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eating strategies

Do Football And Food Have Equal Footing On Super Bowl Sunday?

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Did you know that the first Super Bowl was in January 1967?  Although not an official holiday, Super Bowl Sunday certainly has assumed the trappings of one — both in the US and in many expat communities.  The Super Bowl broadcast is the most watched annual television program in the US and Super Bowl Sunday ranks second (Thanksgiving is first) as the day for most food consumption. Over 20 million Americans attend Super Bowl parties and half of all Americans say they would rather go to a Super Bowl party than to a New Year’s Eve party.

Game Time Food Is Everywhere

Think of all the hand to mouth munching on chips, dips, and wings; a swig or two or three; a cookie here and there.  And then there’s the “real food” at halftime – or maybe there was pizza first followed by a selection of subs. By the end of the game do you have a clue about how much – or even what — you have popped into your mouth?

You may – or may not – be riveted to the TV screen rooting hard for your team, but you may also be going along for the ride – happy to be at a party where there’s plenty of food and shouting and enthusiasm – a classic set-up for mindless and distracted eating which often happens when there is no “structure” and a lack planning and when you give into “head hunger” as opposed to actual physical hunger.

Regardless of how or how much you eat, it’s amazing how food has become associated with the day — from tailgating to the food for the game – and how inescapable the assault is on your senses from the TV, online and print advertising, and from the markets and bars trying to tantalize you with their “food for the game.”.  Many people just give in to the notion of eating all through the game – with an attitude of “it’s Super Bowl and I’m going to eat what I want” and they don’t give a hoot about quantity, quality, or calories.

That’s fine if that’s your choice.  Some lighter eating days before and after will probably take care of the extra calories. But, if you don’t want to overeat or eat overly caloric food there are plenty of good and tasty choices.  You can do just fine if you have a plan and don’t get sidetracked by the array of very caloric and usually very fatty foods.

Check back:  the next two posts will have some fascinating Super Bowl food facts and some alternative lighter calorie choices for your game day pleasure.

Buffet Table Woes? Keep Your Back To The Table

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Whether it’s a fancy catered affair or pizza, wings, and cold cuts laid out on the kitchen and coffee tables on game day, why give yourself extra opportunities to shovel chips and dip or salami and cheese into your mouth all night long? You’re human, so stay out of hand-to-mouth range – and don’t stare at the delicious stuff, either. You’re far less likely to mindlessly eat if you have to leave a conversation and walk across the room to get to the food.

Keeping your back to the table is one of the easiest strategies to use.  We often eat with out eyes – if we see something delicious, we want to eat it.  So, don’t look at it.  Keep your back to the tempting food as you’re having conversations or watching the game.

Hors d’oeuvres can really sucker punch you, too.  They’re small, but the calories really add up. Make up your mind how many you’ll eat ahead of time or you’ll have shoved down a thousand calories before you know it. Pick the ones you love and avoid the ones you don’t.  Why sacrifice your calories for something you don’t love?  Try to keep a mental count because when you’re talking and drinking it’s far too easy to grab from each passing tray.

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

Slow Down You Eat Way Too Fast

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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

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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

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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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