stronger rules to ensure the safety of dietary supplements
Harvard Health Publications (blog)
Remember ephedra, a widely used weight-loss supplement that was banned after it was linked to deaths and adverse side effects? And solid clinical trials routinely knock down the effectiveness of dietary supplements for stopping the common cold (vitamin ...
Weight Loss Supplement May Contain Undeclared DrugNatural Standard Blog (blog)

all 25 news articles »


Key to weight loss: create a 'calorie deficiency' with workouts
The University of Alabama Crimson White
Although the answer isn't easy, the secret to weight loss is calorie deficiency – yeah, no more messy fries from Quick Grill at 2 am Cardio exercise can create a calorie deficiency by burning extra calories you can't manage to stave off through diet.


Google News

home | site map
© 2006