Combat Holiday Overeating!

By Michelle May, M.D. from http://www.amihungry.com/

Excerpt: Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle

I love the holidays. For weeks, our family has been planning for the significant meals we'll share. We're each assigned to bring the traditional dishes we've become known for-and with our large family, there's always plenty. During the blessing my uncle always gives thanks for the food that nourishes our bodies. Then the nourishment begins!

I know these types of gatherings take place all over the world, year after year. The comments are as traditional as the food. "Honey, this is the best turkey you've ever made. Please pass the potatoes and gravy again." "I can't eat another bite or I swear I'll explode." "Alright, just a little sliver of pie then." After dinner people are sprawled out in front of the television, occasionally groaning or dozing off.

As much I love these special occasions, I now know that there's an invisible line that I can cross if I'm not mindful. That line separates a great celebration with wonderful food from an afternoon of discomfort and regret. I constantly remind myself I live in a land of abundance where turkey and potatoes areavailable year round and food will always taste good. So why eat until I'm miserable? Why not enjoy the event and still feel good when it's over?
When you live in a land of abundance, deciding how much food you need to eat is critical for lifelong weight management and health. As importantly, when you eat the perfect amount of food, you'll feel satisfied--just right!

Just Right

Think for a moment about how you feel when you're satisfied. If you're mindful, you'll notice that as you become full, the flavor of the food goes from fabulous to just OK and it gets harder to give food and eating your full attention. You are content, fulfilled, and happy. You feel light and energetic and ready for your next activity.
When you eat more than you need, you'll feel unnecessarily uncomfortable, sleepy and sluggish. Eating too much causes you to feel low energy so you may not want to be active. Of course your body will have no choice but to store the excess as fat. It can also lead to feeling guilty which often leads to even more overeating.

So what can you do to prevent overeating - and what should you do when it happens anyway?

Prevention is the Best Medicine

Before you start eating, decide how full you want to be when you're done. It's fine to decide you want to be stuffed, as long as you've thought about the consequences.
Estimate how much food you'll need to eat to reach that level of fullness. Prepare, serve, or order only as much as you think you'll need; if you were served too much, move the extra food aside.
Before you start eating, visually or physically divide the food in half to create a "speed bump."
Eat mindfully and check your fullness level when you hit that speed bump in the middle of eating, at the end of your meal, and again 20-30 minutes later.

If your goal is to feel satisfied and comfortable, it will help to move away from the table or move the food away from you to signal that you're done as soon as you are get even close.

Am I Full?

Some questions you might want to ask yourself to help you determine how full you are:
How does my stomach feel? Can I feel the food? Is there any discomfort or pain? Does my stomach full, stretched, full orbloated?
How does my body feel? Do I feel comfortable and content? Do my clothes feel tight? Is there any nausea or heart burn?Do I feel short of breath?
How is my energy level? Do I feel energetic and ready for the next activity? Or am I sleepy, sluggish, tired or lethargic?
What do I feel like doing now?
If you've overeaten, sit quietly for a few moments and become completely aware of how you feel. Don't beat yourself up; just focus on the sensations so you'll remember them the next time you're tempted to overeat. You may be less likely to repeat the mistake if you think through the consequences first.

Don't Miss the Lesson

When you realize you've eaten too much, ask yourself, "Why did it happen?" and "What could I do differently next time?" Turn your mistake into a learning experience.

There are a lot of reasons people eat past the point of satisfaction: habits, learned behaviors, past dieting, and mindless eating. For example: "It was a special occasion." You're more likely to overeat if you only give yourself permission to eat enjoyable foods on special occasions. You don't need an excuse to have a wonderful meal-so why use a special occasion as a reason to overeat? Ask yourself, "If this occasion is so special, why would I want to eat untilI feel miserable?"

Here are some of the other holiday triggers you'll learn how to handle in chapter 7 of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat:

I felt obligated.It tasted good so I just kept eating.I wanted to taste everything.I was afraid I wouldn't get that food again.I saved the best for last.I ate food I didn't enjoy.I wasn't paying attention as I ate.I ate too fast.I mindlessly picked at the leftovers.I had too much on my plate.I was keeping up with someone else.I wanted to get my money's worth.I hate to let food go to waste.

I Ate Too Much! Now What?

Even people who eat instinctively sometimes overeat. However, although they may feel regretful and uncomfortable, they don't typically feel guilty. They don't think, "Well, I've already blown it; I might as well keep eating then start my diet tomorrow." Instead, they just listen to their body and return to eating instinctively by allowing hunger to drive their next cycle. By listening to your body's wisdom, you can compensate for occasional overeating.

After you overeat, wait and see when you get hungry again. Rather than continuing to eat out of guilt or by the clock, listen to your body. It probably won't need food as soon so you may not be hungry for your usual snack or even your next meal.

When you get hungry again, ask yourself, "What do I want?" and "What do I need?" Don't punish yourself or try to compensate for overeating by restricting yourself. If you try to make yourself eat foods you don't really want, you'll feel deprived and fuel your eat-repent-repeat cycle. Trust and respect what your body tells you because it's likely that it will naturally seek balance, variety, and moderation. You might notice that you're hungry for something small or something light-maybe a bowl of soup or cereal, a piece of fruit or a salad.

Lastly, don't use exercise to punish yourself for overeating; instead be active all the time and use the fuel you consume to live a full and satisfying life.

YES! JOIN A BOOT CAMP! :)

Don't Wait!

Your health and fitness is NOT something you should wait to start on (like "after the holidays" or "after the new years") it is something you start on IMMEDIATELY and for every day the rest of your life....

Start small, even, and pick one thing that you feel you could improve upon. This could be something like not eating less than two hours before bed time, cutting out fried and high fattening foods, limiting alcoholic beverages.

The worst thing you can do is be all "gung ho" and tell yourself you are going to exercise for 2 hours every day and not eat anything unhealthy. When you go to that holiday party, enjoy a small dessert or a glass of red wine. Do the best you can to get about 30-45 minutes of exercise 3-4 times per week (at least to start off with) instead of trying to commit yourself to 20 hours a week in the gym. Not giving yourself any breaks will, most likely, cause you to get frustrated and lose site of your goals.

Being accoutnable is very important. Find an activity partner or a small group class where the instructor and other members of the class will know if you're not there. Boot Camp U offers small class with lots of personal attention and most of the time, the trainers will send an email or give you a call when you miss to see if everything is OK.

Check out the Boot Camp U website for more info on classes and locations

Great Hike with BootCamp U and down a few more lbs.

Lost another 3.5 pounds this week....Also we had a great time with Boot Camp U and my family...We all had a blast.

What IS this 24 Day Challenge???

Ok, so this is kind of a review but I wanted to lay out exactly what the 24-Day Advocare Challenge consists of.

Well, the 24 Day Challenge consists of a 10 day cleanse where you rid your body of toxins and prepare your body to take in nutrients. With the cleanse, you increase your bioavailiblity which is your body's ability to absorb nutrients. You maximize everything you put in your body after that point.

Then comes the "Lean in 13" program. This is a 13-day PROVEN program that will cause you to burn stubborn body fat and more importantly, increase your metabolism from that point forward. This is a program AdvoCare distributors have been using to help themselves and their clients get the fastest results possible, while increasing overall health at the same time. The cost of the program is simply the cost of your supplements. The eating plan and coaching is FREE!

The supplements are the foundation of the program, providing you with the nutrients you need for optimal health, increased energy, fat burning, and craving control. For instance, did you know that low vitamin B levels have been shown to cause sugar cravings? Did you know that fatigue causes "false" hunger? Do you know how much protein it takes in the morning to most effectively burn fat during the remainder of the day? And there is so much more than this...

The eating plan was designed by a registered dietitian and elite personal trainer (No, not Robyn). They incorporate a "zig zag" method of eating. What does that mean? You'll find out during the program - and you'll be surprised to find out that your body needs MORE calories on certain days to avoid a plateau. We don't want you to diet. Aren't you tired of that already? The eating plan itself is extremely simple for the on-the-go person who doesn't have time for complicated recipes. In fact, the overwhelming response we get from our clients is, "Wow! Can I do that again?"

These are some of the Advocare products used in the progam:
Herbal Cleanse
MNS Max 3
Catalyst
Spark
Meal Replacements Shakes

All Advocare products are pure and pharmaceutical grade! Products you buy from GNC are NOT! (read this article about FDA's "regulation" of supplements). Advocare has its own Scientific and Medical Advisory Board consisting of nine men and women certified in vast areas of science and health to back the effectiveness of the programs as well as a number of world class endorsers.

Consult Robyn (robyn@bootcampUaustin.com) for the products and plan that is right for you. And go to the Advocare Site to find out more information on the products

Yum for the tum

Chicken, Yellow Carrots, White Navy Beans and Spinach...

Yum..another fun plate...

Another fun meal put together....Chicken Breast with Cauliflower Florets, Orange and Yellow Carrots and Dried Cranberries. Next time I will add some Broccoli to this one.

Bogus Health Food Claims

I saw this article today, and it is soooo true. You can't just go by health food claims that are made on many of the products that we buy. Key words such as "zero trans fat", "fat free" and even "low sugar" can really mean absolutely nothing when it comes to the actual "good for you" properties of the item. It is super important to understand what key words to look for and those substances you really should avoid. This isn't typical knowledge for the average American which makes us easy prey for those clever marketing companies. This is unfortunate for 2 reasons:

1- Most of us don't have the background knowledge to make good choices which is ridiculous. We should all want to know what exactly is in the food that we use to fuel our bodies. Secondly, even if we have the knowledge we still need to be able to read through the BS that is put on packaging and not just take it as sacred/truthful writing.

2- The fact the advertising and marketing companies for these products prey on our lack of knowledge and understand the psychology of how we shop is just plain insane. It is a billion dollar industry - just craziness!



That can all be avoided if you take some time to learn about key ingredients to look for and to avoid :) The only way to protect yourself/your health is to be informed!!!



Here is the link to some bogus/misleading food label claims