Ask Yourself These 8 Questions Before Eating Off Track

October 27, 2021

Before Eating Off Track: If you’ve decided to commit to a healthy eating plan but find yourself reverting to old habits or feeling tempted by foods that you know are unlikely to help get you to your goal, you’re not alone. Don’t beat yourself up! Old habits die hard, and even with the best intentions, we all find ourselves succumbing to temptation at times.

Luckily, a little mindfulness can go a long way to help us get into a more thoughtful mindset and stay on track when it comes to food choices. So, if you find yourself habitually “falling off the wagon” and mindlessly consuming unhealthy foods, simply pause for a minute and ask yourself these questions first: (and know that training yourself to pause and consciously consider your choices first is half the battle, so give yourself credit for doing even that!)

Questions to Answer Before Eating Off Track

This one may sound obvious. However, if you have been chronically dieting throughout your life and perhaps lost touch with some of your internal cues, you may be misinterpreting your body’s thirst cues as hunger instead. It happens more than you’d think! Consider how much fluid you’ve had today and how long it’s been since your last sip of water.

Being as busy as we all are these days, it’s easy to end up on autopilot and eat out of habit rather than need. Alternatively, sometimes we may wait too long to eat, by which point our hunger is out of control, and we are more likely to overeat or make less healthful choices.

Stop for a minute and rate your hunger on a scale from 1-5, with 1 being completely satisfied as if you just ate a full meal, and 5 being ravenously hungry, ready to eat anything in sight.

If you are at a 4 or a 5, then consider having a balanced, protein-rich snack of whole foods first, such as a piece of fruit and some nuts, to tame your hunger a bit first. Your craving might diminish. Or it might not.

If, after 30 minutes, you still want whatever indulgence you’re debating, then it might just be worth it to treat yourself this time! You will at least have made a mindful choice and be less likely to over-indulge.

If you’re not hungry but find yourself wanting to eat anyway, think about your headspace. What need might you be trying to fill with food? Are you bored? Sad? Anxious? Procrastinating something you don’t want to do?

Food, particularly sweet and fatty foods, can be comforting, and many of us have learned from a young age to cope with emotional discomfort by eating for pleasure or distraction. As a side note – this is a very common behavior and nothing to feel guilty or ashamed of. Sometimes we even eat out of positive emotions, such as celebrating a special occasion or bonding with others.

However, these behaviors become a problem when they are interfering with your physical or psychological health, keeping you from reaching your health goals, or masking a deeper issue.

If you find yourself frequently or compulsively eating to cope with or “numb” distressing emotions, and particularly if the habit is derailing your physical or mental health, seek help from a licensed counselor, your doctor, or both, and make sure you are practicing self-care every day to manage stress, such as light exercise, journaling, and good sleep hygiene.

Say you’ve asked yourself all the above, and you realize you only want that salty afternoon snack because you’re bored. Try and find something else to do to entertain yourself.

If this is an issue that comes up often for you, you’d be wise to come up with a list of go-to alternative activities that you could do to preoccupy yourself when temptation strikes, such as calling a friend, taking your dog to the dog park, tending to a hobby, etc.

Likewise, if you are stressed or find yourself procrastinating on a task you don’t want to do, remind yourself that eating this food will not change that situation, nor will it eliminate the uncomfortable feelings but for a moment.

If anything, it may only compound the issue if you end up feeling physically uncomfortable or guilty for straying from your diet. You would be better off tackling that task you are trying to avoid head-on to relieve your stress. Try breaking it down into smaller, less intimidating tasks, and scheduling a much-deserved non-food reward for when you’re done.

Maybe you’ve eaten that salty afternoon snack before and remember that it left you feeling bloated and miserable afterward. Or perhaps you’ve noticed that eating a large, greasy lunch leaves you sleepy and unproductive in the afternoon at work. Consider if you’re willing to risk feeling that way again before acting.

Holiday traditions, celebrations, and travel experiences are just a few examples of times when you may decide it’s worth it to make an exception to your healthy eating regimen and indulge in a special, rare, and much-anticipated treat. Just do so mindfully, not impulsively.

Alternatively, you may decide that the doughnuts that someone brings to your office every day, or that so-so dessert in the breakroom, aren’t really worth the calories. Save it for something you’ll enjoy much more.

You know yourself better than anyone else, so consider if eating this food will actually scratch that itch or if it will only whet your appetite. If you find that eating a particular unhealthy food only leads to wanting more, try to distract yourself using one of the methods above.

If you find yourself repeatedly falling off the wagon, consider if your overall diet is the culprit. There’s evidence that overly restrictive diets can backfire on us and sabotage our health by increasing cravings and obsessive thoughts about the foods we “can’t” have.

Further, excessively restricting calories can actually lead to an overall increase in hunger which may further derail your efforts. Blame the diet, not yourself. It’s better to make small, incremental, achievable changes to your eating habits and lifestyle over time while allowing for occasional indulgences than to do a complete overhaul and deny yourself many of your favorite foods.

The process may be slower, but it will ultimately be more sustainable and tolerable.

Finally, despite our best efforts to squelch our cravings, sometimes we still just can’t get that food off our brains! We may even try to satisfy the craving with a healthier alternative or “diet” food, only to still want the original food also. So, if you have taken the time to consider all the above and still really want to eat that food, then, by all means, eat it, and enjoy every bite. Also, consider the relationship that you have with food.

Sarah Kennedy RD, LD is a Clinical Dietitian with Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sarah Kennedy RD, LD is a Clinical Dietitian with Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center. She has experience serving patients with a variety of conditions in the hospital setting, as well as WLS candidates in the outpatient setting. She has a passion for food and nutrition and enjoys helping others achieve balance in their diets while attaining their wellness goals. Read more articles by Sarah!

---