Stress and/or Binge Eating

Perhaps you don’t even know you are stress/binge eating until you have finished or are well into the moment. Here are some tips to assist you in stopping Stress/Binge eating.

• Have fewer “treats” around the house/kitchen
• Bake less
• Wait 15-20 min to eat – drink a cup of water-the urge may pass
• If something’s bothering you exercise first
• Keep a journal of what you eat and drink everyday
• Don’t bring any junk food into the home
• Sit down to eat

When you do Over Eat…

• Find healthy choices to have available in the future
• Do not buy more of the culprit binge item so it is not available to you during the next weak moment.
• Please take me for a walk. Don't binge eat again.
• Ask yourself why did this happen? What can I change?
• Don’t dwell on it. Move on. It’s done. It’s not about where you have been; but, about where you are going.
• Exercise more and eat a little less the next day.
• Change your routine to avoid this in the future.
• Engage in a new activity or hobby. You will eat less when your mind is on a new hobby.

Each day set a nutrtional goal and a physical activity goal. We all must have a goal before we can accomplish it. Stay Healthy.

Curbing Your Sweet Tooth

Are you beginning to have a hard time with the weight loss? It’s hard to help anyone lose weight if they start their day off with sugar of any kind. And so many people start their day off with sugars. Once one begins the day with sugar…the addiction begins. Every 2-3 hours they will find themselves having to feed the withdrawal symptoms of coming down from their sugar high. One might pick up a pretzel here, sip a soda or a coffee with sugar added to it, eat a peppermint, nibble on chocolate, eat popcorn, etc….until another 2-3 hours occurs again and they’ll either have a meal with more simple carbohydrates (breads, pastas, white rice, soups, crackers, etc) or simple sugars in it to calm down the withdrawal symptoms. And then the cycle repeats. Sound familiar?

I have randomly picked 4 patient charts and I thought I would share with you what their reported breakfasts are:

Chart #1 Frosted mini wheats and orange juice

Chart #2 Instant Oatmeal with raisins, cranberry juice

Chart #3 Starbucks Latte and cookie

Chart #4 Orange Juice, 2 pieces of toast, dried apricots

Do you see a trend here? There is no protein and each breakfast is loaded with sugars. If kids eat this…come 0930 or 10am they aren’t concentrating on a math problem…they are looking to where they can get 10 pieces of gum, a candy bar, soda, or a friend to give them a treat…as they are having withdrawal symptoms which are so strong they can’t concentrate…until the withdrawal symptom is resolved. Same with adults. In our office building, if you go to the vending machines from 3pm-5pm…people do not need dinner. They need to feed their withdrawal from sugar symptoms so they can get back to work and concentrate. The key is do NOT start your day off with sugar. Sugar of any kind. That includes artificial sweetners too! Yes, the blue, pink and yellow packets do not help.

Ask yourself this: Did the people in the world lose weight or gain weight after diet drinks and artificial sweeteners came about? We definitely haven’t gotten any smaller. The reason is, it is not the calories we crave-it’s the taste we crave. If we start our day off with coffee and a colored packet…the sweet taste is turned on and the addiction cycle begins.

So what is a good breakfast? I’ll keep it simple. Each meal should have lean protein and 2 colors (fruits and/or vegetables). Some examples of heart healthy breakfast would consist of apple and celery slices with all natural peanut butter, handful of healthy nuts (walnuts, almonds and pecans) with fruits and/or vegetables, egg whites with fruits and or vegetables, cooked oatmeal (instant is high in sugar-stay away from instant oatmeal) and then add handful of healthy nuts and 2 colors (blueberries, strawberries, apples, peaches, etc), left over meat from the night before with fruits and/or vegetables are all healthy breakfasts. If you need to sweetened a food item – use cinnamon- it helps to reduce your blood sugar levels by assisting your own cells in being more sensitive to your own insulin.

Remember, if you look down at your plate and you do not have lean protein and “2 colors” you are not eating to feed your organs; but, you are eating for pleasure. Feed your organs first and remember, do not begin your day and your most important meal with sugar….breakfast will set your pace for the day.

To those of you trying to lose weight: Keep at it and avoid the sugars. The first 10-14 days will be difficult as your body will be reseting to it’s new normal blood sugar levels. Once this occurs…the sugars will no longer dictate when you eat, nibble or snack…instead you will be back in charge of your body and your health.