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Diet Tip: Express Your Emotions Don't Eat Them

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:00:00 -0700

If you tend to overeat because you're stressed, overworked, or depressed, instead of turning towards food to cope with your problems or fears, get to the root of your feelings. Satiating your soul with food is only a temporary fix, and after you binge on comforting foods, those emotions will still be with you. So ask yourself what you need in order to make your life (or that particular moment) better. Talk to a friend, your boss, make an appointment with a therapist, or write in a journal. Not only will you feel more relieved emotionally, but physically you won't feel bloated or cranky from inhaling half a package or Oreos.

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Emotional Eating: How to Regain Control

FitSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Food, the nourishment for our lives, can be loaded with issues. In our troubled relationships with food, emotional eating ranks at the top of the list. Once you understand the characteristics of emotional eating, the next step is to regain control in your patterns. Your strong emotions might trigger a strong hunger or craving, but you can teach yourself how to change your relationship with food and ultimately your emotions.

Here are some new habits to try:

Triggers: Keeping a food journal of what you eat, when you eat, and why you eat it (this one is the most difficult) can help you track your triggers. Once you are conscious of your triggers, you can begin to change your patters. In need of a journal? You can print this one for free.
Know your hunger: Physical hunger comes on slowly, and emotional hunger comes on quickly and is intense. Pay attention to how your stomach feels – is it rumbling and empty? Try waiting out the craving and see if the hunger subsides.
Other comforts: It is important to "feed" yourself in other ways aside from food and find comfort in activities other than eating. Taking a walk, buying some flowers, calling a friend, petting your dog – these things can soothe you. Keep a list of alternatives, to refer to when in the midst of a craving.

There are a few more tips, so read more.

Banish junk food: Stock your pantry and fridge with healthy comfort foods. If there are no cookies, chips or ice cream in your house, the chances drop considerably that you will eat and overeat those foods. Snacking on healthy tidbits through out the day can also keep crazy emotional cravings at bay.
Do eat: Make sure that you are eating a well-balanced diet with complex carbs, protein, and healthy fats. When you fill up on healthy foods you will be better able to determine emotional hunger from physical hunger.
Be healthy: I know this one seems obvious, but take good care of yourself. Exercise regularly and get adequate sleep. Hunger, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise can make you moody, and when you're a cranky pants it is harder to manage your cravings and combat the stresses that often lead you to reach for food for comfort.

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Understanding Emotional Eating

FitSugar — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Food, the nourishment for our lives, can be loaded with issues. In our troubled relationships with food, emotional eating ranks at the top of the list. Understanding the phenomenon and recognizing the symptoms are great ways to start redefining your relationship with food. The first thing to understanding the problem is recognizing the traits of emotional eating.

Psychiatrist Roger Gold, an authority on this issue, outlined some characteristics of emotional eating at diet.com. They are:

Hunger that comes on suddenly: Physical hunger comes on slowly. Hunger from emotional eating often comes on quickly and suddenly.
Craving very specific foods: Cravings for specific, usually unhealthy foods is a sign of emotional eating. Often people like the rush they get from satisfying their cravings. That rush is fulfilling emotional hunger.
Urgent hunger: Physical hunger, unless you haven't eaten for a very long time, is usually pretty patient. It will wait for food. Emotional hunger demands to be satisfied immediately.

There are a couple more, so read more.

Unconscious eating: When you're eating for physical reasons, you are usually mindful of what you're doing. If you catch yourself eating "just because," then it's likely you're eating for emotional reasons.
A sense of guilt after satisfying your hunger: Feeding your body what it needs is not something to feel guilty about. If you feel guilty after you eat, it's likely because part of you knows you're not eating just to satisfy physical hunger.

If these traits are prominent in your relationship with food, now might be a good time to try to break the habit. Pay attention to your emotional triggers by keeping a journal of what you eat, when, and why – trying to very specific if it was physiological hunger that lead you to eat or an emotional incident. Journaling will help you figure out your eating pattern.

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Put a Check on Emotional Eating

FitSugar — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:30:00 -0800

The holidays are often stressful. Plus, sweet treats and rich foods come with the holiday season. This combination can really challenge the emotional eater, who reaches for food in emotionally charged times of need. The Mayo Clinic has created a list of tips for gaining control of your eating habits and here are highlights.

Know your triggers. For the next several days, write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you're feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Over time, you may see patterns emerge that reveal negative eating patterns and triggers to avoid.
Look elsewhere for comfort. Instead of unwrapping a candy bar, take a walk, treat yourself to a movie, listen to music, read or call a friend. If you think that stress relating to a particular event is nudging you toward the refrigerator, try talking to someone about it to distract yourself. Plan enjoyable events for yourself.

There are a few more tips so just read more

Don't keep unhealthy foods around. Avoid having an abundance of high-calorie comfort foods in the house. If you feel hungry or blue, postpone the shopping trip for a few hours so that these feelings don't influence your decisions at the store.
Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.
Eat a balanced diet. If you're not getting enough calories to meet your energy needs, you may be more likely to give in to emotional eating. Try to eat at fairly regular times and don't skip breakfast. Include foods from the basic groups in your meals. Emphasize whole grains, vegetables and fruits, as well as low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. When you fill up on the basics, you're more likely to feel fuller, longer.
Exercise regularly and get adequate rest. Your mood is more manageable and your body can more effectively fight stress when it's fit and well rested.

Fit's Tip: Most importantly, if you happen to give into temptation, don't beat yourself up about your slip. Try to learn from your mistakes and figure out a plan to deal with similar situations in the future.

eating habits you should avoid:

Feeling Invincible: It's easy when you're young to think that a diet of cheeseburgers, fries and soda will never catch up with you. But these are the habits that, over time, put people at risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Giving Up Control: Just because a work meeting is scheduled during lunch doesn't mean you have to eat the high-calorie chicken salad sandwich that's provided or grab fast food afterward. Don't let your chaotic lifestyle control your eating habits. Evaluate your schedule and make time to fit healthy choices into your routine, or your health and your waistline will suffer.
Emotional Eating: If stress at work is building or you're worried about something in your personal life, it's probably affecting your diet. After a tough day at work, beer and pizza often sound a lot better than soup and salad. Stress, in particular, can increase levels of the hormone cortisol, causing people to feel more hunger than usual. Figuring out how to manage your stress levels could save you some calories.
Ignoring The Labels: Everybody needs a daily calorie budget. To make sure you don't exceed yours, you need to start reading labels.
Relying On Convenience Foods: After a hectic day, you probably don't want to spend an hour preparing a healthy meal. Knowing this, manufacturers have created a variety of convenient, boxed products. The problem is, they're not always quicker than the alternative--making something fresh--and they're usually lower on nutrients.

Miss the first five, then check them out here.

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Eating Through the Holiday Stress

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0800

Do you find the holidays to be particularly stressful? If so, you may find a few extra unwanted pounds under your clothes come next year.

This year, try your hardest not to turn to food this season. Women, in particular, find the holidays to be stressful as we feel the need to make it perfect for all our loved ones. This leaves many of us laying in our beds at night, sobbing while clutching a box of Ho-Hos. Not good.

MSNBC reported that the studies by the American Psychological Association show that nearly half of all American women suffer from holiday related stress which can lead to comfort eating and weight gain.

If you suffer from holiday stress and emotional eating try going easy on yourself this holiday season with these tips:

Get others to pitch in -- Don't just ask people to help, assign them tasks.
Find time for yourself -- Schedule a massage and have your in-laws watch the kids.
Go easy on the decorating -- Everyone will still have a good time even if your house doesn't look like the Griswald's from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

There's more tips, so read more

Shop online -- Crowds, lines and lugging bags around can contribute to stress.
Exercise -- Working out is a fabulous way to combat stress and burn calories.
Don't schedule big group excursions -- Trying to coordinate 12 people going to the zoo seems like a good idea until you are actually trying to get out the door.
Don't keep items you can easily binge on in sight -- Candy bowls are easy targets for emotional eating, if it's not there you won't eat it.

Fit's Tip: Still stressed? Keep healthy foods offhand so that if you turn to food, its something healthy -- Instead of eating all the candy canes off the tree, reach for veggies and hummus.

Need support and help on keeping on track this holiday season? Be sure to join my "Diet Support Group."

It's True! We Really Do Crave Fatty Foods When We're Stressed

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:00:42 -0800

If your chocolate cravings are any indication, you may have already suspected that high-fat foods are a woman's go-to snack when stressed. Now there's evidence to confirm your suspicions - UCSF recently conducted a study to examine the relationship between eating habits and chronic stress.

Researchers surveyed 600 overweight or obese women regarding their diet and stress. Issues classified as chronic stressors included job dissatisfaction, financial worries (like inability to pay rent or mortgage), or dealing with an ailing loved one. The women dealing with these taxing personal issues reported a higher likelihood of being unable to control what they ate, and a tendency to eat more fattening foods. Chronically stressed women were also more likely to force themselves to keep a regimented, strict diet to control weight gain, even skipping meals. The downside is that it's hard to keep up a regimented program, and being stressed means a plan like this is bound to backfire - ultimately there's a breaking point, and we're more likely to overeat.

To learn more about stressed-out eating, just read more.

While this study may not offer any groundbreaking info, it does serve as a healthy reminder: Be conscious of when you're actually hungry, and remember, there is such a thing as emotional eating. Be more mindful of your mental health and how it affects your food choices, and make healthy eating a priority. If you need some creative, healthy snack alternatives, visit our Snack Attack group for ideas.

Sheryl Crow Is the Picture of (and on) Health

FitSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:00:53 -0700

When I think of breast cancer survivors, Sheryl Crow is one of the first people to pop into my mind. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with the disease and is now happy to say she's cancer-free. These days, this down-to-earth, single mom is a breast cancer advocate, and in a candid interview with Health magazine, she talks about ways she's taking care of herself to stay healthy. Here's what she said about her diet.

"When I first got diagnosed, I went to this great nutritionist who specializes in disease prevention and well-being, and I still incorporate her tips like eating omega-3s - I eat salmon or other fish at least three times a week. I eat a lot of walnuts, almonds, colorful vegetables, and prunes, which get such a bad rap but are loaded with antioxidants. I also drink pomegranate juice and keep a vat of tomato soup around or some kind of tomato sauce, because it has lycopene. And one big thing I learned was that so much of wellness depends on your body getting rid of waste. So I eat a lot of Fiber One, which has 14 grams of fiber per serving."

Getting your fill of omega-3s, antioxidants like lycopene, and fiber have all been found to help prevent breast cancer, so following Sheryl's advice is a great way to put prevention into your own hands.

To hear what Sheryl said about her exercise plan, read more.

"I try to do something every day that’s sports-related, and I like to be outside. I love riding my bike, and playing tennis, and paddle surfing. I don’t love going to the gym, but I’ll do it if it’s rainy."

Research has shown that vigorous exercise (running, fast jogging, aerobics, bicycling on hills, etc.) can reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30 percent in normal-weight women, so get moving like Sheryl to help prevent this disease. The singer also tries to rid her life of stress, lets out her emotions rather than bottling them up, and doesn't deny herself one of her favorite guilty pleasures - Lay's potato chips.

The Skinny On: Volumetrics Diet

FitSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:30:39 -0700

In a recent post about which diets match your personality, one diet mentioned was The Volumetrics Eating Plan. Designed by nutritionist Barbara Rolls, PhD, it's based on the simple fact that people love food. It doesn't deprive you of any types of food, since limiting your diet too severely can cause you to binge and won't help you lose weight.

Volumetrics is based on the idea that you should fill up on low calorie foods that make you feel full. So you're encouraged to eat foods that are considered "less energy dense foods," which have a high fiber and/or water content. This includes non-starchy veggies, nonfat milk, and soup broths. High density foods include crackers, chips, cookies, candy, nuts, and oils, and should be limited.

Want to hear more about this diet and what the experts think? Then read more.

In Rolls' book, there are tons of recipes that involve lowfat tricks to cut out oil, butter, cream, and eggs, opting for skim milk, egg whites, yogurt, and applesauce instead. Many of the meals are water-based and contain lean proteins such as soups, casseroles, and stews, while many of the dessert recipes are fruit-based.

This eating plan isn't just about food. It also encourages you to increase your physical activity and to record what you eat and how much you exercise in a journal. Don't expect to lose massive amounts of weight at once on Volumetrics. This eating plan will result in slow and steady weight loss.

Experts feel Volumetrics can make sense for a lot of people, but that it's not for everyone. Since hunger isn't the only reason people chow down, those who tend to be emotional or social eaters may have a hard time limiting their food intake, even when their stomachs feel full. It also won't work for people who have busy schedules and don't have the time to cook up special meals.

Have any of you tried Volumetrics?

Healthy Dose Link Time

FitSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:00:11 -0700

Are your sneakers exercise-specific? - Fit Bottomed Girls
Choosing a healthier breakfast cereal - Shape
The government rush to regulate yoga - Social Workout
Schools offering more vegetarian lunch options - That's Fit
How to order healthy from Domino's - Daily Spark
The buzz on Power Balance bracelets - Vital Juice
Celebrate eggplant season with these yummy recipes - Healthy Bites
What's your most empowering outfit right now? - Shape Up
How Jillian Michaels avoids emotional eating - Fit Celeb