Skills to Prevent Overeating
Think about a diet you’ve done in the past. Did the diet have certain restrictions on foods you love? Remember how you felt when you craved food, but could not eat it. Often, dieting and restricting food cause a great deal of stress and negative emotions. Many dieters allow themselves a “cheat day” or a day out of the week when all foods are allowed. Unfortunately, cheat days end up containing many more calories, negating all the hard work done the rest of the week. Or, we build up these stressful feelings towards the diet and fall off completely ending in a binge meal or comfort eating and weight gain. We can reduce this constant cycle of dieting and overeating by always practicing mindful eating techniques.
Mindful eating occurs when we chose foods based on all five senses (sound, look, feel, smell, and taste). We become aware of our body’s physical need for hunger and acknowledge when it may only be our brain craving food. With practice, it is easier to feel when we’ve had enough. We learn how our body feels after a healthy meal and better understand our emotions towards the meal.
Practicing mindful eating allows us to eat foods we want, stop when we’ve had enough, and increases our satisfaction. But, mindfulness doesn’t happen overnight. It’s something we need to practice daily. The more we practice, the easier it becomes. Once we have mastered mindful eating, living a mindful lifestyle also becomes easier. We enjoy the moment and don’t stress about things out of our control.
Break the Restriction-Overeating Cycle and Increase Satisfaction and Food Pleasure. Give yourself permission to eat any food you crave. After weight loss surgery all food is allowed, only much less of it. Protein and vegetables should be eaten at every meal. After those important nutrients have been consumed, go ahead and have one or two bites of whatever you are craving. But, be mindful about it. Don’t waste those couple of bites in front of the TV. Make sure you are sitting down and savoring every smell and flavor, remembering why you craved it.
Our reward system in the brain will release dopamine (the happy hormone) at the first bite. The second bite will release some dopamine, but not as much as the first. Each bite after will be less and less rewarding. This is why two bites of your favorite food are allowed, its all you need. Restricting favorite foods will have the opposite affect. You will crave the food and stress about not being able to eat it. The stress hormone will be released in the brain, which increases hunger. Take time to reflect on your favorite foods. Think of how you can incorporate them into your meals mindfully, in a way you will not feel bad about it. Stopping the eat/repent/repeat cycle will have you feeling much better about eating the foods you love. 
Honor you Hunger.
Hunger happens, even after weight loss surgery. Many feel the urge to have a small snack or protein every two or three hours. This is natural and should not be ignored. Planning meals and snacks is required. There should never be a day you leave the house not knowing what/where you will be eating the rest of the day.
Everyone’s life is busy, yours is no exception. The busier we get the more important it is to take care of ourselves. If we go long spans of time without eating, we increase the chance of mistakes. We will eat whatever is closest or fast. We tend to make less healthy decisions. We also tend to eat very quickly. Eating quickly reduces the enjoyment of food and our ability to notice once the stomach is content. This leads to overeating unhealthy foods, causing us to feel physically unhealthy and increases stress.
Make Yourself Your First Priority.
We cannot eat mindfully if we don’t take care of ourselves mentally and emotionally. Take time to take care of yourself everyday. Exercise is the best way to reduce stress, it helps burn pent up energy that develops from working hard and caring for others. Take an hour to thirty minutes everyday for physical activity. This could be a walk, jog, or lunges and stretches between activities at work. Being outdoors also reduces stress. Our bodies crave the sunlight. We should spend time outside each week. Try hiking, free yoga and tai chi classes weekly at Sunnylands, or free yoga at Ruth Hardy Park Saturday’s at 10:00 am. Or, a good book outside on the patio could do the trick.
Experiencing stillness is another important way to take care of yourself. Reading, journaling, meditating, listening to music, or relaxing in a warm bath or hot tub are great ways to find peace and become more mindful. Finally, we can’t discuss self-care without mentioning sleep. We could all get more done if sleep were optional, but it isn’t and we need a decent amount of it. Getting only a few hours of sleep negatively affects our hormones. This causes us to feel hunger strongly, increases likelihood of unhealthy decisions, and reduces our ability to notice fulness. Know how much sleep your body requires each day and work hard at meeting those needs. You will feel more productive, have improved concentration, and feel better overall.
Putting it to Practice. First, give yourself permission to eat foods you love. When you eat, be aware of your physical and emotional feelings during the meal and after. Your goal should be to feel better than you did before you ate. Practice being mindful by imagining yourself overeating your favorite meal. Think about how your body will feel and the stress you may develop. Now, imagine yourself eating the meal, but stopping at the onset of contentment. How different will you feel after?
Setting Boundaries. Think about what your trigger foods are. Keep these foods out of sight. It is easier to eat cookies sitting on the counter, not when they’re on the top shelf of the cabinet. When cooking a meal, don’t set the food on the table. Have everyone take their plate to the kitchen and serve themselves there. You are less likely to have seconds if you have to get up to serve them. Switch all the plate and bowls you use, to smaller sizes. When we eat less food, but serve it on a large plate, our brain sees what's happening and feels cheated. Instead, pile the food on a tiny plate. Your brain will appreciate your hearty helping.
Be aware of your location at parties. Park yourself further from the food. You’ll notice the people gathering around the food will each more without realizing what they’ve done. Finally, practice turning down food. Understand, it isn’t your responsibility to over eat just because someone else made the food. Actually practice saying no thank you or simply stating you are too full but would be willing to take leftovers. Your host will understand, if they don’t, they are not someone that cares about your health.
When we don’t take care of ourselves, it is much easier to over-indulge. Remember, you need to put yourself first in order care for others. Practice eating mindfully everyday. Think about and understand your cravings. Know the difference between actual hunger and head hunger. Remember how it feels to eat unhealthy foods or to eat too much. Instead, compare to how you feel when you eat healthy, eat to contentment, and do not feel stressed from the meal. For more information on mindful eating visit http://thecenterformindfuleating.org/.
Recipe Corner
Caramelized Chicken with Lime and Mint
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
juice of 2 limes
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp clear honey or agave nectar
4 chicken breasts or 8 chicken thighs, skin off
low-fat cooking spray or mist
7 oz rice noodles
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
½ cucumber, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
Directions
- In a shallow dish large enough to take all the chicken pieces, mix together the lime juice, soy sauce, garlic and honey. Add the chicken and turn in the mixture to coat. Set aside for 15 minutes or longer. Cover and chill if longer than 15 minutes.
- Spritz a large non-stick pan with the cooking spray or mist, heat, add the drained chicken (reserving any marinade) and cook until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add any left-over marinade, cover, lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
- Uncover the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced and started to caramelize.
- Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain, toss with the mint and divide between the serving dishes. Cut the chicken into thick slices and arrange on top of the noodles.
- Surround with the cucumber and carrot slices and sprinkle with the chili if used.
CALORIES: 358 PROTEIN: 32.5g CARBOHYDRATE: 50g FAT: 2.3g
Seared Salmon with Olive Relish
Serves 4 bariatric meals or 2 bariatric meals and 1 non-bariatric meal.
Bariatric Portion: 2 oz salmon, 1/2 cup spinach mixture and 1-2 Tbsp olive relish
Ingredients:
Olive Relish
1/2 cup mild green olives, pitted and diced
1.5 tsp diced shallot
1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp champagne vinegar (or other white vinegar)
1 Tbsp honey
1 lemons, zested, segmented and juice reserved
Black pepper to taste
Salmon
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 salmon fillets (4 oz each)
Black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 cups white beans, drained, with 1/4 cup liquid reserved
2 cups fresh baby spinach
Directions:
- Make olive relish: In a bowl, mix olives, shallot, parsley, vinegar, honey, lemon zest, segments and lemon juice. Add black pepper to taste. Set aside. Relish can keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
- Make salmon: In a large skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Season salmon with black pepper and carefully lay in skillet. Sear in hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes; do not move the fish. Flip fish over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- In same skillet, combine remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and garlic and cook over medium heat until garlic is golden brown, about 1 minute. Add white beans with reserved liquid, spinach and black pepper to taste. Stir. Cover pan and cook for 2 minutes.
- To serve, cut salmon pieces in half and arrange over white beans and spinach. Top with olive relish, if using.
CALORIES: 191, PROTEIN 17g, CARBOHYDRATES 16g, FAT 7g
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