Understanding Your Eating

Analyze Your Relationship with Food

• Comfort: You might use food as a means of soothing yourself when you are feeling lonely, sad, or stressed.
• Guilt: The media or your friends or family may make you feel guilty about eating certain foods. Even if you avoid those foods in public, you might indulge in private.
• Boredom: When faced with a boring task or long hours of empty time, you might feel tempted to break up the monotony by having a snack.

Monitor Your Eating Habits

• Eating when you’re unhappy: This can signal that you’re eating for emotional rather than physical reasons.
• Eating oversized portions: If you eat supersized portions regularly, you are flooding your body with calories it doesn’t need.
• Eating lots of one food group (such as meat) and little of another (such as fruit): Your body works most efficiently when it is consuming many types of foods. Limiting certain foods will lead to more cravings and cause you to consume more calories.
• Drinking lots of alcohol and/or non-diet soda: Alcohol and soda are packed with calories and make weight loss difficult.
• Letting five hours or more pass between meals: Starving yourself during the day leads to gorging when you finally do eat. It’s better to eat balanced meals throughout the day.
• Eating once an hour or more: This can signal unconscious eating, in which you eat almost without realizing it.
• Eating meals of significantly different sizes: Your body works best when you eat regularly sized meals throughout the day. It is also much easier to keep track of how much you’re eating if you eat meals of similar sizes.
• Overeating when you’re in certain places or with certain people: When you find yourself in these situations, simply be more mindful of what you’re eating. Do not avoid these people or places. That would just make you feel deprived.

Tips for Controlling Your Eating

• Shop smart: Make a grocery list before you go shopping, and don’t buy anything that isn’t on your list. Having a list will help you ignore the tempting goodies that will interfere with your weight loss plan. Never go shopping when you’re hungry.
• Decrease portions: If you control the portion size of the foods you bring into your home, you’re less likely to pig out. For instance, you could buy small containers of ice cream rather than gallons, and single-serving bags of chips rather than family-sized.
• Plan: Plan your meals and snacks through the day, rather than just eating when the mood strikes you. This will help you avoid unconscious eating.
• Don’t skip: Don’t skip meals. If you wait until you’re famished to eat, you’ll probably overeat. Instead, eat three reasonably sized meals and two to three snacks per day.
• Add variety: Eat several different foods at each meal and snack, rather than a lot of one food. Instead of a big bowl of cereal, for example, mix a smaller amount of cereal with fresh fruit. Variety will keep you interested in the food you’re eating and help you get all the nutrients you need.
• Use a plate: Don’t eat directly from the bag, box, or carton. Always put your food in a bowl or on a plate. This will keep you mindful of the size of the portions you’re eating.
• Eat slowly: It takes your body up to 20 minutes to realize it’s full. If you eat quickly, you may end up overeating, since you’ll think that you’re still hungry. Also, eating slowly helps you enjoy the taste and texture of the food.
• Eating out: If you know you’re going to eat out, you might want to work out for a little longer that day, or eat less at lunch. However, don’t go to the restaurant starving, because you might overeat. If bread is served before the meal, skip it or have half a piece. Order sauces and dressing on the side, if possible. Opt for menu items that are steamed, poached, boiled, broiled, or grilled. Rather than finish your entire entrée, stop eating when you’re full and ask for a doggie bag. Skip dessert or share one with your dining companion.