Resolving to eat better and control one's weight is a cyclical practice -- after the holidays, we test our discipline with New Year's diets, and as short shorts weather approaches, we reluctantly pass on dessert. Since the recurring effort to lose weight is all too routine, a larger question looms -- what makes us so frequently put on those extra pounds? Beyond pure appetite, the psyche can easily drive one to eat beyond pacification of hunger. Eating and emotions are closely linked, and it's no surprise that when one feels high-strung or simply ungrounded, it's easy to partake in "emotional overeating." Using food to get one's mind off of consuming emotions leads quickly to undesired weight gain, but fortunately, nutrition and fitness professionals are in business to help clients recognize the signs and modify their lifestyles and eating habits to prevent frequent recurrence.
Angela Gallo, LSN, DTR, is president and founder of Total Nutrition Technology (www.tntgetfit.com), which specializes in weight loss, health management and enhanced sports performance for individuals interested in achieving optimal health and specific sports performance goals. Gallo knows the signs of overeating all too well from listening to the stories of TNT clients. Today she provides some expert advice on how identify emotion-driven excessive eating and discipline oneself not to allow it to frequently recur:
Q. What would be your definition of "emotional overeating"?
A. I define emotional overeating as using food to distract from emotions. Emotional overeating can be conscious or unconscious eating and used to fill a void or distract from something else. Often times emotional overeating is associated with stress, anxiety or sadness, but people can also overeat during times of extreme happiness.
Q. What environmental/"nurture" factors contribute to overeating? Are there times of the year that Total Nutrition Technology sees an increase of clients dealing with overeating?
A. Holidays tend to be large factors that contribute to overeating. We see an increase in clients overall between Thanksgiving and New Years, but national holidays, birthdays, vacations and weddings, etc. are all occasions that people can find themselves eating more than necessary. The American way tends to attach food to major holidays and there are more opportunities to overeat. While on vacation, people not only take a break from the day to day, but often their diets as well.
Q. How would someone who recognized themselves as an overeater work with Total Nutrition Technology to help them address this problem?
A. The first step is to determine what the overeating triggers are. We call these triggers fat traps and they are the people, places and things that tend to enable a person to overeat. After we have identified the triggers, we come up with a realistic action plan to help the person prevent ahead of time the tendency to overeat when faced with each of their fat traps.
Q. What kind of counseling component is a part of your weight management programs that addresses such issues as overeating?
A. Awareness of the who, what, when and where factors that make a person want to overeat is critical and the first step in a weight management program. Talking through these factors often leads to a simple solution to address each of the triggers.
Q. What basic tips would you have for this readership on how to recognize the signs of overeating & then take first steps to curb the habit?
A. It’s important that people are mindful of what they are eating. Pay attention to the Bites, Licks and Tastes (BLT’s). It’s also important to pay attention to your internal body cues. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 signifying absolute hunter, shaking, low blood sugar and 10 signifying absolute fullness from eating too much, you want to be between a 3 and 7. Five is ideal. We recommend people start eating at a 3 and end at 7. Eating when a person is at a 1 will almost ensure they finish eating at a 10. If you pass 7, then you are overeating. You’ll need to ask yourself why you are overeating. Is it mindless eating, too many BLT’s, is it emotional eating? By paying attention to what you eat, and a food journal can be beneficial here, and paying attention to your body cues, a person will end up taking in just the right amount of calories assuming the food choices they are making are healthy.
For more info: Total Nutrition Technology offers specialty programs that target specific health needs for youth, pregnant and nursing moms, adults 50+ and corporate businesses wanting to improve the health of their workforce.
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