By: Kevin Larrabee

One huge factor for going off a diet and poor eating habits in general is boredom. Junk food is fun to eat and tends to make any experience (like going to the movies) more enjoyable. Try to avoid this boredom and keep hunger at bay by giving your mouth something to do.

Sugar free gum is great for this. I am a big fan of Trident as the gum has a strong sweet flavor that will last 45 minutes or so. I know some nutritionists and trainers out there say avoid artificial sweeteners as they will continue to reinforce the want for junk food, but when you are 1,000+ calories below maintenance, you do what you have to do. Alan Aragon put together a great piece in his Research Review explaining that the research on whether artificial sweeteners increases hunger is pretty mixed.

So what is better, a piece of gum, or a piece of cake?