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Beating The Holiday Hungries
With the holiday season ramping up and the year drawing to a close, it is a time for hunting and gathering (hunting for holiday presents and gathering with friends and family!), and for many of us, an odd mixture of relaxation and good old fashioned stress. So many things to do, so little time! It’s easy to see why the holiday season can pack on the pounds and lead to renewed resolutions of “doing better” and “losing weight”. …… next year. But this year is different. The same temptations will be there for you, but you now have some goals and strategies for eating during anytime of the year. The rules don’t change over the holidays, but your ability to follow them may, unless you resolve to make some positive changes to beat the “holiday hungries” before they start.
The difference between hunger and appetite
There is a big difference between having an appetite and being
hungry. Appetite is a desire for food (often a specific food), while hunger is a
true physical need to eat. It is very easy to confuse the two, especially when
the holiday cookies and candy are in the office break room or on the coffee
table at home, or when the smell of hot cinnamon rolls overwhelms you in the
shopping mall. (Do they have a fan that blows this aroma to all corners of the
mall?) In these cases, appetite most certainly can take over, because the cues
(yummy “comfort” foods) are so strong and pervasive this time of year. And,
it is quite likely that you cannot change these cues: Are you going to be the
office Scrooge and tell everyone not to bring in treats? Can you close down the
food courts in the mall? Of course not! In these cases you cannot control the
environment. So, instead, you need to change your response to it. Realistically,
that is the only course of action that will lead you to your goal of better
weight control. The key is to make it an easier road to take by plotting your
course ahead of time.
Remember the hunger scale?
If you haven’t yet practiced eating within your true hunger zone, please go back and re-read “managing hunger” which is a previous article that is so important to your success that it is permanently posted in the member’s section. If you can learn to eat when you have true signs of hunger (not uncomfortably hungry, irritable or weak), and to stop eating when you are just comfortably full (not stuffed), it will be much easier to control the amount of food you eat. If instead, you are still avoiding true signs of physical hunger, eventually, you will be overwhelmed with a physical need to eat, and you wind up eating more than you would have if you would have responded to your hunger cues in the first place. This is especially important during the holidays, when there are way too many treats to tempt the hungry belly.
Eat like a reindeer, not like Santa
Santa has the plate of cookies, his reindeer get the carrots and celery. And they are the ones pulling the sleigh! What more proof is needed that a diet high in complex carbohydrates and low in fat (fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans) is the way to go?
Carbohydrates provide both short term and long term fuel for energy. They are absorbed quickly and are burned more efficiently then foods high in fat and protein. This means that when you eat more complex carbohydrate and less fat, it can lead to true hunger between meals. Some people confuse this with “carbohydrate cravings”. A craving is something that can occur even in the absence of hunger. A craving is associated with psychological issues rather than a physical need to eat food. A “craving” is something you get for a cinnamon roll, not a carrot! Eating a diet high in complex carbohydrate does not increase “carbohydrate cravings”, you just need to eat more often when your stomach empties faster and your fuel is burned up! So, what should people do when they are truly hungry? The solution is to eat more often in small amounts, and to choose the right foods, following the goals and strategies outlined in your plan. “Grazing” on the right foods, in the right amounts is the way to go.
Fill Up, Don’t Fall Back
Back to the holiday temptations. If you arrive at the mall hungry, and you can avoid eating the extra cookie, huge muffin or ice cream at the mall as you shop, then you are an exception to the human race. Instead of tempting fate, set yourself up for success. Eat a cup of fresh vegetables (carrot sticks, celery, fresh peppers, zucchini, whatever you like). Follow it with a full glass of water. If you do this about fifteen minutes before you hit the mall, you will have successfully filled your stomach . This sends your body signals that you are now full, and it will be much less tempting to eat because you will now have the physical signs of fullness helping you make better eating decisions. To do this, you need to have fresh vegetables cut up and ready to go, at home, at your place or work, or stop by the grocery store and get them. You will not find them in the food court at the mall!
Food in the Fast Lane
How often do you finish a meal or snack in less than ten minutes?
If you typically finish your food in under ten minutes, then you are not giving your body enough time to recognize that you are full, and allow your brain to send signals to your body to stop eating. It takes about 15 minutes or more for your body to recognize that the food you’ve eaten has provided the energy you need. That is why eating fast leads to overeating. And if you are a fast eater, foods that are dense in calories (like fudge, cookies, any foods high in fat or lots of sugar) are a special problem because you can eat so much more of them in a short period of time. Compare this to eating fresh vegetables - there is a lot of chewing time involved, and this naturally slows down your eating time, another advantage to eating like a reindeer!
Practice eating more slowly
- Put your eating utensils (or the food) down between bites.
- Keep serving bowls and plates off the dinner table and in the kitchen, that way you have to get up to get a second helping.
- Drink water or other beverages only when your mouth is not full of food, not to “wash” down your food.
To Sum It Up
- Practice eating within your true hunger zone
- Recognize your real hunger versus a “craving”
- Do some “preventive” eating: fill up on fresh veggies and water before going into a tempting situation
- Eat more slowly to allow your body to recognize feelings of fullness
Practice these habits - one failure is not an excuse to give up on what makes sense and what works. Go back and practice again until these things become a part of your eating habits.