Monday, November 1, 2010
#5 Controlling Emotional Eating
As a psychiatrist who treats adults, I have repeatedly noted that food habits are tough to change, but not impossible. Starting any plan to change your food relationship requires mood stability. The complexity of food and mood, in my opinion, requires emotional stability for successful negotiation with changing food patterns. If emotions are out of control with life stress, there are too many triggers for mindless eating.
Why is food so tricky? The happy hormone of serotonin, known for its calming effect, can be released by eating carbohydrates. So saying “no” to a quick emotional pick me up requires emotional will power. Also, the tongue can be sensitive to texture as well as content. At times, a desire for a crunch needs to be satisfied. So what does this mean for weight control? Reading the FDA’s nutrition facts label on every package is a good starting place.
First, portion size can be a problem. If you wait until you are starving when you eat, managing your portion size will be more difficult. With starvation status, the brain will signal your body to store fat. In storage mode, your body will hold onto your weight as a secure energy source. An easy way to learn portion size is to start by buying a couple of frozen low fat and low calorie entrees from the supermarket. Eat a couple to determine a portion size and then use the container as a guide for your home prepared meals.
Second, start to read the nutritional label on every food item. Look at the serving size on packaged food. Many times you might assume the package contains one serving when it is actually two. For instance, one bottle of soda may be two servings of food. You have to decide if 300 calories is worth it to you for one drink, especially if your total per meal is 500 calories.
Third, once you have determined your correct portion size, then check your low cost calorie fillers. Watch for food with added sugars such as sucrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup and maple syrup. These all can provide added calories without nutritional content. Water is always the best thirst quencher, but if you would like something else like fruit juice or soda, be sure to read the label and decide if it is worth the calories. Also, certain salad dressings can add a lot of unnecessary calories when drenched on a salad.
Fourth, be careful of mindless eating. A Kaiser research study highlighted the importance of writing down daily food consumption and how keeping this written record increases the likelihood of sustaining weight loss. The Food and Drug Administration has created an interactive and multimedia website that has a variety of tools for weight management. A meal planner, tip for the day, and podcasts are some of the resources found on www.mypyramid.gov.
Fifth, input equals output. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness, http://www.fitness.gov/, provides guidance and exercise tools for all ages. Additional exercise tools can be found in the following two websites: www.health.gov/paguidelines/adultguide/default.aspy andhttp://www.presidentschallenge.org/. Eating, eating, and more eating without doing any exercise can promote weight gain. I have observed patients who are prescribed my psychiatric medication successfully lose weight. Common stories of weight lost after sustaining the mood stability required to negotiate emotional eating, portion control, sensible food selection, and physical activity is a frequent observation. Therefore there is hope! Patients can lose weight while taking prescribed psychiatric medication often known for weight gain. It appears that a common thread among these weight loss patients is mood stability and a willingness to change their relationship with food. This is America and anything is possible.
First, portion size can be a problem. If you wait until you are starving when you eat, managing your portion size will be more difficult. With starvation status, the brain will signal your body to store fat. In storage mode, your body will hold onto your weight as a secure energy source. An easy way to learn portion size is to start by buying a couple of frozen low fat and low calorie entrees from the supermarket. Eat a couple to determine a portion size and then use the container as a guide for your home prepared meals.
Second, start to read the nutritional label on every food item. Look at the serving size on packaged food. Many times you might assume the package contains one serving when it is actually two. For instance, one bottle of soda may be two servings of food. You have to decide if 300 calories is worth it to you for one drink, especially if your total per meal is 500 calories.
Third, once you have determined your correct portion size, then check your low cost calorie fillers. Watch for food with added sugars such as sucrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup and maple syrup. These all can provide added calories without nutritional content. Water is always the best thirst quencher, but if you would like something else like fruit juice or soda, be sure to read the label and decide if it is worth the calories. Also, certain salad dressings can add a lot of unnecessary calories when drenched on a salad.
Fourth, be careful of mindless eating. A Kaiser research study highlighted the importance of writing down daily food consumption and how keeping this written record increases the likelihood of sustaining weight loss. The Food and Drug Administration has created an interactive and multimedia website that has a variety of tools for weight management. A meal planner, tip for the day, and podcasts are some of the resources found on www.mypyramid.gov.
Fifth, input equals output. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness, http://www.fitness.gov/, provides guidance and exercise tools for all ages. Additional exercise tools can be found in the following two websites: www.health.gov/paguidelines/adultguide/default.aspy andhttp://www.presidentschallenge.org/. Eating, eating, and more eating without doing any exercise can promote weight gain. I have observed patients who are prescribed my psychiatric medication successfully lose weight. Common stories of weight lost after sustaining the mood stability required to negotiate emotional eating, portion control, sensible food selection, and physical activity is a frequent observation. Therefore there is hope! Patients can lose weight while taking prescribed psychiatric medication often known for weight gain. It appears that a common thread among these weight loss patients is mood stability and a willingness to change their relationship with food. This is America and anything is possible.