It's Been A While

After a long break from blogging I'm baaaaaaack!  It's time to get to work.

Lately I'm feeling the winter blues.  The snow keeps coming, the temperature outside keeps falling and the sky keeps teasing me with the every so often ray of sunlight.  My belly is aching for some fanciful summer foods, but alas all I have are Girl Scout cookies and kid friendly dinners.  It's time to spark it up a notch!

With winter in high gear and fresh produce hard to come by I'm having a hard time getting those rich cravings satisfied.  Instead of indulging on what I really want I've eaten half a sleeve of thin mints... OK more than half, but who's counting?  In an effort to curb this behavior I want to get back to enjoying food - not just making my kids bellies happy, but my own.  Here is a  recipe I'd love to try.

Round 1:  MOOD FOOD - OMEGA 3
Seared Salmon with Avocado, Shrimp an Mango Salsa

Recipe here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/seared-salmon-with-avocado-shrimp-mango-salsa-10000000549784/

We are Not Alone!

Emotional eating isn’t just for adults.  Many children have experienced emotional eating as well.  As adults we often forget what its like to be a child.  We forget that because we no longer find a situation stressful doesn’t mean that a child won’t find the situation to be traumatic.

Just like adults, children can connect both positive and negative emotions with eating.  For example, a child who is given a treat for a job well done may associate positive emotions or outcomes with food.  A child who is given a cookie after crying may learn that cookies will comfort them when they are sad. 

If you have children of your own or work with children, encourage them to talk about their emotions.  Explain to them the differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger.  For example, physical hunger comes on gradually while emotional hunger feels urgent.  You can satisfy physical hunger with most any foods; with emotional hunger cravings can rule. 

Emotional eating can be learned at a very young age and be is very hard to unlearn.   It is important that we teach children how to control emotions and eating habits associated with emotions.

For ideas that help and hinder check out this website - http://www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/healthy-habits/HelpAndHinderPhrases.pdf

Relaaaaax!

Reducing your daily stresses should help to eliminate some of the negative emotional triggers that make you want to nosh away the day.  Here are a few relaxation techniques to try out. 

Autogenic relaxation

The word autogenic means produced from within or self-generating.  This type of relaxation is done by repeating words or suggestions to your body.  You can, with practice learn to control breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat and body temperature. 

Progressive muscle relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that uses the process of tensing and relaxing muscles.  The act of tensing and relaxing allows you to understand how your body feels when tense and how your body should feel when relaxed.  Through this realization you will learn how to reduce muscle tension.

Visualization

Your imagination is key to this stress buster.  Visualization relaxation is similar to daydreaming, but with added self-conscious control of your “dream”.  The idea is that your personal visualization will bring about a calm and relaxing feeling. 

A few other ideas:

•    Exercise regularly
•   Get plenty of sleep
•   Reach out to family and friends
•  Pamper yourself -  Get a massage

To learn more about the benefits of relaxation check this out: 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/relaxation-technique/SR00007

Survey says:

Q.  How many women in an Internet survey done by Roger Gould, M.D., how many of the 17,000 failed dieters claimed that they relapsed while dieting?

A.  Nearly all of them!

Roger Gould, M.D. is a UCLA psychiatrist who penned the book Shrink Yourself and started the online program related to the book and his beliefs regarding emotional eating. 

Q.  According to Brian Wansink, Ph.D., what percentage of the 1,000 people surveyed turned to comfort foods when were happy?

A. 86%

Q.  Of those same people studies how man turned to food when they wanted a reward?

A. 74%

Q.  Again, of those same 1,000 people surveyed how many turned to food when depressed, bored or lonely?

A. Depressed – 39%

     Bored – 52%

     Lonely – 39%

Brian wansink, Ph.D., is the author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think and directs he Cornell Food and Brand Lab.  Check out his website for lots of great information http://mindlesseating.org/index.php. 

If interested in information on strategies to help with emotional eating check out this article:  http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-plans/emotional-eating-0707-2

Foods to Relax

Eating certain foods can lower stress and get you to relax a little!  Here are two to get you started.

CRUNCH!

-         Pistachios are loaded with vitamin E, many antioxidants and B vitamins all of which will help your body stay steady and strong during difficult times.  In a study done by the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State the found that, “…a heart-healthy diet including pistachios contributes to the decrease in the serum oxidized-LDL concentration through cholesterol-lowering and may provide an added benefit as a result of the antioxidants the pistachios contain.”

SLURP!

They always say milk does a body good!  In an investigation reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine high intake of calcium and vitamin D might reduce the risk of PMS.  Hallelujah, poor me another! 

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20357077

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/165/11/1246?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=milk%2C+pms&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

What’s there to do about it?

By now, you should, through reading the earlier blog posts, know that we are all at some point emotional eaters.  What’s there to do about it?  Here are a few things that may help.

1)  Clean out the junk!

As always, it’s a good idea to do a little “spring cleaning”.  At some point we all accumulate impulse purchases of unhealthy food.  Take a look around the kitchen and get rid of any sort of temptations.

2)   Keep a food journal

It can be very helpful to keep both an emotional and food journal.  Take a few days out of the week and one weekend day to keep tabs on your food intake and how it relates to emotions.  If you have a short memory, like myself, it is helpful to right down your food when you are eating.  Think about how you are feeling when or right before eating.  Are you happy, stressed, tired or content?  It may be also be helpful to go back at the end of the day and recap your food intake and your emotions.

3)   Graph

Ok, you don’t actually have to make a graph, but it’s a good idea to review your food journal to see if you find common connections between food and emotions. One of my readers commented that they like greasy/oily foods when stressed.  I on the other hand go for the sweets - rocky road ice cream! 

4)   Substitute

Now that you know you are a salt addict or sugar addict during emotional times you can begin to find substitutes for those unhealthy cravings.  For example, when I’ve had a bad day and am craving something sweet and naughty like ice cream, I treat myself to orange juice.  I know it doesn’t sound as fun, but I get the the sweet, sugar that I would and to me juice is an indulgent treat! 

Next week I’ll give you some foods to consume to try to alleviate some of the stress in your life.  Until then, happy eating!

Still Not Convinced?

Still not convinced we are all emotional eaters?  You may be thinking that emotional eating isn’t a problem for you because your of normal weight or maybe even underweight. 

In Eating Behaviors, a peer-reviewed scientific journal intersting research information was published on the different emotional eating styles of overweight, underweight and normal weight individuals.  In a short, it was noted that those considered overweight ate more when they experienced negative emotions such as sadness, boredom and anger.  While the underweight group ate less during those same emotional feelings. This led researches to believe this may be in fact why this group is underweight.  The underweight group reported eating more during positive situations or situations such as partaking in a hobby, falling in love or hearing good news.  

You can find the full article here: http://www.sciencedirect.com.er.lib.k-state.edu/science/article/pii/S1471015302001009

Are You an Emotional Eater Quiz: 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/food-mood/quiz-emotional-eater/questions.aspx