STRATEGIES TO AVOID MINDLESS EATING

This is part 3 of our Emotional Eating series by One2One Coach, Karen Dion.

 

                                 

1.    Take a few minutes before eating to breathe and check in with how you are feeling.

Ask yourself if you are really hungry.  If you’re not, distract or distance yourself from food. If you are, ask yourself what would nourish you best.

With physical hunger, you have many food preferences, but they are flexible.

If you are craving a particular food, it is likely that you aren’t experiencing true hunger.

2.      Eat purposefully, without distractions (tv, internet, driving).  Eat at the dining room table, sitting down. Take a few moments before beginning to eat to give thanks and feel gratitude for the food you are about to eat.
Studies show people eat over 40% more when watching tv.
 
3.      Eat slowly.  Put your fork down between bites, and pause for a couple of minutes mid-meal. Aim for 25-30 chews for each mouthful. Chew and swallow each bite fully before taking another bite.
It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to register fullness.

4.      Practice recognizing  physical “fullness”-              

Pour yourself a 20-ounce glass of water, drink half, and concentrate on what it feels like in your stomach. Then drink the other half. Notice the difference.

The water stretches the stomach and you feel full.

5.      People tend to eat what they see.  Hide the treats and put out the fruit bowl.  Cut up veggies and put them in handy and attractive containers that are easy to grab out of the fridge.                                                         

Research from Cornell University shows that we are three times more likely to eat the first thing we see, compared with the fifth thing we see.                                                                                                 

6.      Visual cues are very important.  Use smaller plates/bowls/cups. Re-bag large quantities into serving size portions.   Studies show the bigger the plate is, the more people serve, up to 25-28% more. 
In one test, 168 moviegoers who had just finished dinner were given fresh or stale popcorn from different-size containers. People ate 34% to 45% more popcorn if it was served in "extra-super-size ginormous buckets" than in regular large containers -- even if the popcorn was stale.

In another test, he found that people pour about 37% more liquid in short, wide glasses than in tall, skinny ones of the same volume.
 
7.      Get enough sleep. 
Columbia University researchers found that sleep deprivation can also lead to more calories consumed. They found that women who only got 4 hours sleep the night before ate 329 more calories in a nine-hour period compared with if they weren't sleep deprived, while men ate 263 more calories when sleep deprived