Something to think about.....

Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us. ~ Peter De Vries

Picking the correct food for the job

How well do you pick the correct food for the job? Have you ever given it any thought?

When I was in college (the first time -- a long time ago when I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up) I took a nutrition class. Along with my rudderless self, most of the rest of the class was composed of people looking to become dietitians when they grew up. One of the questions that was posed by the instructor was "What nutrition advise would you give a homeless person who told you he mostly eats hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches?"

Okay -- seriously? Is nutritional advice our first line of help for a homeless person?

But back to the story -- biting back my above retort, I listened to a future Dietitian tell the class that she would advise the homeless client to reduce his intake of hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches because both are very high in fat. (Seriously -- this person has more to worry about than eating a diet too high in fat!!) The job of food, in this case, would be to keep the man alive so that, hopefully, he has the energy to take care of himself in other ways (like finding shelter).

There was a study conducted by Paul Rozin where he showed a picture of a chocolate cake to groups of French people and American people and asked them to say the first word that popped into their minds.

The Americans top response was: Guilt
The French top response was: Celebration

Rozin also did a study that asked people "Assume you are alone on a desert island for one year and you can have water and one other food. Pick the food that you think would be best for your health."

Your choices are:
Corn
alfalfa sprouts
hot dogs
spinach
peaches
bananas
or milk chocolate

So...which one would YOU choose?

The most popular choice was bananas (42%)
spinach (27%)
corn (12%)
alfalfa sprouts (7%)
peaches (5%)
hot dogs (4%)
milk chocolate (3%)

But here's the deal -- what is the purpose of this food choice? To keep you "healthy"? Nope. This foods job would be to keep you alive. So...to meet that purpose, the right choice for survival is Hot Dogs or Milk Chocolate.

So give some thought to the purpose you are trying to fulfill next time you eat. If you are physically hungry -- the purpose is to get rid of the hunger. So the goal would be to pick something that would get rid of your hunger.

But...if you are in need of comfort food (it is cold and gray outside, you have had a really bad week, and you are feeling a cold coming on) that might require a much different kind of food. Maybe something warm, thick and hearty. Now would not be the time for me to put together a garden salad for myself and expect it would satisfy me. I might eat the salad but I would be on to something else (something warm, thick and hearty) and the salad calories would be those 9 bites I should have left uneaten.

The right food for the job matters but if you don't know what you are trying to accomplish, how are you going to choose the right food to fit the job?

The Religion of Thinness

I just read an interesting perspective on being "Addicted to the Illusion of a Better Body".

The author talks about how many different food-based messages (food refrain and indulge) we are subjected to during the day. How much emphasis is put on "if only I were thinner, x would be better, I wouldn't have to worry about y, and I could do z".

The article cites diet spending at $60 BILLION. The diet industry stirs up our shame for our bodies and the idea that the rich and successful are thin and beautiful, as well. (on a side note -- I was watching the Jackson-Barrett car auction on the Speed Network this weekend and let me tell you -- most of those bidding on the $200k cars were not the male version of a runway model -- so much for that urban legend)

Here's the point. The focus on reaching the goal weight is less important to maintaining the goal weight than for you to learn to make sensible changes to your eating patterns. Remember -- fatness isn't the root problem -- it is a symptom of the root problem. The WHY of why you are eating too many calories is more important to changing the behaviors than to substituting carrot sticks for lunch so you can lose weight.

Figure out why you need to feel a sense of level 10 fullness at lunch before you go back to your desk and then you can see if that coping mechanism makes sense and if you are willing to change it for the long term. If you start to examine those behaviors today and make one small change today -- and another one tomorrow -- you will get to a weight that makes more sense to you -- without putting off your life until you reach the weight you "should be".

30% Physical vs. 70% Emotional

Thursday, I attended a talk given by a life coach specializing in helping people increase their energy levels. We all know how precious energy is and I have yet to meet a person who wouldn't increase their energy levels if they could.

The talk started out with the statistic that 30% of our energy comes from physical sources (what we eat, how much and our quality of sleep, and exercise). The other 70% comes from how we are emotionally oriented to our world. The "glass half-full" mentality gives us more perceived energy (ability and willingness to interact with our environment) than those of us that are the "glass half empty" mentality.

The coach spent 40 of the 45 minutes talking about the things we can do to eat better, sleep better, and exercise more -- all of the things we know we should do -- all of the things the magazines lining the grocery store check-out scream at us.

The last 5 minutes of the talk touched on the emotional component of our energy levels. This seems to me to be a HUGE oversight! Not only from a numbers perspective --wouldn't I want to invest more time into the side of the equation that is responsible for the largest percentage of my energy? And don't I know enough about what I should be doing for my physical energy? And working on the emotional side of the equation is open to everyone! Because it is all in your head, it is open to unlimited change -- you are completely in charge of what goes on up there. Sure, it may not be easy -- but there isn't anything stopping you except yourself.

But before I get too ramped up talking about this, let's bring this back to the task at hand -- eating.

We live in a society that is focused on breaking things down to small parts and figuring out what the small parts do in isolation. You cannot tell me that reading the label on your fav Ben and Jerry's container is going to give you an understanding of the texture of the ice cream as it melts in your mouth (assuming you are being mindful and let it melt -- not just gulp it down in an effort to get the next spoonful in -- trust me, I have done both). Reading the label will not give the same emotional satisfaction of feeling the crunch of nuts mixing with the smooth and cold sensation of chocolate chunks -- tasting the flavors increase as your mouth brings the spoonful closer to body temperature. The experience is something completely different than fats, carbs, and proteins.

Why does it make sense to base something so wonderful as the opportunity to eat really flavorful foods on a list of the basic parts? Where is the joy in that? You may (and indeed do) get physical energy (measured in calories) from ice cream. But are you making use of that calorie expenditure to get your 70% emotional energy boost? If you are being mindful (tasting, appreciating smell, color,texture,etc.) you have a better shot at eating a few bites and getting a big boost on the emotional side without having to eat the whole container (and all the attendant calories).

Think about the foods that give you the greatest emotional boost. Are they all sweets? You all know how much I love cookies -- some cookies give me an emotional boost. But so does a beautiful salad, warm gnocchi with red sauce, the beef and tomatoes my mom makes, delicious soups. Just because we are talking about emotional energy boosting foods, it doesn't mean they are only the foods that would make a dietitian squirm.

The point is: every time we eat, we have an opportunity to fuel our physical selves AND we have the ability to fuel our emotional selves! We could get 70% more energy from something we already to if we just tune in a little more.

Seems like it is worth a try!

*** for those of you interested in the emotional energy side of things, I recommend a book called The Emotional Energy Factor -- the secrets high-energy people use to beat emotional fatigue ****

And the holiday eating continues???

I have noticed that not everyone is ready to give up the fun and pleasure of holiday eating just yet.

Case in point -- me. I want to keep eating cookies. They taste good. They are portable (and I told you yesterday I have been super busy!). They crunch (when they are frozen). And are soft (when they thaw). And most of all, my mom made them -- comfort like no other.

So -- I have done a pretty good job putting them away. I have only eaten 2 in the last 5 days. But the want to eat them is still there.

I met with a client this week who has let his portions creep back up and his weight is going that way too. Before the holidays -- not a problem. But the holidays knocked him off his groove and that is where he is now.

Another client realized she is stress eating -- not because she is stressed -- but because she was stressed through the holidays. Since the holidays have ended, the stress has gone but she is left with the stress eating habit.

What behaviors are you letting carry over into the new year? Do you feel you are in charge of your eating behaviors or are you just desperately trying to stay in control of them?

Welcome to the New Year

Is anyone else stressed to the gills already??

My job is crazy, busy time of year (think tax season for accountants). Lots of people have joined the ranks at BHFC and I love that!! People who have decided to be healthier in 2010 than they were in 2009 -- very cool!

The end result of this is a busier me. Lots of people who need to be seen, introduced to the facility, gotten off on the correct eating and exercise programs for each of them.

Plus, I was minding my own business the other day when a colleague asked if I would create an series of lectures on Increasing Activity to go along with her diet-based weight control program. Which, of course, I said yes to.

And the Eating Coach website isn't done (although the e-course is -- one small victory anyway).

And I have a Spring Learning Series to plan.

And I have to pick the dates for the spring Eating Coach classes.

And I just started back strength training (my official start date was February .....2009 -- so I would be in good strength for wake boarding season -- which is right around the corner, now that the days are getting longer).

And...

And...

And...

All of that to say -- Holy Cow!! Life is crazy and I want to lay down and take a nap. But I can't -- all of the above needs to get done. Some quicker than others but it all needs to happen. So now what???

If you are feeling like this -- think about stopping for just a minute and taking a breath. Slow in...slow out. Becoming aware of what is going on (as opposed to running on autopilot) is the first step. There is no easy answer to the to-do list -- like I said, it all needs to get done. But I don't want it to take me down in the process.

It is times like this where clients tend to fall off the Mindful Eating wagon. They stress eat or just end up grabbing whatever super-sized anything they can get their hands on just because it is convenient.

Don't let your stress derail you. Make a plan. Sunday I was smart enough to make a big pot of soup for lunches this week (okay -- there is another small victory). At least, I will have something easy to pack for lunch so I am not tempted to skip it and grab a big bag of chips on the way home.

Take your drive time to think about how hungry you are feeling so when you get home you have an idea of how much you are going to need to eat at dinner to relieve the physical hunger of the day.

Pay attention to how hungry you are in the morning when you first wake up. Are you hungrier than normal (don't freak out about this -- when you are busier and burning more calories running around you will feel hungrier) or do you feel what you always feel?

Are you more tempted to grab that high carb/high salt snack from the vending machine in the afternoon? Why? Are you bored or stressed about the work waiting for you back at your desk? Or are you truly hungry?

Keep notes about how you are feeling (stressed, bored, let down from the holidays, still fighting with your sibling over a holiday incident...) to see if you can see patterns in your eating.

Most of all -- and if you do nothing else -- Breathe. One slow one in and then slowly out. Appreciate the way your lungs expand and contract. Let the stress go -- it all needs to be done, believe me, I understand -- but one thing at a time -- Mindfully.

What are you REALLY eating today?

“There are some people who eat an orange but don’t really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

Do something Friday

Do you want a piece of cake or just some peace?

For a great many of us, food is the quick-fix comfort. Stressed?? Have a cookie. Bored? A soda. Lonely? A pizza. Ice cream. Pasta. A piece of cake. It is the way our culture works, but is it working for you?

Break the pattern of going to food for comfort. It doesn't solve the problem -- it just numbs the discomfort (in the short term) and leaves you feeling guilty after that.

Need an outlet to figure out what you are feeling? Try journeling. Or blogging! It is amazing how liberating it can be to get your feelings out of your head. It might not solve the problem but it can create enough space for you to figure out what is really getting to you.

Running to food is not working for you!! If it was, you wouldn't be reading this blog! Try something new. It doesn't have to be the perfect thing. It just needs to be something that may work better than running to food.

Deal with the root cause of your overeating and you won't overeat.