How to not eat your entire stash of food in one day...

So most of us are home all day every day now. If you're like me, I walk into my kitchen no less than 10 times an hour and frequently (okay, like very single time) just need a "little something" to eat. It dawned on me that even though I bought a bit extra for the next few weeks, if I (and my family) continue our eating habits as they are now, we will be out of all food like tomorrow. Anyone else?

I've come up with a couple things that are helping us eat in a healthy and measured way and perhaps they will be helpful for someone else out there as well.

First, I would like to say that stress-eating is a totally normal reaction to the pressure and changes that are on us in this current situation. In fact, stress-eating isn't just something made up, it's proven to be a coping method for the extra cortisol in our body to make us feel better by increasing our feel-good hormones in our brain when we eat something sugary or fatty. But then those hormones drop and we crave sugar or fat or both again...it's a cycle. So have some grace for yourself and come up with your own way (or take mine) to regulate that stress and how you eat.

3 Ways to Stop Eating ALL the Food:

1. Have a schedule. We have found it sooooo helpful (especially with the kids) to have certain eating times. This is not to say that we aren't flexible when we need to be but it's been great to have a routine most days:

•    8 a.m. Breakfast
•    10:30 a.m Snack
•   12:30 p.m. Lunch
•    3 p.m. Snack
•    6 p.m. Dinner
•   7 a.m. Post Dinner Treat (sometimes)

2. Plan our your meals (or at least dinner). We have a chalkboard (check it out) that we write our meals on so I know what we are making for dinner. It sounds simple or maybe a bit like a drag, but it's a lifesaver even in normal times. And, per the picture, doesn’t have to be fancy. 

 When it dawned on me that I will have to make dinner for my family ever. single. night. I was at a loss. Usually, I'm out at least three nights a week with friends or on a date with my husband or at games/practices so this 7 days a week deal felt brutal. BUT with a plan, it's WAY less overwhelming and completely doable. Also, everyone in the house gets to choose one of the meals which makes it less likely that people (kids) aren't complaining as much.

3. Make a "snack" basket. This is a very new concept for me, but I saw one of my friends do it for her kids (they were asking for snacks constantly) and I thought "Gosh...I need that for ME!" Basically, you put the snacks you feel are reasonable for you to eat in a day in a basket and once they are gone, you are done snacking. The trick here is to make sure you have some of your favorites and that you have enough. It not only provides a limit, it also shows you that you have had enough instead of grabbing a handful of a million different things and not remembering most of it.

What are your ways to not eat all day every day while staying at home? We would all love tips and tricks!