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9 Easy Ways To Eat Less

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As the holiday season goes into full swing, here’s some helpful tips:

  1. Fill your plate once, whether it’s from a buffet or just from the stove top.  That’s it.  No seconds – and double-decking isn’t such a great idea, either.
  2. Use the smallest plates, bowls, and glasses you can to help you feel full even when you’re eating less. The smaller the plate the less food that can go on it. You probably won’t even know the difference because your eyes and brain are registering full plate. According to the CDC, a study looked at how adults reacted to four different portion sizes of macaroni and cheese given to them on different days. The larger the portion, the more people ate, eating 30% more when they were given the largest portion compared to the smallest one, yet they ranked their hunger and fullness similarly after both meals.  Only 45% noticed that there were differences in the size of the portions they were served.  The same optical illusion applies to glasses.  Choose taller ones instead of shorter fat ones to help cut down on liquid calories.
  3. Keep the serving bowls off of the table.  Put food on your plate and then sit down to eat it.  Serve reasonable portions on individual plates instead of helping yourself out of bowls on the table. According to an article in the May 2011 Nutrition Action Healthletter, when serving dishes are left on the table men eat 29% more and women 10% more than if those serving dishes stay on the counter.
  4. Leftovers lead to overeating so make only what you need. If you do cook enough for multiple meals pack up the extras and put them away immediately. Avoid eating the little bits of leftovers in the pots – those calories really add up – as do all of those tastes while you’re cooking and preparing.  Do enough nibbling and tasting and you come close to eating two meals.
  5. Distractions equal mindless eating. Excess calories and the size of the package your food comes in influence how much you eat. The larger the package, the more you tend to eat from it.  If you have a bag of chips in your lap as you watch TV or surf the net you don’t even realize how much you’re eating – and, in many cases, don’t gauge whether you’re full of not – so you keep eating.  If you do watch TV or work at the computer while you’re eating, don’t eat straight from the package.  Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller portions. Put it in a bowl or on a plate.
  6. Don’t eat off of your kid’s plate, your spouse’s plate, or your friend’s plate.  The calories from someone else’s plate still count – and are oh so easy to forget about.
  7. Hide the stuff that tempts you.  Out of sight, out of mind is really true. We all tend to eat more when it’s right in front of us.  Food we like triggers cravings and eating.  So, keep the veggies in the front of the fridge and the rice pudding in the back.  Get rid of the candy dish and the stash of pop tarts in your desk drawer. If you buy jumbo size packages, put the excess somewhere inconvenient so you’ll have to work to get at it.
  8. Don’t feel obliged to eat out of courtesy – even if you don’t want the food or you’re full – just because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.  Get over it – the calories are going into your mouth, not theirs.  If someone really hounds you about trying something you can always claim an allergy or that you’re eating heart healthy (claiming an upset stomach might buy you an early exit or other guests avoiding you like the plague).
  9. Pick your dining companions carefully. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine seems to indicate that if you’re struggling with your weight, there is a good chance that your friends and family are, too. You also tend to mimic your table companions.  If they eat fast, you eat fast – if they eat a lot, you eat a lot. In his book, Mindless Eating, Brian Wansink, PhD cites a study that shows how strong the tendency is to increase the amount you eat when you eat with others.  Compared to eating alone, you eat on average:
  • 35% more if you eat with one other person
  • 75% more with four at the table
  • 96% more with a group of seven or more.

 

Are You Using The Holidays As An Excuse To (Over)Eat?

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Gotta have the Christmas cookies, the candied yams, the stuffing with pecans, both pumpkin and pecan pies, the peanut brittle, eggnog, and whatever else your particular holiday, culture, and family traditions dictate.

Really???

Ask yourself why.  Are your groaning table and edible holiday delights really because of tradition – or, in part, an excuse to surround yourself with the food you love and want to eat?

There is nothing wrong with tradition and wanting to share your memories and love through food.

Are Holidays An Excuse To (Over)Eat?

The big question to ask yourself is:  am I really sharing/holding to tradition and memories of the season – or am I using the holidays as an excuse to make and eat a whole lot of food that I really would prefer not to eat – or eat in such quantity?

Most people who know me also know that I bake really good Christmas cookies – for a lot of events, not just Christmas.  I baked them for a party for my son’s July wedding (not a Christmas tree in sight) and as I brought them out there was a chorus of “Christmas cookies” from his friends who have eaten them many times before.  Didn’t matter that it was July.  The recipe was the same, they tasted the same, and they came from my kitchen.

What’s my point?  I love baking these cookies, and I love sharing them.  There are a whole host of emotions wrapped around these cookies.

I also know that I love eating them.  Have I ever used an occasion as an excuse to bake them – even though things would have been fine without the cookies?  You bet I have.

Why?  I love those cookies.  I love to eat them.  I love to eat the dough (I’m really not endorsing that – It’s a bad habit and the dough does have raw egg in it).

The bottom line is that I end up eating hundreds of calories – delicious, but not healthy ones – that I certainly don’t need.  And, even though I’m sharing what I consider to be “a little bit of love from my kitchen,” I still, very frequently, use the holiday or the event as an excuse.

Some Helpful Hints

I’m certainly not advocating giving up baking Christmas cookies or whatever your specialty or tradition is.  What I am suggesting is that you ask yourself the reason for doing so.  Recognize and be mindful of your reasons.

  • If you do make your specialty – plan for it.  Make it and then keep it out of sight (out of mind).  Eat it with everyone else – not in a constant stream of tasting and little snatches from the fridge or cupboard.
  • Store your amazing food out of sight and, hopefully, out of mind.  Far away, too.  Usually if we have to work to get food it may take some of the desire out of it.  So store the food in the basement or someplace out of the kitchen.
  • Leftovers?  Send them home with your family and friends.  I’ve fed lots of college dorms and offices with my leftovers.  Freeze them and store them in the back of the freezer where you can’t see them (although I can attest that frozen Christmas cookies are great – my sons once ate a whole container of them out of my downstairs freezer without my knowing about it.  Had to bake another batch before Christmas dinner.)

Traditions are important and food is nurturing.  Traditions, family, and holidays can also be stressful.  Cook away if that’s your pleasure. Just ask yourself if you are using holidays, traditions, guests, and family as excuses to (over)eat. 

Free Food Is Hard To Resist (And A Caloric Nightmare)

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Morning meeting.  Right in front of you: platter loaded with bagels, danish, and doughnuts parked next to giant coffee urns.  A freebie breakfast and the beginning of a blood sugar roller coaster ride.

No worries if you miss the morning carb fest – if all the platters aren’t picked clean the remnants will surely end up in the snack room next to the birthday cake (it’s always somebody’s birthday) or the leftover cookies from someone’s party the night before.

Costco on the weekend.  There are at least three tables manned by people offering you samples of hot pizza, luscious cheesecake, or tooth-picked pigs ‘n blankets.   Just the right size to quickly and neatly pop into your mouth – especially when you circle back for seconds.

Errands. Stops at the cleaners, the tailors, the veterinarian, the hair salon.  On the desk or counter:  giant bowls piled high with freebie candy.  You can dig deep for the kind you like – Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, mini Snickers, Tootsie Roll pops.  You name it — it’s usually there for the taking.

Party or wedding.  How do you escape the platters of salami, cheese, mini quiches, and then the desserts covered with icing, whipped cream, and powdered sugar?

What’s The Problem With Free Food?

Not a thing if you don’t care about calories, nutrition, and how you’ll feel after an overload of sugar, fat, and salt.  Tons of “starving” students and young (and not so young) adults have chowed down on ample quantities of free food.  Here’s the question:  are full bellies with no impact on the wallet ultimately the best choice?

Occasional dips into free food are probably not going to hurt anyone in reasonable health.  But, on a consistent basis, there is certainly a downside to your health.  There could me a more immediate concern, too.  A whole bunch of non-nutritious (junk, processed, and high calorie) food eaten right before a time when intense concentration and focus is necessary (translation:  exams and presentations) could certainly have a negative impact.

Why Do We Find Free Food So Attractive?

Most of us find it pretty darn hard to ignore “free food,” the food that’s just there for the taking. It’s everywhere – and we’ve become accustomed to valuing cheap calories.  Think about it:  when was the last time you resisted the peanuts, pretzels, or popcorn sitting on the bar counter?  What about the breadbasket – that’s usually free, too.

We don’t have to eat any of this stuff.  But we do.  Why?  Some of us have trouble passing up a giveaway regardless of what it is.  Some see it as a way to save money – despite possible negative health consequences.  And a lot of us use “free” as an excuse or sanction to eat or overeat sweet, salty, fatty junk food.

And the calories?  Free doesn’t mean calorie free.  But it’s all too easy to forget about those calories you popped in your mouth as you snagged candy here and tasted a cookie there.  Yikes.  You could eat a day’s worth of calories cruising through a couple of markets and food stores.

Before The Freebies Land In Your Mouth

How about creating your own mental checklist that, with practice, can help you figure out whether or not it’s worth it to indulge.  Even f you decide to go for it and taste the salami, butter cookies, and cheese cake, at least you’ll have made a mindful decision rather than mindlessly shoving food in your mouth.

Ask yourself:  Is the food you’re so willing to pop in your mouth . . .

  • fresh and tasty, with some nutrition?  It might be if you’re at a wedding or an event, but the odds go down if it’s food handed out at the supermarket or grabbed out of a large bowl at the cleaners.
  • clean?  How many fingers have been in the bowl of peanuts or have grabbed pieces of cheese or cookies off of an open platter?
  • something you really want – or are you eating it just because it’s there?
  • loaded with fat, sugar, and salt that adds up to mega calories?  Every calorie counts whether it’s popped in your mouth and gone in the blink of an eye or savored more slowly and eaten with utensils off of a plate.

Choices, Choices

Just because food is free doesn’t mean you have to eat it. No one is forcing you.  Beware of the cascading effect:  if you let yourself sample the candy, pizza, cheesecake, popcorn, or cookies, perhaps you’re giving yourself permission to continue to overindulge in food you probably don’t want to/shouldn’t be eating.

Highly caloric, sugary, and fatty foods can act as the key to opening the flood gates that cause you to continue to indulge for the rest of the day (weekend/week). Loading up on simple sugars – the kind found in candy, cookies, cake, and many processed foods – causes your blood sugar level to spike and then to drop –leaving you hungry very quickly and pretty darn cranky — and isn’t great for your waistline, either.

Want To Burn More Calories? Stand Up!

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Stand up.

If you can, do it as much as possible.

According to Stand Up (more) & Eat (better), The Cooper Institute’s blog, you burn 33% more calories by standing instead of sitting.

What are you waiting for?

 

 

Is Your Workplace A Food Landmine?

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Your workplace can be a major food landmine when you’re trying to eat well.

We spend a lot of hours at work — whether that means time at the office, at home, in the car, on an airplane, in a hotel, in a retail store, or anywhere else you conduct your business.  The challenges are enormous — especially in the face of ever-present food – a good deal of which is carb and fat loaded – and an environment which can range from fast paced, stressful, and overwhelming to boring or downright exhausting.

Using Food To Cope, Manage, And Procrastinate

All of this can push you into using food as a means of coping, procrastinating, or looking for energy to ward off fatigue.

  • Try to identify what you usually do when you’re stressed, tired, or angry.  If your usual action is to grab a cookie or candy bar try to manage your stress without the reward foods. Instead of turning to a high-calorie, high-fat trigger foods to calm your nerves or as a reward, try some healthy, stress-relieving practices like deep breathing and meditation — and make them your default.
  • Make a deal with yourself to work some activity into your workday.  Instead of using eating as an excuse to take a break, make taking a short walk – even if it’s around your office or to another floor — an essential part of your day. The quick walk will get you out of the immediate environment, let you blow off some steam, and burn an extra calorie or two. If you travel, walk in the airport rather than plopping yourself down in the food court or bar.
  • If you eat out or order take out for any of your meals, scout out the restaurants, delis, salad bars – or even your own workplace lunchroom.  Identify the meal choices that are the best for you and make them your “go-tos” so you’re not caught in the trap of being starving or too busy to care when you order.   Have you ever been so hungry that you throw your best laid plans out the window and end up eating a whole pizza followed by a piece of chocolate cake?
  • If you plan your route to work to intentionally pass your favorite coffee shop with the absolute best blueberry muffins — or find yourself using the rest room on the next floor because you have to walk by the vending machine with peanut M&Ms — think about changing your route.   Don’t taunt yourself with temptation. Do some thinking and planning.  If you’re going to have a snack, plan for it –  know what you’re going to eat and stick to your choice.  Contemplating your choices while standing in front of a bakery display or vending machine filled with candy or salty treats is a sure fire recipe for caving in.  Don’t deny yourself food – just make it good food.
  • It’s always someone’s birthday — or it’s a holiday — or someone has brought in leftovers from their kid’s party  or a recipe that you just have to taste.  By the way, the reason they probably brought in the leftovers is because they don’t want them hanging around their house tempting them.  Have a strategy for the inevitable food fest of leftover cake, pizza, and bagels. Perhaps allow yourself a once or twice a week treat.  Just don’t make the snack room a routine place to visit to scrounge for the leftover cake.
  • Install your own personal policy for bowl dipping —  you know – the dipping into the candy bowl at the receptionist’s desk, the jelly beans on your partner’s desk, the chocolates on the counter. Use whatever reason you have to – maybe think about all of the other hands – and where those hands have been – that are also dipping into the same bowl.
  • If your desk drawer filled with reward food that stares at you every time you open the drawer, aren’t you tempting fate?  See it — eat it.   Need I say more?