My Top 5 Emotional Eating Trigger Points

Leave a comment
One of the best ways to combat emotional eating is having a hobby. Knitting has saved me countless times from mindlessly eating.

One of the best ways to combat emotional eating is having a hobby. Knitting has saved me countless times from mindlessly eating.

Up until a year ago, I never thought of myself as an emotional eater. I thought I just overate. Until I did a little experiment when I tracked my food and hunger levels for a week. It was an eye opener.

It didn’t matter if I was hungry, I just ate. Clearly food wasn’t just a source of fuel to power my body. Food (and the types I ate) provided fuel for my emotions.

It took a while, but I identified my top five eating triggers. Knowing your triggers is half the battle.  Having great distractions or hobbies — exercising, cleaning, sewing — are a great way to help you keep mindless eating in check.

Dot’s Top 5 Emotional Eating Triggers

5. Social Eating – I loved hanging out with friends for happy hour and blowing off steam. But I always spent the next day with indigestion and feeling bloated. Once I put two and two together I started limiting alcohol and making better food choices (salad instead of fried mozzarella). Now when meeting friends, I’m more of a teetotaler and keep my healthy portions under control. After all, it’s their company I love, not the food.

4. Stress — I never thought of myself as a stress eater. I always equated stress with activity. Lots of deadlines and not enough time to get it all done. When I’m busy, I skip meals.  What I didn’t factor in was my food choices during those meals I didn’t skip. I always went for comfort foods. It was my way to self-medicate when the pressure was on.  Now that I know stress is a trigger, I try to do other things than eat – go for a walk, knitting, or crank the music and start a dance party with the dogs.

3. Rewards — I think about rewarding myself with frozen custard (hey, it’s low carb) after a great weigh-in. I’m working real heard to undo this one. Lately I’m rewarding my success with fun things that encourage my continued weight loss — a new cookbook, exercise clothes, or a manicure.

2. Watching TV – This one really is part of my number 1 trigger, but it deserves its own write up. I never eat and read. I guess I want my hands clean to flip to the next page. But eating and watching TV seem to go together. Just a few years ago I’d veg out on the couch mindlessly flipping channels and eating slice after slice of pizza. When I started losing weight my viewing time also diminished. I became more active and the TV screamed “couch potato” at me.  When I do sit down in front of the TV, I try to watch something that keeps me on my toes (Sherlock, Walking Dead, Chopped). Like a good book, these shows keep me engaged and not thinking about food.  But if I’m just vegging, that’s a danger zone and I always make sure I have laundry to do.

1. Boredom — If I’m bored out of my mind, I can open and close the refrigerator 20 times an hour. Am I hungry? Nope. It’s just something to do.  Anytime I start feeling bored, I have some go to items to beat it back — books, puzzles, brushing the dogs, car keys (day trips!). There are lots of things to do, and none of them include eating!

Does Your Brain Trick You Into Eating More?

1 Comment
Delboeuf optical illusion is why your brain may sabotage your diet.

Delboeuf optical illusion is why your brain may sabotage your diet.

I keep discovering cool little tidbits in Weight Loss Boss, like the little trick our brains play on us — The Delboeuf Illusion — which causes us to eat more than we realize!

According to the illusion, if you have two dots of equal size but surround one with a circle, the dot in the circle appears bigger.

So how does this work with food? Ever eat at super fancy restaurant that serves over-priced “small” portions? Well, the portions aren’t small…the plates are just large.

Put a piece of food on a large plate, and your eyes will tell you the portion is too small. Put the same food on a small plate and you think the portion is too large. It’s an optical trick our brains play on us.

So if you use the standard 12″ plate at home, most likely you’re eating more than you realize.

A couple of professors put the Delboeuf Illusion to a test by asking people to re-create a “target” serving size of soups in large and small bowls. Because of the optical illusion, people using the smallest dishes served themselves less food by as much as 12% and overestimated how much food they actually ate.

Likewise, those using the largest dishes served 13% more food than intended and underestimated how much they ate.

Even if folks knew about the optical illusion, the results were the same.

This tells me two things:  1) We are hard-wired that way and it’s difficult to overcome, and 2) Eyeballing it doesn’t work! We completely suck at estimating how much we are eating.

I use this guide from diettogo.com to help me remember portion sizes when I go out to eat.

I use this guide from diettogo.com to help me remember portion sizes when I go out to eat.

Tools To Outsmart Your Brain
There are a few things you can do to make sure you eat the right portion each time. 

  • Use Smaller Dishes — The average size of an American dinner plate has increased 23% since 1900!  Most dinner plates in the 1950s were 9″ vs. today’s 12″ feedbag plate. I use 9″ paper plates or my 8.5″ salad plates for our meals.
  • Use Taller Glasses — Apparently there is also another optical trick our brain plays on us, called T-illusion (very cool test at link). We tend to over pour liquids in short, wide glasses and under pour in tall, thin glasses. Even the best bartenders are not immune (good to know!) from the T-illusion.
  • Color Matters — Yep, the color of your plate can cause you to eat more food. Your eyes play a trick on you if your food blends in with the color of your plate: you tend to serve yourself 30% more!
  • Measure, Measure and Measure — Our eyes are horrible at estimating portions. I always keep my measuring cups and spoons nearby. But what about when you eat out?  There’s a great guide to help you — your hand! Check out Diet To Go’s chart showing portion sizes relative to your hand.

The real key to keeping portion control in check — pay attention to what you are eating.

Food Variety: Too Much Of A Good Thing?

2 Comments
Eating my go to breakfast - 2 eggs, 1/2 tomato and 1/4 avocado. This morning I added the left over asparagus and poached my eggs for a twist on my staple morning meal.

What I eat nearly every breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 tomato, 1/4 avocado and a spot of tea. This morning I added the leftover roasted asparagus and poached my eggs for a twist.

Did you know eating the same foods every day for one or two meals means you have a better shot at losing weight?

I came across that little tidbit a few years ago when I read YOU: On A Diet. It’s harder for some people to make smart food decisions when they have too many options. If you know what you are going to eat every day, you’re less likely to eat something unhealthy or have cravings.

At first I resisted the idea…it seemed unrealistic. I mean, variety is the spice of life, right? My variety consisted of eating out, ordering pizza or figuring out what to make at home. The result: I packed on the pounds.

For the last year, I’ve embraced the idea of eating the same thing every day for two of my meals — breakfast and lunch.

June of last year, I settled into a nice routine for breakfast —  2 eggs, 1/2 tomato and 1/4 avocado. Sometimes I might add bacon or another veggie like asparagus into the mix.

When I started weight lifting in October, my trainer gave me lots of suggestions for breakfast to increase my carb count. I felt overwhelmed. After a couple of months I went back to my eggs, tomato and avocado routine.  To give me a boost on days I’m strength training, in the mornings I’ll eat 1/2 cup of steel-cut oatmeal and 1/4 grapefruit.

Both options are pretty simple and only takes me minutes to make each morning, although I usually make the oatmeal the night before (steel-cut oats don’t cook quick). I never have to get up and figure out what to eat. As an added bonus, no points to calculate — I’ve already done the heavy lifting.

For lunch, a salad with protein. It’s a no-brainer and I love it. Sure I change-up the ingredients, but I know what I’m eating.

Dinner is where the magic happens, but within reason. While I normally stick to my weekly menu, I allow for spontaneity like making a healthy curry chicken and cauliflower rice on a whim.

As I start my Paleo Challenge next month, I don’t plan to make changes to my breakfast or lunch  (the oatmeal is a no-no for the challenge) other than organic veggies, cage-free eggs and grass-fed protein.

When it comes to food variety, I guess less really is more.  By limiting my food options I find that I stay on track, don’t miss meals and avoid eating when I’m not hungry.

Do You Have What It Takes To Lose Weight?

1 Comment
Weight loss isn't about will power. It's about having a sense of urgency and believing in yourself.

Weight loss isn’t about will power. It’s about having a sense of urgency and believing in yourself.

I’m reading Weight Loss Boss by David Kirchhoff, CEO of Weight Watchers (review coming soon!) and ran across an interesting factoid about the two common attributes of people who successfully lost weight.

According to Weight Watchers’ own research, regardless of weight loss program, those who were successful:

  1. Had a sense of urgency (weight loss was a top priority)
  2. Believed in themselves and in their ability to stick with their plan

That spoke to me.

I’ve tried losing weight for the last 25 years. My latest weight loss journey is successful because I was in a good place, mentally.

My horrendous physical gave me the sense of urgency I needed (point 1). While I never view fear as a “good place” to be, it was the swift kick in my size 28 pants that I needed.

And once I stopped dieting and focused on changing my life, I knew I’d succeed (point 2). Sure the weight was coming off, but it had done that before — only to come back with abandon. Once I read Why We Get Fat, my path became clear, and I just knew in my shrinking gut that this time I’d drop those hated pounds and finally get healthy.

If you’re trying to lose weight but it’s not a priority (remember, just saying it’s a priority doesn’t make it so), you might lose a few pounds. But, down the road, you’ll find them again and a few of their friends, too. I know I did.

On the other hand, if the urgency is there, you’re less likely to give up in moments of self-doubt. Believing in yourself may take time. It took me about 3 months after my doctor’s visit to find the right tools and plan (low carb variation of Weight Watchers) that gave me the confidence and belief that I could do it.  It really is about finding your groove.

Do you have what it takes to lose weight?

Yeah. You do.

My Weight Watchers Presentation Ignites Passion To Help Others

3 Comments
My little dog and pony show went well at Weight Watchers. I'm looking forward to more speaking opportunities. Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

My Weight Watchers talk last Saturday went great, but something unexpected happened.  It sparked a passion inside of me — helping others take control of their weight loss journey. I absolutely loved sharing the hard lessons I learned over the last two years. The question is, what to do with that passion?

How Did My Speech Go?
Initially, I thought I’d have 5 minutes to recount the lessons learned over the last 2 years. Turns out our leader turned the whole meeting over to me — 60 minutes — to tell my story. I had no problem filling in the details of my outline.  The entire experience lasted 90 minutes — 30 for my presentation, 30 for Q&A, and another 30 for post-meeting questions.

Because it’s the beginning of the year and all that entails (New Year’s resolutions, Weight Watchers membership deals), it was a packed house.

I came with a ‘before’ photo and kept my iPad handy so I could refer to my notes. Surprise surprise, but I didn’t even need the notes. I felt very much at ease in recounting my tale, warts and all.

There were great exchanges during the Q&A period. I’ll posting the questions and my answers in the coming days.

Back to the presentation: there was one question I wish I’d answered differently. Someone asked if I had children. “No, I have a husband,” was my retort. That got a lot of laughs but clearly it was hard for her to relate to my weight loss journey….I mean, I did quit my job to get healthy.

After the meeting (it’s always after!) I realized I should have told her it didn’t matter whether I had kids. If she really wanted to lose weight, then nothing would stop her from doing it. In hindsight I wished I’d followed up with something like:

“I’ve been a Weight Watchers member on and off for 25 years. I use to say things like ‘Yeah, but my job…’ or ‘yeah, but my family…’ Now, I understand those were just excuses because I was afraid of failure. The only thing stopping me from losing weight was me. Kids or no kids, job or no job. I had that epiphany too late in that my health got so bad I had to quit my job.”

Sigh…hindsight is truly 20/20. Well, that’s how you learn. Something to tuck away until next time.

Other than that, I really feel the presentation went well. The response was overwhelmingly positive. A few ladies told me they really liked how I ended it: by stressing the idea of putting your own health first.

New Found Passion
I loved the opportunity to talk at my Weight Watchers meeting and I’d love the opportunity to speak with other groups in the future. The presentation really stirred something in me (and not because I got to talk about myself). The passion to help others with their weight loss started about the time I began this blog. The presentation kicked that passion it into high gear.

This week I’ve found myself looking at nutrition courses at the local college and the criteria to become a personal trainer. Hmmmm….I’m not sure the world is ready for that!

I really love marketing. But the thought of doing the same-old-same-old isn’t appealing. That’s the old me…the fat me.

Maybe this is my midlife crisis. If so, then “woo hoo!” for midlife crises.

Whatever it is, there’s no denying the idea of helping others on their weight loss journey has stirred a passion in me that I haven’t felt in a long time.

A Little Weight Loss Motivation To Kick Off The Week

Leave a comment
dot2trot lifiting weights

Stop waiting to change your life and just do it!

“We live messy lives and those who stop waiting for perfect are the ones who reach their goals.”

— Roni Noone of Roni’s Weigh

This one is going up on my board. There is no spoon such thing as perfect. If I waited for the right time to start changing my life I have no doubt that I’d weigh 350 pounds today.

The time is now!

Oh, Roni’s Weigh is an awesome blog by the way. You should check it out.

Are Family And Friends Supportive Of Your Weight Loss?

1 Comment

weight loss questionsDuring my Weight Watchers presentation, members asked a lot of great questions that I’ll post over the next few days with my responses. The first question has to do with handling family and friends who are not as enthusiastic about your weight loss journey as you.

“How do you deal with unsupportive family and friends?”

I’ve never asked anyone for their support, except for one person and I’ll get to him in a bit. I believe that my health and happiness is my responsibility. I can’t let what others say or do knock me off track. At the end of the day it’s how I feel about myself that’s most important.

Having stated that, I’m pretty lucky that my friends and family support what I’m doing. I get peppered with lots of questions about what I’m eating, how my weight training is going, and what exercises are working. I have friends who offer to workout with me or send me encouraging messages. And that’s just awesome.

Tell Me What You Want. What You Really, Really Want.
My first real challenge came from my husband. Whenever I hit a major weight loss milestone, he always suggested we celebrate by going out to dinner. Really!?!

After much frustration, I finally figured out that’s just his way of showing me how proud he is of my efforts. Before dropping the 94 pounds, it was very common for us to go out and celebrate with frozen custard or a trip to 5 Guys (the most awesome burger ever!). It’s a pavlovian response for both of us.

Then it dawned on me — it’s my responsibility to tell him what type of support I need.

He can’t read my mind and he isn’t going to know what I want unless I tell him. So after figuring out what I wanted, we sat down and had a little chat. I asked him to not suggest food-related celebrations when it came to my weight and come up with other ideas like catching a movie, hiking, bowling or getting me jewelry (hint, hint). He’s been a champ ever since (although I’m still waiting for the jewelry).

Learn To Say Thank You!
One of the support areas my husband is great at is praise.  He’s always telling me how great I look and praising how much weight I’ve lost. Unfortunately one of my weaknesses is accepting praise. I tend to deflect his comments and not say “Thank you.” The more you shut down compliments, the sooner the compliments will stop coming your way. Not a good thing.  Thankfully, my husband ignores my dodges and still praises my weight loss work while I work on being more accepting.

Sometimes You Got To Move On
As for friends, I’ve only had one who wasn’t supportive and at times was down right snarky to me about my efforts. After spending too much time trying to figure out what I needed to do, I told myself, “It’s not my problem. It’s hers.”

If a friend isn’t supportive, you can’t force it. Just accept it and move on. And that’s what I did.

Creating A Weight Loss Kitchen

5 Comments
A disorganized pantry makes it difficult to prepare delicious and healthy foods at home.

A disorganized pantry makes it difficult to prepare delicious and healthy foods at home.

You’ve made your resolution to lose weight and feel inspired to start cooking healthy meals. But if your kitchen is a hot mess, it makes it all the more difficult to break bad food habits. Taking control of your kitchen is a great first step in the battle of the bulge.

That was my situation when I finally had it with my weight 2 years ago. Cooking in my kitchen was annoying. Not enough space. I could never find anything when I needed it. It was so much easier to order pizza…and pack on the pounds. After all, where you store food and how accessible it is really does decide how healthy you eat.

To lose the weight, I needed to take the fight to my kitchen. My plan – create a space without temptations and where I wanted to cook healthy foods.

I pretty much followed these 8 steps to whip my kitchen into shape. That’s not so say I’m perfect. I spent the bulk of last night reorganizing my pantry after the holiday cooking and baking frenzy.  But I’ll post about that tomorrow.

Dot’s Guide To Organizing The Kitchen

Step 1. Take out the trash
Anything in my refrigerator, freezer or pantry past it’s expiration date I tossed. The same for opened boxes of cereal that went stale. This was the hardest part of organizing my kitchen. We’re not supposed to waste anything, right? I mean there are little kids starving in China. Keeping expired food isn’t safe and certainly does nothing for the starving children.

Step 2. Find a new home for unwanted food
I packed up unopened food that was still good into boxes for my local food bank. This included cereal, canned veggies and fruit, sauces, spices, pastas, breads and grains.

Step 3. Create food prep space
It was near impossible for me to cook at home because I had no room to prep my food. Appliances, cookbooks and storage jars filled my limited counter space. It was time to rearrange.  Only those items we used daily sat on the counters – the coffee maker and the knife block. My cookbooks, blender, mixer and bread maker found a home in a pantry.

Step 4. Food storage
I don’t mean cabinets or pantries. Do you have enough containers (with matching lids!) for food prep, leftovers, and to take your lunch to work? Are they clear? Do they store easily (very important)?  Our mismatched food storage got so annoying my husband pitched all of them one morning and then drove me to the Container Store to find stackable storage that suited our needs and small kitchen.

Step 5. Assigning everything a home
Everything in my kitchen has its place. Fruits and vegetables are on the first two shelves of my fridge front and center. Utensils used daily I placed in a jar next to the stove. You’ll find my pots and pans in a cabinet next to the range. The food storage containers are always stacked the same place, as is the canned food and my baking supplies. Any junk food for the husband is banished to the top of our tallest cabinet so I can’t see or reach it.

The key is to organize your kitchen based on how you use it.

Step 6. Plan ahead
I prepare our foods for lunch and dinner ahead of time to save money (not eating out), time (no rushing around), and make sure we’re eating healthy.

Step 7. Portion control the snacks
I stopped buying the 100-calorie snack packs because we don’t eat processed foods and they ain’t cheap.  So I portion our snacks (veggies, nuts and seeds, or fruit) in small snack bags. They’re stored in the fridge or panty for easy access.

Step 8. How many points is that?
Before putting food in the pantry or fridge, I write the Weight Watchers PointsPlus value on the box.  It takes a few minutes but saves time when I’m whipping a meal together.

Once you organize your kitchen, you’ll find it a lot more welcoming in cooking great, healthy meals. Plus it’s a real time-saver when you are rushing to get out the door.

How Yoga Changes Your Body

Leave a comment

Wondered about the benefits of yoga? Does it really eliminate stress? Not sure if it will help you lose weight? What’s all that meditation mumbo-jumbo about anyway? A new study shows how yoga changes your body from day 1. Check out this cool yoga infographic the Huffington Post put together that shows the health benefits over time.

BodyOnYoga

The Great Nut Caper

Leave a comment
I wasn't aware of the danger I was in while dividing my almonds and walnuts into single serving size snack bags.

I wasn’t aware of the danger I was in while dividing my almonds and walnuts into single serving size snack bags.

Today was food prep day. Lots of vegetables and fruit got chopped in preparation for the week. It just makes life easier when whipping up delicious foods. If there’s a weight loss food habit that’s a must, it’s food prepping.

At the grocery store I picked up some walnuts and almonds, about a pound each. Sadly nuts are not on my Simple Start food list. While off-limits to me this week (my last week of the program), my husband can enjoy these terrific, healthy snacks, provided he can stop with one serving.

That’s where my mad food prep skills come in — and a lot of snack-size baggies.

I simply weigh or measure out the nuts per the recommended portion and seal them in a snack bag. Simple, and it ensures a single serving size. Plus, it’s super convenient when he needs to grab something on the go or pack his lunch in the morning.

The amount of nuts I get last for about 3-4 weeks. Not bad for about 10 minutes of my time.

A warning to those of you considering food prep.  I routinely run into a hazard when I break out the chopping board, food scale, measuring cups, food containers and snack bags.

My first hazard likes to sit to my left.

This thief waited in vane for an almond. Patience paid off when a big, juicy strawberry fell.

This thief waited in vain for an almond. Patience paid off when a big, juicy strawberry fell.

The second hazard likes to sit on my right.

Thief No. 2 and the ringleader. She likes to use her cuteness to hypnotize you into tossing her a morsel.

Thief No. 2 and the ringleader. She likes to use her cuteness to hypnotize you into tossing her a morsel.

This time around, they enlisted help. The helper’s job — constantly bat at my head and neck (I sat down during today’s food prep because my leg needed a break).

The thieves came with an enforcer this time. While he loved batting my ponytail, jumping on my shoulder and kneading my back (which was awesome!) he couldn't distract me from my task.

The thieves came with an enforcer this time. While he loved batting my ponytail, jumping on my shoulder and kneading my back (which was awesome!) he couldn’t distract me from my task. Although I spent a lot of time shooing him off the counter and disinfecting.

I’m not sure what they promised their little enforcer, as he hates both thieves (and barely tolerates his humans).

Overall I did good. None of the nuts fell on the floor. However, A rather large strawberry slipped out of my hands. Shadowfax, my little dog, was so fast, the Old English Sheepdog was still laying down before she realized she missed the big prize.

Poor puppy. Maybe next time.