We all do it from time to time: eating in front of the TV. Most people sense that it isn’t the healthiest habit, but how bad is it really. Can eating in front of the TV cause you to gain weight or become fat?

 

Believe it or not, there is actual research on this and the results aren’t too positive. Basically, people who eat in front of the TV or while doing other distracting activities like reading or playing games generally consume more calories and tend to choose less healthy foods than people who eat undistracted, for example during a family dinner.

 

One meta-study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reviewed 24 studies conducted between 1997 and 2011 to measure the effect distracted eating has on food intake. It found that on average eating while distracted increased the amount of food intake by about 10 percent, but also seemed to push meal consumption later in the evening.

 

Now, as you might know from my videos on meal timing, late eating isn’t a problem per se, but doing it in front of the tv and while distracted comes with two problems. First, people tend to eat high-sugar and highly processed foods while watching TV. These are things like chocolate or chips, which do little for satiety but carry quite a few calories.

 

Also, distracted eating makes them less likely to remember how much they ate. Obviously, when you are paying attention to your favorite show you will be less likely to monitor your food intake and more likely to overeat.

 

Unnoticed overeating creates further problems; because the same study showed that attentive eating and memorizing your food intake of earlier meals REDUCED the amount consumed at a later meal by about 10 percent.

 

For example, if you remember that you overeat during lunch you are less likely to overeat during dinner, assuming you pay attention to what you are eating. But if you are eating candy and chocolate late at night while looking at the TV, you are neither paying attention to your food intake, nor do you have an additional meal to compensate for the additional calories.

 

The easiest fix would be to never eat in front of the TV again, but most people like changes that drastic. Heck, I also eat in front of the TV from time to time and enjoy it.

 

 

 

My suggestion is to do two things:

 

First, you prepare your meal in advance and make sure its comprised of quality whole foods. Eating a salad or some chicken in front of the TV is a lot better than snacking potato chips.

Prepping your meal before your TV session will also allow you to portion control better and keep calories in check.

 

Next, you choose a show of about 20 to 30 minutes and make sure your meal lasts the entire time. This will keep you from stuffing your food down and give your stomach more time to signal the brains its full.

 

This process can take up to 20 minutes so spreading your meal over an average sitcom episode should give you enough time. While these small tips alone won’t make you lose weight, they definitely help avoid overeating and keep you from completely losing yourself in high-calorie snacks.