3 Reasons You Can't Stop Snacking (And How To Fix It)
Takeaway: Three factors contribute to snacking behavior: pleasure, all-or-nothing thinking, and the foot-in-the-door technique. Pleasure signals in the brain after the first bite create a desire for more. All-or-nothing thinking leads to a mindset where even a small concession makes it easier to indulge further. The foot-in-the-door technique, similar to sales tactics, convinces us to continue snacking after making the initial concession of taking a bite. To overcome this, creating an environment that limits easy snacking.
3 Reasons You Can't Stop Snacking (And How To Fix It)
“Why can't I stop snacking once I start?”
Something I think we've all experienced. You're doing just fine, whether at home or at a party, but then someone brings out the snack foods and you have a small bite.
What follows is a growing desire to continue, bite after bite.
You might not even be hungry, but it's there and it's good. Back to the question, why is it so hard to stop?
It's the interplay of three things:
The first is pleasure. After that first bite pleasure signals are sent to the brain. Now you've had a hit of those feel-good hormones and you're going to want more. That's natural.
The second is all-or-nothing thinking. This is the black and white view that you're either all-in, or all-out.
When you're "in," you must be perfect. And once you're no longer perfect, good decisions become meaningless. So when you're out, even a little, you go all-out. That can drive the desire to snack more and more, even when you didn't intend to.
The third reason is the most interesting, and is what they refer to in sales as the "foot-in-the-door" technique.
Long story short, this sales technique is when a salesperson asks you to make small concessions that seem more reasonable. Instead of paying 10k up front (crazy), you pay $500 down and the rest in installments (reasonable). Salespeople know that once you've agreed to a reasonable request, it'll become easier to get you to agree to larger ones.
We like to be consistent in our decisions. Once we've agreed to $500 down, then it becomes easier for them to sell us the "white-glove delivery service" for an added $250. Now they've not only gotten the original 10k, but also an extra $250.
You sell yourself on eating more snacks using the same tactic without realizing it.
As you're sitting there not eating anything, you're saying no to the request to indulge. Once you take your first bite, no matter how small, that is your first concession. Now when you evaluate whether to take another, you'll think about how you've already had a bite. "This can't be that bad," you think to yourself. So you dive back in for more.
Together, these two psychological realities, all-or-nothing and foot-in-the-door, make it harder to stop snacking than to never begin. One solution to overcome both is to craft an environment where snacking is—most of the time—not an option.
For example, in my home I seldom keep any food that can be eaten without some level of preparation. The extra work involved to prepare the food acts as a natural barrier to mindlessly snacking. It is an environment that inherently forces me to stop and ask, “do I really want this snack right now?”
Most of the time, generally after 9pm, the answer is usually clear. This environment I’ve created makes it harder to start snacking, and that spares me having to battle my own psychology.
If you want to learn how to have better control over your snacking, learn to get rid of all-or-nothing thinking and understand how small concessions can make it easier to go for more.
~ Coach Alex
P.S. If you want to learn more about how we help our clients learn to master their food environment, attend my free seminar on Saturday, June 3rd, in Ann Arbor where I pull back the curtain and share our proven nutrition process with you. Click here to grab your free spot before they fill up.