We are now half-way through our series on the Top 4 Excuses For Being Overweight. So far, we’ve tackled two of the biggies. Let’s look back to see what we have learned so far.

• I Eat Because I’m Bored – The reason why people who have weight problems gravitate immediately to thoughts of food when they are bored is because they have trained themselves to look to food as the answer to their every whim.
• I Eat Because I Like The Taste Of Food  – You eat because you are motivated by food’s sheer yumminess. People who can’t seem to resist the intoxicating draw of food need to look at food as their drug of choice.

If you suffer from either of these excuses, I encourage you to look back at the first two posts in this series. If you would like to dive deeper into the “why” behind your food struggles, check out my book, Find Your Weigh.

I Eat Because I Am Stressed

Stress is an inevitable byproduct of being human. We all face situations and circumstances that are beyond our control, yet our modern-day society can trick us into thinking that we should be in control at all times.  Although technology makes many life tasks easier, it also makes us feel like we should have our act together all the time! You may be saying, yep that’s me…I eat because I am stressed!

So, how does all this stress affect our weight? One common defense mechanism is the fight or flight mode. This is the tendency to either stand up to your problems and responsibilities or run from them. All of us cope with stress differently. Some of us stand up to the problem, look it squarely in the eye and deal with it without another thought. Others of us find it difficult to process stressful events, which triggers the flight response.

And where does the stress eater run? Yep, straight to food. Food provides immediate satisfaction because it stimulates the pleasure sensors in our brains and, most importantly, it doesn’t talk back.

Food provides immediate satisfaction, it stimulates our pleasure sensors and it doesn’t talk back.
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But, while it may not talk out loud, it can wreak serious havoc on your metabolism. How does stress affect our metabolism?

Studies have shown that hormones play a role in elevating the desire to eat foods containing carbohydrates during prolonged periods of stress. When our brains receive stimuli that indicate a period of stress on the body, they respond by releasing cortisol, a hormone whose primary function is to raise blood sugar and promote the metabolism of carbohydrates, protein and fat. In response to higher blood sugar levels, the pancreas releases extra insulin, which has the effect of lowering blood sugar rather quickly. This, in turn, causes a craving for foods rich in carbohydrates – e.g., comfort foods.

Source: Mind Over Matter: Effects Of Stress On Metabolism

Solutions To Stress Eating

1. Do Not Allow Yourself To Become Hungry

Hunger itself produces stress. Hunger is your body’s way of signaling that your fuel tank is empty and needs refilling. Actually, the physiological feelings of hunger can closely resemble our physiological response to stress: irritability, inability to think clearly and light-headedness. Now, pair the natural feelings of hunger with a stressful situation and you have the perfect breeding ground for poor food choices.

It helps to take hunger out of the picture. Make sure you plan healthy, satisfying snacks to be eaten throughout the day at 2-to-3-hour intervals. Make sure that these snacks are rich in fiber and protein and low in sugar. Anyone who has read many of my posts will know that I highly recommend nuts as a go-to snack because they satisfy hunger and they consist of healthy fats. If your body is well-satisfied, you will have more energy and attention to focus on the element of stress.

2. Recognize Your Physiological Triggers To Stress

All of us react differently to stress. For some, stress can interfere with one’s concentration(reading over the same page multiple times), others may notice a slight tremor in their hands and still others react by becoming increasingly agitated or easily provoked.

If you are a stress eater, it will help you greatly to pinpoint and identify your trigger.  Then, you can equip yourself to deal with the stress in positive ways that don’t involve food.

3. Predetermine An Activity That You Will Perform When You Notice The Triggers

Ok, you know your trigger, now what? You need to predetermine a calming action. It can seem counterproductive to take a time-out when you are stressed with too much to do. However, performing a calming action gives you the focused opportunity to acknowledge your stress and deal with it proactively.

Here are some possible calming activities (several of these can also be performed simultaneously).

• Remove yourself from your location. Walk around the block or the office. (Physical exercise releases feel-good endorphins).
• Take some deep breaths.
• Recite a favorite poem or verse.
• Listen to a song.
• Flip through a slideshow of your favorite pictures.
• Chew a piece of peppermint/spearmint gum.
• Journal your immediate thoughts or frustrations.
• Repeat a memorized affirmation.
• Call and vent to your spouse or friend. (Preferably someone who is not involved with the situation. They can provide perspective. Note: do not go to the same friend repeatedly as this can wear them out.)
• Table the stressful activity, if possible, to allow yourself time to reflect and brainstorm an effective resolution.

Now, in terms of stress eating, here is the key. You must vow to yourself that you will not resort to food before you have performed a calming activity.

vow to yourself that you will not resort to food before you have performed a calming activity
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Wait to eat until you are no longer experiencing the physiological trigger. This will help to reinforce the habit of mindful eating. Reducing stress will not only help you bring your weight in check; it will also enhance your outlook and relationships.

Have you been following along with this series? Have you successfully integrated any of the solutions so far? If so, I would love to hear from you. It would be a great encouragement!

~ Shellie

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(This post first published in May, 2015)

The post Stress Eating | I Eat Because I Am Stressed appeared first on Shellie Bowdoin | The FABulous Journey.

In this series we have talked about three excuses for overeating:

1.       I Am Bored.

2.       I Like The Taste Of Food.

3.       I Am Stressed Out.

But, there is one more that should not be overlooked.

Top Four Excuses – I Eat Because The Food Is There

Did you grow up hearing your mom say, “Eat all of the food on your plate”?  The compulsion to eat food just because it’s there often comes from a good place. We know that there are people in the world who never know where their next meal is coming from. So, the thought of wasting or passing up on food becomes a moral conflict.

the thought of wasting or passing up on food becomes a moral conflict.
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It’s amazing how much emotion is wrapped up in our food choices.

Too often we serve up our food based on long-held assumptions of what our body needs to be satisfied. The truth is that our body often needs far less than we think it does.

The truth is that our body often needs far less than we think it does.
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Actually, portion sizes have steadily increased over the last twenty years. What we now perceive as a normal portion is considerably more than we should be eating. In other words, the amount your mom may have encouraged you to eat has morphed into considerably more food at each sitting.

Average portion sizes have grown so much over the past 20 years that sometimes the plate arrives and there’s enough food for two or even three people on it. Growing portion sizes are changing what Americans think of as a “normal” portion at home too. We call it portion distortion.

Check out these examples of how larger portions lead to increased calories:

 

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/eat-right/distortion.htm

Mindful eating is essential for fighting the compulsion to eat food just because it’s there. You need to know how much you are going to eat before you take the first bite. This will keep you from putting more on your plate than you should eat in one sitting.

Solutions For Eating Just Because The Food Is There And How To Move On To Lose The Weight For Good

1. You have to learn what appropriate serving sizes actually look like.

This graphic from Women’s Day provides some very helpful visual comparisons. Print this off and refer to it regularly until you have memorized the appropriate serving sizes.

www.womensday.com

2.    During the first several weeks, plan to eat half the amount you normally eat.

Initially, your stomach will still be accustomed to larger amounts of food.

3.     Learn to read food labels.

Snack foods are often packaged in bags with multiple servings.

4.     Avoid anything that is labeled Supersized.

5.     Eat from a smaller sized plate plate.

Realize that the amount you eat or don’t eat will not provide any additional food for the children in Africa or those starving in many of our urban centers. If it is really a conscience issue for you, then consider doing something proactively to feed the poor. Donate your time and/or money to charitable pursuits. Skip a few tempting restaurant meals, especially when you are first trying to develop a weight loss mindset, and give that money to feed those who don’t have food.

Skip a few tempting restaurant meals and give that money to feed those who don’t have food.
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I hope this series has helped you to look your excuses straight in the eye and take charge of your own food choices.

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I Like The Taste Of Food

We are currently moving through a series addressing the top four excuses for being overweight. Last week, I took a little detour to attend to some other responsibilities. But now, I’m back and ready to tackle another excuse that is consistently given for overeating.

Before we move into our next excuse, let’s review an important point raised at the beginning of this series. Weight and overeating are usually symptoms of something else. As such, merely tackling the weight symptom through different diets and weight loss scenarios may work temporarily, but unless you get to the cause you will most likely regain the weight and often more. You can look back at my post on the problem with focusing only on the weight.

Let’s move on to the second top excuse for being overweight…I like the taste of food.

For some of us, there really isn’t a deep down, emotional issue that we can pin our eating on. We could sit in front of a therapist and pour out our hearts, but in the end we would find out that we eat because we are motivated by food’s sheer yumminess.

So, what in the world do you do with this?

First of all, people who can’t seem to resist the intoxicating draw of food need to look at food as their drug of choice. Just as the alcoholic craves his liquor and the drug addict craves her fix, so the food addict craves food.

Experiments in animals and humans show that, for some people, the same reward and pleasure centers of the brain that are triggered by addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin are also activated by food, especially highly palatable foods. Highly palatable foods are foods rich in: Sugar, Fat and Salt.

Like addictive drugs, highly palatable foods trigger feel-good brainchemicals such as dopamine. Once people experience pleasure associated with increased dopamine transmission in the brain’s reward pathway from eating certain foods, they quickly feel the need to eat again.

The reward signals from highly palatable foods may override other signals of fullness and satisfaction. As a result, people keep eating, even when they’re not hungry.

People who show signs of food addiction may also develop a tolerance to food. They eat more and more, only to find that food satisfies them less and less.

Source: WebMd

The over-eater who is totally motivated by taste likely has no off switch and seldom gets to the point of feeling full. However, unlike with alcohol and drugs that have the inherent power to derail a person’s life or end it, the food addict is all-too-aware that an extra candy bar is unlikely to leave him passed out on the bathroom floor. Consequently, while food addiction operates on the same premise, it doesn’t always yield the same life-shattering consequences. Of course, I am speaking in rather broad generalities. For the morbidly obese person, the threat to life comes much more into focus, but that is another subject entirely.

My own overeating tendencies definitely fall into the boredom/food-tastes-good category. This is good news for you because I have established workable, mindful eating practices that address these two specific triggers for overeating.

Solutions To Break The Yummy Food Eating Cycle And Move On To Lose The Weight For Good

1. Acknowledge That You Have A Self Control Problem

Why is it important to acknowledge that you have no self control? Largely, because of the tendency to pass blame, rather than taking personal responsibility for our actions. Actually,

when you say that a food was just too good to resist you, in essence, shift the blame from yourself
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 to the food. In so doing, you view your actions and food choices externally or separate from yourself…the food was so yummy, it made me eat it.

I often mention journaling as an effective tool for conquering our food issues and for establishing a weight loss mindset. Set a prolonged period of time, I suggest 50 days, to

write down your thoughts, expectations and self-talk about food.
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This will give you a truer picture of how your mind works and reacts to food.

2. Learn To Differentiate Those Times When Food Is For Fuel and When It Is For Entertainment

I examined the Fuel vs. Entertainment Dilemma in an earlier post. Here is the gist of how I facilitate a weight loss mindset:

Before a meal, I ask myself, “Is this for fuel or entertainment? ” If the answer is fuel, then I stick to the basics, which means making food choices that will satisfy my hunger without adding a lot of excess fat or calories.

However, if I am out with family or friends and the answer is entertainment, then I allow myself extended grace to eat richer options (still keeping portion size in mind) and enjoy the event. – Entertainment Vs.Fuel Dilemma With Food

This weight loss mindset does not shut the door on all yummy food. Instead, it allows for opportunities to enjoy food for it’s yumminess value on certain occasions. Establishing an everyday habit of eating for fuel allows you to bank a calorie deficit to make up for entertainment eating.

Now, before you do the happy dance and take this as an all-express pass to eat yourself crazy when it’s for entertainment, remember that mindful eating has to become a lifestyle regardless of the type of food you are eating.

3. Establish The Habit Of Portioning Out Your Food Before You Eat It

We have already established that the overeater inspired by the taste of food typically runs low in the self-control category. As such, ridding one’s kitchen of every tidbit of delicious food is likely to backfire in the long-run. Why? Because you are motivated and inspired by the taste of food! It is more realistic to develop the mindful eating habit of pre-portioning your food before ever taking a bite. 

For example, you are dying for a Snickers bar. Yes, the healthiest option would be to say no to Snickers bars forever, from this point on. However, a more realistic approach would be to half the candy bar, put the rest away and sit down to mindfully enjoy the chocolate.

Pre-portioning means:

1. Never eating directly from the bag.
2. Never expecting to eat a whole entree at a typical dining establishment.
3. Counting out a specific number of snack items (I count out almonds and potato chips!).
4. Knowing the visual equivalents for commonly eaten foods (Ex. 1/2 cup of rice is comparable to a rounded handful).
5. Removing your plate from the table once your portion is consumed.

Here’s wishing you the best in your weight journey. Initially, these behavior modifications are difficult, but they eventually do become second nature. Set your focus for your desired future and get started!

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I Eat Because I am Bored.

We all know the drill. You’re sitting down in the living room watching a television program or surfing the web when your mind suddenly drifts to food. So, you get up from your chair and head off in the direction of the kitchen to meet the immediate need.

This is a very typical pattern for a lot of us. One of the most common excuses for being overweight is – I eat because I am bored. Initially, this excuse sounds plausible until you consider the myriad of activities you can engage in when bored.

• Go for a walk.
• Call, text or tweet a friend.
• Read a book.
• Clean something.
• Organize something.
• Research an upcoming vacation.
• Paint your nails.
• Wash the car.
• Paint or draw a picture.
• Give yourself a facial.
• Look through your closet for new wardrobe combinations.

Ok, you get the point. I just listed 10 activities that do not involve food in any way. The reason why people who have weight problems gravitate immediately to thoughts of food when they are bored is because they have trained themselves to look to food as the answer to their every whim.

bored eaters look to food as their primary source of entertainment.
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This goes back to the entertainment vs. fuel dilemma. Basically, bored eaters look to food as their primary source of entertainment. Consequently, when they feel even the slightest twinge of dissatisfaction with an activity or when they allow their mind to wander, it immediately goes to food. Why, because food is seen only in terms of its entertainment value, rather than a necessary source of fuel for the body.

Solutions To Break The Bored-Eating Cycle And Move On To Lose Weight For Good.

Short Circuit The Immediate Eat Response

You have to initiate a weight loss mindset and a pattern of mindful eating. First, institute a pause and question time between the thought and the response. When the thought of food comes to mind, ask yourself a series of questions.

1. Am I really hungry or just bored?
2. When is the last time I ate?
3. Am I experiencing any physical sensations of hunger (stomach growling, head ache)?

If your first answer is boredom, you need to predetermine some activities that you can engage in when you feel the temptation to eat; particularly those that keep you away from the kitchen.

It is also important to consider when you ate last. It is reasonable to feel some hunger if you have not eaten for 3 or more hours, especially when you are first weaning yourself from the bored-eat response.

If it has been several hours, then you can allow yourself to have a nutritious, measured snack. Remember, experiencing intense physical sensations of hunger is counterproductive for establishing a new positive mindset and healthy patterns with food.

Stop Looking To Food As A Source Of Entertainment

Yes, there are times when food is and should be a wonderful source of entertainment and community, but it should not be every time you put something in your mouth. Most likely, when you eat out of boredom, you gravitate immediately to junk foods or sweets because they appeal to the pleasure centers in the brain. In other words, you are looking for something to stimulate you.

Here is where it is extremely helpful to find some activity that distracts you and captivates your attention away from thoughts of food. Can you think of an activity that interests you? It takes a while to wean yourself from the emotional hunger response and it helps immensely to have something else to devote your energy to besides food.

find some activity that distracts you and captivates your attention away from thoughts of food.
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If you devote yourself to this activity for a prolonged period of several weeks, every time you feel the boredom coming on, you will find that the emotional hunger response will become less and less intense as you slowly train your body.

Drink A Full Glass Of Water

Finally, keep a large glass on your kitchen counter. Anytime you feel bored, go into the kitchen, fill the glass with water and drink it all. Sometimes, you are experiencing a physiological need, but it is often thirst, rather than actual hunger.

Remember when you were little and you would look up at your mom and say , “I’m bored.” What would she say in response? My mother would always say, “You better go find something to do or I’ll give you something to keep you busy.” So, now we’re all adults, but it doesn’t mean we have learned that lesson.

Even if you go into the kitchen to eat an entire bag of chips, if you were really bored before, you’ll be just as bored when you return to your previous activity.

Now, it’s time to find something to keep you busy and stimulated without adding food to the equation.

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The post Top Four Excuses For Being Overweight – I Am Bored appeared first on Shellie Bowdoin | The FABulous Journey.

I have heard it and I have said it so many times, “I’ve got to go on a diet to get this weight off!” If I could just find that right diet; that right food combination, then I could finally rid myself of the weight. I think what I was, and so many of us are still, missing is the fact that the weight and overeating are really only a symptom of something else. 

Problem With Focusing Only On The Symptom Of Weight

Let me share an example from my past to help bring this idea of addressing the symptom rather than the cause into sharper focus.  About ten years ago, I went through quite an ordeal before finally being diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia. Prior to my diagnosis, I was incrementally losing my desire and motivation to do activities I typically enjoyed. Yet, nothing in me signaled that something was amiss. I just settled in and accepted my new routine.

The turning point came when I began losing my hair. Of course we all experience hair fall on a daily basis, but I was soon noticing the sink fill every time I fixed my hair; not to mention the hair I was cleaning out of the tub drain. Now, THIS new scenario had my full attention! I guess I can give a shout-out to vanity at this point. I was losing my hair and a lot of it and this was not OK. Of course, I did what we all do in cases like this; I went straight to my computer and typed in hair loss.

I should mention something very important at this stage.

One might think that I coupled the terms fatigue and hair loss in my search; however, at the time I did not even remotely associate the two symptoms. After a thorough search I settled on a dermatologist as my first line of attack for dealing with my hair loss. This misstep would result in 6 more months of hair loss and worsening fatigue because the dermatologists had no idea what was wrong with me.

By this point I had lost about forty percent of my hair and I was becoming increasingly worried and discouraged. Then, I made the pivotal decision to give a general practitioner a try; which proved to be the right one.

Unlike the dermatologists who focused immediately on the symptom of hair loss, the general practitioner sat me down and asked me a serious of probing questions about all facets of my life. Only then did it come out that I was also experiencing hair loss and extreme fatigue. He then zeroed in on iron deficiency as a possible cause for these symptoms and I eventually came back from virtually zero iron storage.

I was so concerned with the hair loss that I put all of my energy into finding a cure for it. But all those hair loss creams and pills did absolutely nothing to stop my hair from falling out. Why, because my hair loss was only a symptom of a bigger problem. The problem with focusing only on the symptom of weight is that we tend to overlook the circumstances that cause us to overeat.

We hate to think that our problem is about more than food.

I know, I know…we don’t want to think that it goes deeper and a lot of us really don’t connect with things that we perceive as too touchy-feely. But, unfortunately it’s time for some tough love.

…if you can’t control the food that you place in your mouth, for whatever reason, then you have a problem that goes deeper than the food itself.

Are there people who have medical conditions that make it difficult to control their weight? Yes, there are some. Do some people have a genetic predisposition to carry more weight or a slower metabolism that has existed since early childhood? Yes, undoubtedly this is the case for a small percentage of people.

that leaves the rest of us armed with our excuses.
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Ok, so then that leaves the rest of us armed with our excuses. I was the same way, so I know exactly what you’re thinking. I have counted 10 separate occasions in my past where I dieted and lost at least 25 pounds, up to 40 pounds, on a diet. Each and every time I told myself that would be the last time and each time I reverted back to the same old excuses and habits.

So, I am launching into a new series. Over the next four weeks I will tackle the top four excuses for being overweight and how to move on with action steps specifically targeted for each of these excuses. These steps will focus on mindful eating and will help you develop a weight loss mindset in order to lose weight for good.

Top 4 Excuses For Being Overweight

1.      I Eat Because I’m Bored

2.      I Eat Because I Just Like The Taste Of Food

3.      I Eat Because I’m Stressed

4.      I Eat Because The Food Is There

I would love to hear your thoughts on these four excuses. Which one is your biggest excuse? I would be so appreciative if you would comment or send me a private message. I would love to use some of your experiences in this blog (of course, your privacy is always my utmost concern) without using your name.

As always, I want to encourage you that weight loss over 40 is attainable, just as it is for any other age. Come back next week and we’ll launch into our first excuse!

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~ Shellie

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