Manage Your Weight

Slow Down You Eat Way Too Fast

January 13, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Do you wolf your food down so quickly that it’s gone before you realize you’ve eaten it all – and then you’re still hungry and staring at an empty plate?

Mothers around the world often say the same thing: slow down and chew your food. Well, what do you know, there’s something to it.
According to an article in the New York Times, studies show that people who eat quickly eat more calories than they would if they ate a bit more slowly. The people who ate more slowly also felt fuller.
A recent study showed that hormones that give you feelings of fullness, or satiety, are more pronounced when people eat slowly. Subjects given identical servings of ice cream released more of these hormones when they ate it in 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes.
It leads to eating less, too. According to an article published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association people who ate at a slow pace compared to when they chowed down very quickly said they were fuller and ending up eating about 10 percent fewer calories.

An analysis of surveys completed by 3287 adults (1122 men, 2165 women), ages 30-69, concluded that eating until they’re full and eating quickly are associated with being overweight and that these combined behaviors might have a significant impact on being overweight.

Twenty Minutes Or Less

Research has shown that Americans start and finish their meals — and clear the table — in less than 20 minutes. A study published in the journal Appetite, found that people eating lunch by themselves in a fast food restaurant finish in 11 minutes. They finish in13 minutes in a workplace cafeteria and in 28 minutes at a moderately priced restaurant. Eating with three other people takes about twice as long – which can still end up being a really short chunk of time.

Once again, Moms are right – slow down when you eat. (Doesn’t that often go with don’t grab?) Slowing down allows you and your brain to register a feeling of fullness and may even mean that you eat fewer calories. You might even have time to really taste and enjoy your food, too.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

Practice Makes Perfect (Or At Least Good)– Especially With Habits

January 12, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

What gets you to Carnegie Hall? Practice. What makes your new healthy behaviors stick? Practice.

If you’ve resolved to form new healthy habits, ones you want to keep and that fit in with your lifestyle, you need to keep repeating those new behaviors over and over again. It’s like learning a language or a new game. You need to keep practicing.

Why? Our brains are lazy. They like to default to what’s easy for them – and usually that’s an old habit (both good ones and bad ones). That default is what takes the least amount of energy and it’s nice and comfortable. Doing something that’s very familiar can be done without much thinking or energy — like eating a certain thing everyday at the same time or going for a daily run at the same time and on the same route.

The way to create a new habit and to make it “stick” is to create a new “default” pattern to replace an old one. That requires the repetitive practice of doing the same behavior over and over again – like creating a path through grass or weeds by walking on it day after day.

Some Additional Tips

You might like to try one change at a time instead of making too many resolutions or setting too many goals. Create one new habit and then begin to work on another. Since our brains are, in a sense, kind of lazy, they don’t like too much disruption or change at a time. They’re used to doing something one way, so pick one change at a time and create a habit around it.

Be committed and willing to work on your goal(s). Decide if you’re really willing to make change(s) in your life. Are you serious or half-hearted about what you want to do? “Kinda,” “sorta” goals give you “kinda,” “sorta” results. Realistic, achievable goals produce realistic results.

Start Small And Specific. So many of us are guilty of all-or-nothing thinking and overly ambitious goals. Guess what happens? We shoot ourselves in our collective feet and call ourselves failures. Do it often enough and a “no can do” attitude gets solidly embedded. Make resolutions you think you can keep. If, for example, your aim is to exercise more frequently, schedule three or four days a week at the gym instead of seven. If you would like to eat healthier, try replacing dessert with something else you enjoy, like fruit or yogurt or a very small portion of a favorite indulgence — instead of seeing your diet as a form of punishment.

Unhealthy behaviors develop over time. Creating healthy behaviors to replace those unhealthy ones also requires time. Be patient. And practice.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

Mindless Bites: They Pack On The Pounds

January 11, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Are you having a bit of trouble getting your pants to close – or maybe it’s difficult to zip up your jacket?

In part you can blame those mindless bites – those “shove it in your mouth without thinking about it” bites. Oh come on, most of us — at one time or another — have:

Snagged some candy from the bowl on a co-worker’s desk

Made the last bit of leftovers from the pot disappear into our mouths

Spooned up generous samples of cookie dough batter and followed that up with licking the beaters

Finished the crust off of a kid’s grilled cheese sandwich

Sampled handfuls of bar food while having a drink

Liberally sampled the free “want to try” foods while shopping

Had “just a taste” of a friend’s or partner’s dessert

Gobbled up the freebie cookies or candy that arrives with the restaurant check.

The Twenty-Five

Here’s the big problem. Each of those mindless bites adds up to — on average — 25 calories (sometimes more, sometimes less). And, because they’re mindless, unless you religiously write down each oneas soon as you eat it, you forget about it and its calories. Since mindless bites are quick pops into your mouth, you don’t even have a chance to savor them and they probably don’t even register as food.

Do the math. If those bites average out at about 25 calories, four mindless bites a day above and beyond your daily calorie needs means possibly gaining slightly less than a pound a month (it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound — and yes, you need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound). Ouch!

What To Do

So, be aware of what you’re eating – especially when you’re not really eating a meal. Start keeping track of when and where you’re most likely to indulge in mindless bites. You’d be surprised at how much you shove down your hatch while you’re walking, talking, socializing, working, watching games, and driving.

Awareness is the first step but writing down what you eat – as soon as you eat it – presents you with a record that’s hard to refute.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

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Are You Serious About Your Goal Or Resolution — Or Is It More “Sorta-Maybe”?

January 10, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

If it’s sorta-maybe I’ll try to do XYZ, you aren’t alone. People flunk resolutions 101 for two main reasons:

they aren’t really serious or clear about what they want to do but have caved into either inner pressure or external pressure from family/peers/friends, or
what they’ve decided to do isn’t too realistic because it’s too overly ambitious or just will not fit into day to day life (no, you cannot lose 20 pounds in a week and keep it off).

What You Can Do To Increase Your Chances Of Success

Fuzzy ideas lead to fuzzy results. So get clear about what it is you want to do and the time frame you’re giving yourself.

On the other hand, be realistic. Boxing yourself into a corner by swearing you’ll never eat chocolate again is just setting your self up for failure. Your goal is not a closed-ended-not-to-be deviated-from deal. Make a list of what you think you can realistically do – and then choose your tactic.

Forget the negative stuff, too. Isn’t there enough negativity? Pick a positive goal, a positive end-point, and reinforce that in your brain. Try starting with “I will” rather than “I won’t.”

Are You Committed?

Are you committed to working on your goal? A goal is just a plan without results if you’re not committed to working on it.

Once you’ve figured out what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, and the time frame within which it will be accomplished, map it out and write it all down. Writing it – and it doesn’t matter whether it’s written online or on a napkin, reinforces your commitment and makes it harder to lie to yourself.

You’ll end up having a realistic goal with an accomplishable plan that you can achieve within a specific time frame. Commit to carrying out your plan and you’re well on your way.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

It’s Time To “Cleanse” Your Cupboards, Your Fridge, And Your Desk Drawer

January 9, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

What kind of food do you have hanging around? Are there leftovers from the holidays, a random piece of birthday cake, frozen pigs in blankets you bought for possible guests, a bag of mini chocolate chips in case you decide to bake some cookies. Do you really need the gigantic box of cereal from Costco or the two extra jars of peanut butter that were on sale? Do you have some mini candy bars tucked in the corner of your desk?

Hey, we’re all guilty of storing food in preparation for the onslaught of visitors or the next blackout. The problem is that the extra food is not conducive to managing your weight. Why? Because usually if we see it, we eat it.

Take a look in your fridge, your cupboards, and your desk and kitchen drawers. What’s in there? Why did you buy it and when? Do you really need it – or does it call your name when you really don’t want to indulge in those extra calories but can’t escape the allure of the food at hand.

Tip of the day:

You might want think about what prompts you to buy extra or large quantities of food that tempts you and that you really don’t need to eat. Knowing why you buy is key to developing some good shopping habits. Doing a “cleanse” of cupboards, the fridge, and drawers by getting rid of what tempts you is a good way to prevent hundreds of excess calories from making their way into your mouth. Remember: See It = Eat It.

Do you fall into any of these food purchasing categories?

Bargain shopping: getting the largest amount of food for your money by buying a dozen of what’s on sale or two of the gigantic size at Costco? Who ends up eating the excess?
Getting the most calories for your money and the biggest bang for your buck. Is it a bargain if it tempts you to eat the excess?
Buying special or celebratory food because it’s someone’s birthday, or Thanksgiving, or Easter, or your kid’s team is coming over. Do you really buy it because of company or because the event has given you an excuse to buy – and indulge – in what you ordinarily wouldn’t?
Buying food you’ve always wanted to try and or on the spur of the moment because you happened to see it in the store. Then you get the food home find out that your family really hates it. So you eat it – all of it.
What about the product of the moment – which might fall into any number of categories. It could be trendy, the latest low-fat wonder, or the cake mix your neighbor said was so good. Maybe it’s good, maybe not – but who ends up eating it?
Then there’s the diet foods: the low or no fat, low or no sugar, fiber rich, reduced calorie bars and cookies you bought in an endless quest for the miracle food that won’t pack on the pounds. Guess what – they still have a whole bunch of calories.
The convenience foods – the stuff, probably already prepared and/or processed, frozen, or take-out — that you grab when you are totally exhausted or exasperated and you want to get the food on the table and not have anyone complain about it. They’re often high calorie and not too nutritious – and come in multi-sized portions.
Here’s the big one: the reward foods — the “I’ve had such a tough day” or “I’ve been so good all day” food that almost always packs a whopper of a sugar, fat, and caloric punch.They’re also the foods that, because of the sugar, fat, and salt, keep you coming back for more.

Sometimes there is a time and place for food from any of these categories. But, if you want to develop healthy weight management habits, think about your current habits and patterns and take action.