Comments (21)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, January 11, 2010 12:14 pm

Hi!

Today we start week two of 12 Weeks No Diets!

To recap, here were last weeks goals.

• Eat when we’re hungry, stop when we’re satisfied
• Drink at least 12 oz of water with each meal, and 8-12 oz between meals.

How did we do?

Like I mentioned in my last post, drinking water is pretty tough for me! I literally felt like I was constantly guzzling water. The first few days felt like work, but after a while I started to feel so much better! As far as eating when I’m hungry… I pretty much do this already, but this time I REALLY focused on it! Before I ate, or wanted to eat I asked myself “Am I REALLY hungry?” Sometimes the answer was yes, but other times it wasn’t. I had moments of boredom where I wanted to eat, but didn’t. I also had moments where those lovely “female hormones” kicked in and made think I wanted food. Boy was this hard work! As frustrating as it was, I waited it out and low and behold, my tummy eventually started growling, hunger pains kicked in, and before I knew it, it was time to eat! I have to say it felt almost like a victory!

Moving forward to this week, I wanted to focus on eating routines and fiber.

Mindful Tip #2

Break Mindless Eating Routines

Do you have any routines where you eat mindlessly? I had/have a couple. Sometimes I like to snack a little while working on the computer… like right now! I’m righting this post from a cute little bakery/coffee shop. There are people all around me working on their computers, sipping coffee, and eating. I smell the yummy quiche that the women sitting next to me is eating, I smell the warm cinnamon roll that the man across from me is eating. I am not the least bit hungry at all… not even a tingle of hunger… but I feel like I should order something because a) I’m working on the computer, and b) because everyone else around me is eating.

Another mindless eating routine I did/do is eating as soon as I get home from work. For the longest time the first thing I would do when getting home from work was eat. I would pull my car into the driveway, get the mail from the mail box, let Shiner (my dog) out, and sift through the mail while eating either pretzels or pita chips. Majority of the time I wasn’t even hungry.

Breaking mindless eating routines takes some time. I had to take a look at my day and identify the routines where I ate mindlessly. Then I had to work on them. I did this my focusing on breaking my routines. It took a conscious effort, but over time, I developed new routines.

Nutrition Tip #2

Eat your Fiber!!

Fiber is good for us. Fiber helps makes us feel full. Fiber comes in the form of whole grains, fruits, and veggies. The daily fiber requirement for women is 25 grams, and for men it’s about 40 grams. Instead of trying to count fiber grams, just try to make better choices. I like to choose bread that has at least 4 grams of fiber per slice. As far as fruits and veggies go, I REALLY need to work on this!!! I don’t know why this is so hard for me, but it is. I can manage to eat a salad most days to get my veggies in, but other than that, I need work. I don’t know why, but when I’m hungry, I rarely go for fruits or veggies.

Goal for this week:

1. Try to identify any mindless eating routines, think of a different behavior/activity to work on changing those routines
2. When hungry, at at least one piece of fruit per day, and include veggies in some form (preferably fresh) for two meals.
   

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

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Do you have any questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I started a “12 Weeks No Diets” page. Every Mondays post/tip will be on that page.

If you have any workout specific questions, go to Jessica’s Blog at How Sweet It Is.

Comments (23)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, January 7, 2010 12:56 pm

Hi!

Thanks for the positive response to “12 Weeks No Diets!”  I’m so happy to hear so many of you are excited about it! 

Since my posting on Monday, I’ve gotten a lot of emails about emotional eating and ways to overcome it.  Emotional eating can be a pretty heavy topic.  I’ve definitely had my issues with it… trust me!  I have some experience in the area, but I’m not an expert.  This post just touches on some of the main issues behind it.  There are references at the end that provide more details and more ways to cope.

What is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating is eating for reasons other than the true feeling of physical hunger.  Emotional eating is feeding our feelings, not our hunger.  Reasons we may eat can include anxiety, loneliness, boredom, sadness, happiness, celebration, stress, etc… and any other reason you can think of that you eat other than hunger.  We’re basically eating to fill a void.  Emotional hunger can arrive suddenly, while physical hunger builds up and comes on gradually.  When we eat to fill a void we often reach for “comfort” foods.  For some, this may be high starch/carb laden foods.  Emotional hunger often needs to be satisfied instantly. 

The Numbing Effect

When we eat when we’re not hungry (emotional eating), it’s difficult to tell when we’ve had enough.  When we eat when we’re not hungry, we can’t tell when we’re full.  It’s almost like a numbing feeling.  It’s like the endless bag of potato chips.  We eat for emotion and don’t stop until the bag is gone, or, we don’t stop until we feel uncomfortably full.  If we still have a void, we can easily look for more food.  When we eat for true physical hunger we can tell right away when we’re full… so we stop eating. 

Emotional Eating & Weight Gain

When we consistently eat for reasons other than hunger, we will gain weight.  Majority of the time when we eat for emotion, we eat unhealthy food… so this doesn’t help the situation.  If our body is not physically hungry and we eat anyway, our body most likely did not need the calories.  Even worse is when we use food as the main reason to cope with our emotions.  I’ve said this over and over again, weight gain occurs when we CONSISTENTLY eat when we’re not hungry.  Even if we are eating healthy, if we’re over eating we will gain weight.

 Coping With Our Emotions

We all have moments when we eat out of emotion… the problem occurs when we use food as our main form of coping.  Learning to cope with our emotions without food is vital… especially if we have a weight problem.  This can be very hard… especially if we’ve been eating out of emotion for many years.  I have had clients who haven’t felt true physical hunger in decades.  When we stop eating for emotion, we are forced to face those emotions.  If we’re use to snacking after dinner and we stop, we need to find something else to fill that void.  The really hard part comes when we really want to eat something, but know that we are not physically hungry.  We have to deal with that feeling which at times can be tough.  The good news is the more we learn to deal with it, the easier it will become.  The goal is to consistently associate food with hunger.  The more we get use to this, the easier it is to be around food and have no desire to eat because we’re not hungry.  The ultimate goal is to consistently eat when we’re hungry.  If we have a moment when we eat out of emotion, we just accept it for what it is and move on.  Just take it one meal at a time.

This article covers a very small part of emotional eating.  I by no means am an expert in this area.  If you feel you need more guidance, two great references are author Geenen Roth (her books cover emotional eating in detail as well as ways to cope), and the book Intuitive Eating (this book has one chapter on emotional eating, but the entire book is ideal for someone who consistently eats when not hungry).  If you feel you need more help, please contact a local Dietitian and he/she can guide you in the right direction.

Comments (25)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, January 4, 2010 9:21 am

Hi

Are you ready?

Twelve weeks of “No Diets in the New Year” starts today!!!

12 weeks of No Diets is about making more mindful choices… Listening to our body, responding to it’s natural hunger cues, and eating what our body needs.

Throughout the holiday season I definitely did some mindless snacking/drinking… a little too much But I never beat myself up over it. I just tried to make more mindful choices the rest of the day(s). With dieting season officially in full swing (hello Taco Bell diet), I say ignore it all and work towards making small changes towards a healthier lifestyle.

Starting today, every Monday I will be posting a new non-diet tip, a nutrition goal, and a killer workout from the fabulous Jessica from How Sweet It Is! By the way… I can’t tell you how excited I am about these workouts!!! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!!

There a couple of points I want to touch on before we get started.

1. Don’t view “Not Dieting” as another diet. The main premise behind “Not Dieting” is to eat when we’re hungry and get in tune with our body. If this is viewed as a diet, then cheating would be eating when we’re not hungry, or for emotional reasons. The body is very forgiving. We’re human and there will be times we eat when we’re not hungry. We should just accept it for what it is and wait until we’re hungry again to eat.
2. This can be started anytime. If you’re not ready to start today, start whenever you’re ready. The info will be here

Mindful Tip #1

Eat When You’re Hungry, Stop When Satisfied…

Reaching and maintaing a healthy weight is all about WHY we eat and HOW much we eat. When we consistently eat for reasons other then hunger, we will gain weight. The key word CONSISTENTLY. We all have our moments… but it’s what we do consistently over time that matters the most. Our body is very smart. It tells us when it needs food and it tells us when it’s had enough food. It’s important to NEVER let our body get overly hungry… this can set us up to overeat.

Here’s how to tell if you’re hungry (ranging from gentle to ravenous):

• Mild gurgling or gnawing the the stomach
• Growling noises
• Feeling lightheaded
• Difficulty concentration
• Uncomfortable stomach pain
• Irritability
• Feeling faint
• Headaches
• Any combination of the above

Are we really hungry or just bored?

Before we eat, let’s ask ourselves these questions:

• Are we hungry or thirsty? Often times we can mistake hunger for thirst. We may actually be dehydrated. Try drinking some water before eating.
• Are we eating because of emotion? This is a big one!! Eating for emotion can mean a number of things… eating because we’re sad, happy, lonely, depressed, bored, anxious, stressed, hormonal, etc… Emotional eating is such a big deal. When we stop eating for emotion, we have to find a way to deal with those emotions in ways other than food.
• Did we get enough sleep? Sometimes I feel so physically tired I think I need to eat…. WRONG! Getting enough zzzz’s at night is so important. We need to make sure our sleep schedule is allowing for enough rest.

NUTRITION TIP #1

Make water your beverage of choice.

This is something I seriously struggle with! I don’t drink enough water! This can be a big player in the “Are we hungry or thirsty” factor. I’m not big on juices or any calorie containing beverage… I just don’t drink enough period. I’m going to make it point to always carry a bottle of water with me.

Water goal for the week: Drink at least 12oz of water with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and drink 8-12 oz of water between each meal.

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home! I did Jessica’s Functional Workout this morning and LOVED it!! It was an awesome workout!!!

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Do you have any questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I started a “12 Weeks No Diets” page. Every Mondays post/tip will be on that page.

If you have any workout specific questions, go to Jessica’s Blog at How Sweet It Is.