October 30 - It's normal to celebrate with food. For about 20 years, medical doctor, family physician, Michelle May, M.D. was on and off one diet or another. Her excellent book is highly recommended because it solves the problem of what to do when diets don't work.
She is the award-winning author of the book, Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don't Work. Her newest book, now available is, Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break the Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle. I highly recommend this excellent book that details what mindful eating is all about. Check out her website Am I Hungry.com. Finally understand why diets don't work for most people. Read her bio and personal story.
What do you do when diets don't work? You eat what you love, and love what you eat. See the video trailer for Dr. May's book, Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat. Medical doctors also can be overeaters or yoyo dieters. And when they find a solution to their eating habits, what information they found helps others.
Physician, Michelle May, M.D. is a recovered yoyo dieter and the founder of the Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Program which received the Excellence in Patient Education Innovation Award. Read the story of her dieting issues and how she solved her problem by "listening to hunger again to guide her eating." Read the excerpt from her book, Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don't Work by Michelle May, M.D.
According to her website, Dr. May notes, "Most diets are restrictive and unsustainable, leaving the dieter feeling guilty and disappointed. My goal is to help people recognize and cope with their triggers for overeating, rediscover joy in physical activity, and effectively nourish their body, mind, heart and spirit."
Dr. May writes the following in her press release, "I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing! How to Prevent and Deal with Holiday Overeating," The comments we hear around the Thanksgiving table 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 as we love these special gatherings, there is an invisible line that separates a great celebration from an afternoon of discomfort and regret. We live in a land of abundance where turkey and potatoes are available year round and food will always taste good. So why eat until we feel miserable? Why not enjoy the holiday and still feel good when it’s over?
Just Right: Eating the right amount of food isn’t about being good, it’s about feeling good.
When you eat more than you need, you feel unnecessarily uncomfortable, sleepy and sluggish. Eating too much causes you to have low energy so you may not want to be active. It can also lead to feeling guilty which often leads to even more overeating. And of course your body will have no choice but to store the excess as fat.
Now think for about how it feels when you eat just the right amount of food. You feel satisfied, content, and happy. You are light, energetic, and ready for your next activity. You may even notice that as you become more full, the flavor of the food fades from fabulous to just OK so it gets harder to give food and eating your full attention.
So what can you do to prevent overeating—and what should you do when it happens anyway (and it will)? Prevention is the Best Medicine
Before you start eating, decide how full you want to be when you’re done. You may decide you’re willing to feel stuffed—just consider the consequences first.
Estimate how much food you’ll need to eat to reach your desired level of fullness. Prepare, serve, or order only as much as you think you’ll need. If you have too much, move the extra aside.
Before you start eating, visually or physically divide the food in half to create a “speed bump.” Recheck your fullness level when you hit that speed bump in the middle of eating.
Eat slowly, giving every bite your full attention. You’ll eat less and enjoy it more.
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 close.
Don’t Miss the Lesson
If you realize you’ve eaten too much, ask yourself, “Why did it happen?” and “What could I do differently next time?” Turn every mistake into a learning experience.
There are many reasons people eat past the point of comfort during the holidays: stress, habit, emotional connections, feeling obligated, free food everywhere, eating while distracted, mindless munching, and others. Recognizing your specific triggers for overeating can help you make lasting changes. For example, you might notice that you are rationalizing an extra serving because it is a special occasion. Once you are aware of that thought, you might ask yourself, “If this occasion is so special, why would I want to eat until I feel miserable?”
I Ate Too Much! Now What?
Even people who don’t struggle with their weight 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 trust their body to let them know when they need to eat again, even if that means skipping the next snack or eating a lighter meal.
Therefore, when you overeat, rather than continuing to eat out of guilt or eating on a schedule, wait until you get hungry again. It is likely that you won’t need food as soon; by paying attention to your body’s signals, you may partially compensate for occasional overeating.
Don’t punish yourself for overeating by depriving yourself since this will fuel your eat-repent-repeat cycle. Instead, when you do get hungry again, ask yourself, "What do I want and what do I need?" 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. As you learn to trust and respect what your body tells you, you’ll notice that you naturally seek balance, variety, and moderation in your diet.
Lastly, don’t use exercise to punish yourself for overeating. This creates a negative association that will undermine a long term healthy habit. Instead, regularly choose physical activities you enjoy and use the fuel you consume to live a vibrant and fulfilling life.
Dr. May's articles also note that your weight problems may be in part due to your metabolism. But years of overeating and yoyo dieting also is part of the situation as well. Here are some resources, links to articles online by Dr. May. Medical doctors also have weight problems that they have to solve by also looking at nutritional issues. Remember how many hours of nutrition courses most randomly selected physicians take in medical school, not many hours on the average.
Resources - Links: Articles online by Dr. May
Consumed
Ready-to-reprint articles for your newsletter, website, blog, or as patient education handouts. Dr. May's syndicated column called Consumed provides compelling, thought provoking, and actionable content that will keep your readers coming back for more. Free subscription.
Am I Hungry?® E-News
Sign-up for your free subscription to our monthly motivational e-newsletter and/or browse through all our previous e-newsletters for eye-opening and inspiring articles by Dr. May, like:
The current Issue of the Am I Hungry?® Newsletter
The Last (or Next) Ten Pounds,
Don't Eat After 7 and Six Other Weight Management Myths,
The Abundance Paradox,
Mindful Eating, and much more!
What Is Am I Hungry?® Anyway?
Many people who contact us say they have "tried EVERYTHING!" to lose weight and/or adopt a healthier lifestyle. However, when they describe their past attempts, it is obvious that they were founded on fear-based motivation, restriction, hyper-vigilance, emotional eating that has not been effectively addressed, and a focus on what to eat rather than why. Am I Hungry?® helps you with the hundreds of decisions you make every day that affect your eating, activity, weight, and overall health. More...
Are You Teaching Your Child to Be a "Good" Eater?
Frustrated parents sometimes tell me, "My child just isn't a good eater!" As a physician who helps people who are overweight, I know that parents sometimes unwittingly set the stage for food and weight problems later in life. Our goal as parents is to raise healthy, happy children so let's take a look at feeding our children, what being "a good eater" really means, and healthy eating for children that prevents childhood obesity and eating disorders. More...
Boosting and Fueling Your Metabolism
If you've ever said "I have a slow metabolism" or bought products that claim to "boost your metabolism," then you need to know what really works to increase metabolism. Find out how diets affect metabolism and what you can do to make your metabolism work for you--without drugs or supplements. More...
Goodbye Guilt
Eating is truly one of life's simple pleasures. So why do so many people feel guilty about it? Eating should be completely natural--and since it's absolutely necessary for existence, why not enjoy it without guilt? Let's look at three key strategies for savoring food fully, guilt-free. More...
Mindful Eating: Get Out of Autopilot
Have you ever finished a candy bar and wished you had just one more bite? Are you surprised when your hand hits the bottom of the popcorn bucket at the movies? Do you ever feel completely stuffed and miserable after you eat? These are all symptoms of unconscious or mindless eating. Choosing to eat mindfully, in other words, giving food and eating your full attention, will allow you to have optimal satisfaction and enjoyment without eating to excess. More...
Why Am I Hungry All the Time? Coping with Head Hunger
Do you sometimes confuse "head hunger" with "body hunger?" If you're sensitive to food cues, weight management is much easier when you recognize the overeating triggers in your environment and learn strategies to help you cope more effectively with head hunger. More...
Positive Self-Talk to Think Yourself Thin
You become what you think. If you're not getting the weight loss results you want, practice more positive self-talk and think yourself thin! More...
New Years Resolutions or Results?
"Lose weight" is not a resolution, it is a RESULT. It's the result of specific changes in the way you eat, move, and live. So this year, instead of setting a New Years Resolution to lose an arbitrary number of pounds, inches or clothing sizes, resolve to think differently about eating, physical activity, and living. Here's how Leah did it. More...
Seven Steps for Weight Loss Without Dieting, Deprivation, or Guilt
Do you think about food and eating more than you think you should? Do you feel guilty when you eat certain foods? If so, you've probably discovered that dieting hasn't solved your weight problem. If you want to manage your weight without dieting, deprivation, or guilt and decrease emotional and mindless eating, take these seven steps and relearn to eat instinctively. More...
15 Tips for Holiday Eating Without Weight Gain
Do you anticipate the holidays but dread the holiday weight gain? Avoiding holiday weight gain and eating healthy during the holidays can be a challenge. These 15 holiday eating tips will help you avoid holiday weight gain and enjoy the season more while eating less. More...
Stress Less, Weigh Less: Stress Management for Weight Management
Stress can motivate you to perform to the limits of your ability and adds excitement and challenge. However stress can also cause weight gain and make it harder to lose weight. Effective stress management can help you prevent weight gain, lose weight, and manage your life more easily. More...
Ten Steps to Successful New Years Resolutions
Whether you're setting personal goals for weight loss and better health or business goals for getting organized and increasing profit, the key to successful New Years Resolutions is to create a strategic plan. These ten steps with guide you through the goal setting process for maximum success. More...
Three Questions to Make the Perfect Food Choice Everytime
We are bombarded with conflicting messages-often side by side on the same magazine cover. These conflicting messages can create internal conflict when what I want to eat must face off with what I should eat according to the latest diet. Now you can make the perfect food choice every time by asking these three simple questions. More...
Am I Hungry?® E-News
More motivational non-diet weight management articles including mindful eating and intuitive eating resources and archived issues.
See the uTube videos Am I Hungry? (workshops)
Am I Hungry? Workshop 1 - In Charge, Not In Control
Am I Hungry part 2 - Trust Your Gut Instincts
Am I Hungry? Workshop 3 - It's Not About the Food
Am I Hungry? Workshop 7 - Just Right
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