MINNEAPOLIS — You’ve heard of the freshman 15, but this new way of life from home, for some, is lending itself to the newly dubbed quarantine 15 as pantries across America become overstocked with quarantine snacks.
"Mindless eating is a disaster in times like this," said Licensed Dietitian Kari Collett, with A to Zinc Nutrition.
Collett says being stuck at home is a perfect time to re-evaluate our priorities specifically when it comes to food and stretching out our nutritional dollars.
"That means a lot time learning how to cook and so giving yourself that time to look for recipes that have 5 ingredients or less you know that you can cook in under 15 minutes that’s a beginning place that that can lead to other opportunities if people want to," said Collett.
Of course its easy to fall into the trap of situational stress eating in times like these, but Collett says eating is something we can control.
"There’s nothing necessarily wrong with eating in response to stress it is an actual true coping mechanism. However, take that first few bites of whatever it is that’s relieving your stress, recognize it, and... find a new method, like go for a quick walk. You know, the Governor hasn’t told us that we have to stay locked in our homes. He's just told us to stay home. I mean, he said get outside," said Collett.
Experts say keeping a schedule to limit grazing when bored can make all the difference when it comes to keeping off those extra unwanted pounds.
"Set a time for breakfast for lunch and for dinner just like when you were working full time and at the office. You had a lunch time, you had a dinner time. Keep that schedule, because once you go back into that working world again, you’re going to transition right back to it easily," said Collett.
Some believe that everything in moderation is key when it comes to limiting junk food in our diets, but experts warn this isn't the best practice.
"I've heard that expression a number of times and it concerns me because a person who drinks 24 cans of mountain dew a day might think that one or two a day is moderation, but by my standards, that’s not a healthy option either," said Collett.
When it comes to your kids, make whole foods convenient foods because what you put out kids are going to eat. These best practices experts say begin at the grocery store, because what you put in your cart will ultimately end up on the table.
"Kids need structure at snack time. They shouldn’t be grazing all day either, so have breakfast, a snack if you need to, lunch, dinner, and then bedtime snack if you need to, but parents are in charge of whats in that snack -- not the kids," said Collett.