Help! Save me from my fridge / treat drawer / food delivery app! We hear you. Being forced to stay at home, with unstructured meal and break times can wreak havoc on our best laid plans to avoid the snacks and stick to owning our goals.

With so many of us now working from home, unable to go to the gym or socialise with different people to keep sane, the groove in the floor from our sofas and makeshift desks to the kitchen is getting ever deeper.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, and we can avoid snacking! Here’s how… 

Shop smart – the same rules to shopping apply during these totally unexpected times as they do during ‘normal’ times – if you can’t avoid temptation and you want to, don’t have temptation in the house! Don’t be tempted to stock up on the ‘just in case’ treats. 

Don’t get bored – how many times have you eaten out of pure boredom? When we’re bored, we can mindlessly wander to the fridge and before we know it, we’ve eaten four crackers with cheese, half a tub of olives, some leftover chicken and two chocolate biscuits. To avoid this kind of snacking, keep yourself occupied. Exercise, phone a friend, drink some water, tinker in the garden or boxset binge to take your mind off snacking.

Exercise in the morning - Start the day as you mean to carry on by being virtuous. Our home based workouts are designed to be done any time of day, but if you begin the day by exercising, you’re more likely to make healthy decisions for the rest of the day.

Leave yourself a note – leaving little notes in all the important places such as inside the snack cupboard or on the door of the fridge can really help you stop and think. Write things such as “Are you really hungry, or are you just bored?” or “Try having a drink of water instead”. 

Use affirmations – repeating positive mantras to ourselves can help to keep our mindset positive. But they can also be useful when we’re trying our best to manage our diet too. Try repeating short sentences such as “I am strong willed and powerful” over and over. Here’s some more positive affirmation ideas.

Fill up on protein – protein keeps us fuller for longer, meaning that we’re less likely to snack between meals. So choose high protein meals such as this Black Bean Chilli or our amazing Tropical Chicken Salad with Toasted Cashews.

Snack sensibly – we’re not saying you can’t snack, or that you should feel guilty for snacking. We all need sustenance to keep us going, especially if we’re exercising! Instead, we’re saying to choose your snacks carefully. They don’t have to laden with salt, sugar and fat, and they can still be tasty. If you don’t believe us, try our Beetroot and Dill Hummus with wholewheat pittas, or for a sweet fix, try our family friendly recipe for Frozen Yoghurt Bark.