Although snacking has many benefits and can easily be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle, there is a difference between eating out of hunger and eating mindlessly which may provide excessive calories. Several factors impact what, why, when, and how much food we eat:

Psychological/Emotional Factors:

• Sadness—eating foods usually associated with happiness to provide comfort
• Boredom—eating to fill time
• Anxiety—unconscious nervous eating to relieve stress
• Peer/social pressure—socially accepted types of foods and portion sizes
• Presence of food—a tray of fresh cookies in a meeting
• Childhood eating habits—foods associated with celebration and punishment from childhood
• Unspoken emotions—food used to "stuff" emotions down so they don’t have to be dealt with

External Factors:

• Portion size
• Size of containers
• Visibility and convenience of food
• Visual cues to satiation—presence of pistachio shells or chicken bones to indicate how much you have eaten

Note that "physical hunger" is not a driving force in any of the above factors. These psychological and external factors may lead to mindless eating and the consumption of too many calories. In order to eat mindfully, we must let our hunger guide us when it comes to meals and snacks. The principles of mindfulness may be outlined as such²³

• Deliberately paying attention, non-judgmentally
• Being aware of what is present for you mentally, emotionally, and physically in each moment
• Cultivating the possibility of freeing yourself of reactive, habitual patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting
• Promoting balance, choice, wisdom and acceptance of what is

This process of mindfulness can be applied to every aspect of our lives and contribute to overall health. "Mindful Eating" may be defined in four different parts:²³

1. Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food preparation and consumption
2. Acknowledging responses to food (likes, neutral, or dislikes) without judgment
3. Appreciating the sensual, as well as the nourishing capacity of food. Choosing to eat food that is both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savor, and taste
4. Learning to be aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decision to begin eating and to stop eating

Mindful eating as defined above can be applied through the following practices:

• Making choices: begin and end an meal based on awareness of hunger and satiety cues
• Identify personal triggers for mindless eating, such as emotions, social pressures, or certain foods
• Value quality over quantity of what you eat
• Feel deep gratitude that may come from appreciating and experiencing food

These tips may help to eliminate mindless eating :

At Home:

• Refrain from eating in front of the TV
• Sit down at a table when eating a meal or a snack
• Limit emotional distractions such as arguments and stress at meal times

At Restaurants:

• Put your utensils down between bites
• Ask the waiter to take your plate away when you are finished with your meal to eliminate nibbling
• Slow your pace of eating—enjoy conversation with your dining partners and the atmosphere of the restaurant
• Experience all of the flavors of your meal—chew slowly, and consciously think about how the food you are eating tastes

At Work:

• Refrain from eating at your desk when possible
• Portion-size your snacks to prevent mindless snacking throughout the day
• Firmly say "no" when offered foods in the break room when you are not physically hungry