Take control of your eating

Many people have situations, times or activities that stimulate eating. These events become paired with eating and in turn, the event itself can make you feel hungry. Consider these examples: You may read the paper every day at breakfast; you may watch television every evening and have a snack; you may always eat when you sit in a certain chair. If eating is paired repeatedly with these events, the events can make you feel like eating. If you sit in your chair, watch TV or read the morning paper, you will feel like eating, irrespective of actual physical hunger.

It is important to separate eating from other activities. This will remove the ability of these activities to stimulate eating, freeing you to respond to actual hunger. There are several ways to make this happen.

1. Do nothing else while eating. The activity will distract you from any awareness of the amount that you are eating. Be totally engaged with the food. Enjoy it. Eat slowly and try to gain some pleasure from eating, rather than mindlessly overeating while your mind is on the TV or paper.
2. Calories should be tasted, not wasted. Many food diaries show people who have eaten half a bag of popcorn, 45 chips or half a bag of nuts, yet they are totally unaware of the amount of calories that are being wasted. They do not truly taste the food. Our stomachs are not large and our taste buds dull quickly, so enjoy small amounts of food. Put snacks in tiny bowls and chew slowly. Be mindful of how much you are eating
3. Follow an eating schedule. You may discover time patterns from your food diaries. If you eat many times each day and if you always feel like eating at those times, a schedule will help. This does not necessarily mean three meals a day at scheduled times, but it does mean finding a schedule of eating that is convenient for you. I find that if people consciously plan the time of their snacks and meals, they are more likely to stick to the right amount of food. They don't get caught up in the day's events and eat whatever. You will eat less this way.
4. Eat in one place. Some people can eat anywhere. They eat standing up, sitting down at the kitchen counter, in an easy chair, lying in bed or driving the car. They eat in the den, living room, bedroom, basement and bathroom. This leads to an excessive amount of mindless calories. Select one place in your home where you will eat. Do all your eating there, but do nothing else. Do not use the place to play chess or pay the bills. This idea is not much different than when we try to practice sleep hygiene, where the bedroom is meant only for sleeping. It's not a place to watch TV, play computer games or do some work on your Blackberry.

Try to create a time and a place for eating every day. This will give you much better control over your choices and amounts of food. Be mindful of what you are eating. Be ‘in the moment'. Try to be very aware of when you reach the point of being ‘satisfied', then stop eating. When we eat in a distracted fashion, we lose all sense of true satiety.

Keep eating simple. You can do it. Just keep on trying. Don't ever give up.

Dr Doug