6 Appetite-Control Strategies that Helped Me Stop Overeating
It can be hard not to overeat. You eat a healthy meal at home, think you’re doing well, then you head out (to almost any destination) and are surrounded by junk food. You get hungry, and pretty soon you’re at the local burger joint, diet forgotten. Or maybe you stick to the “right” foods, but they’re just so good that you can’t have just one portion. We’ve all been there. That used to be me. The following six strategies have changed the game for me — now I’m healthier, enjoy my meals more and my appetite is low enough that, if anything, I have to make an effort to eat more. 1. ADD VINEGAR AND CINNAMON TO MEALS TO CONTROL BLOOD SUGAR Looking to add some flavor to your food and noncaloric drinks? Forget the sugar; there are…
15 Red Flags of Problematic Eating
Our relationship with food is undoubtedly complex, and sometimes the lines between healthy and unhealthy eating get blurred. This is because disordered eating falls on a continuum and can develop out of something as benign as a good intention to lose a few pounds and get in shape. While problematic or disordered eating may first appear to be weight-focused, food can also become a coping mechanism for feelings or emotions that may otherwise seem overwhelming. Whether driven by weight, body image or emotions, disordered eating behaviors can damage an individual’s physical and emotional health, self-esteem, sense of confidence and relationship with food. Below are 15 red flags of problematic eating to be aware of: 1. Skipping meals Skipping a meal (or eliminating food groups) is a means to cut calories, which is why this is one of the first…
5 Steps to Take Control of Food Addiction
Addiction does not always have to involve an addictive substance or drug. It can involve excessive behavior such as compulsive eating too. While scientific studies in the area of food addiction is still in the beginning stages, many experts believe that addiction to food really isn’t about the food. To elaborate further, foods do not have addictive properties that make someone depend on them, unlike chemical substances. Food addiction has more to do with how a person behaves around food, what they think about food, and the way habits are formed with food. The habits are the real source of the addiction. EATING OUR EMOTIONS Food can become a way to cope with emotional matters, and the repetition of this coping mechanism can breed an addiction. By using food as a means to deal with anxiety, stress, grief, and the like,…
How to Stop Rewarding Yourself with Food
One of my fondest memories as a child was going out to dinner with my family when we had something to celebrate. Whether it was straight A’s on my report card or if I lowered my best time in the 100 meter butterfly, food was at the center of how we celebrated these moments of success. To this day, if something great happens, I still have this urge to celebrate with food, alcohol or both. Get a salary raise for doing good work? Pop the bubbly and bring on the cheese board! Run over 13.1 miles while training for my first full marathon? It’s burger and craft beer time. I know I’m not alone in celebrating with the delicious things in life. But, having this as my knee jerk reaction had me thinking that it isn’t really the…
Why ‘You Are What You Eat’ May Be a Lie
You’ve probably been told a few times in your life — by a well-meaning parent, teacher or even your physician — that healthy eating is important because “you are what you eat.” This popular mantra has been around for decades and is used to help people understand the importance of food to their overall health and well-being. Without discrediting food’s impact, my opinion is that this mantra is more myth than truth. Of course, we can argue that we are what we eat at the cellular level. Nutrients from our food are used for growth, repair, development, reproduction and building a strong immune system. Thanks to the Genome Project, we also know that the food we eat affects our genes, and our genes affect how we respond to our food. In a nutshell, it’s not as simple as “eating fat will…
How to Stop Eating Your Emotions
If we were all able to eat when we’re hungry and stop when we’re sufficiently full, we’d be the right weight for our individual bodies. Our bodies are equipped with innate sensors telling us when we need to eat and when we are satiated. So what gets in the way of eating when we’re hungry and stopping when we’re full? What causes us to sabotage our natural hunger regulators? Why do so many of us fall prey to cravings, mindless eating and emotional eating? Emotional eating can rear its ugly head in many ways. Eating just because you’re bored, tired, lonely, anxious, uncomfortable, happy and so forth all count as emotional eating. Emotional eating and feeling out of control around food can be a problem at any weight; you don’t have to be overweight to struggle with it….