Recent Posts

I've found for myself that the emotion, situation, incident, WHATEVER that occurs as a trigger to eat happens and in less than a nanosecond, I want to eat. It is less than the time it takes to blink and as automatic.

One of the things I've learned it to create a pause. Make myself, force myself to pause. If I give myself a moment of pause to process and talk myself through whatever is going on, I can arrest that trigger to emotionally eat.

So, I've developed the Stop-Look-Listen method for my clients. I force myself to Stop (create the pause), Look (what's going on to cause this urge to emotionally eat) and Listen (what do you need to do to take care of yourself, your emotions or the situation).

Write it on a sticky note and post it on your refrigerator or your computer. Any time you're tempted to reach for a snack instead of handling your real issue, first do what it says on your note. Then proclaim victory over your challenge and skip the snack.

It's a trap! It isn't hunger, it is hoping for a bit of relief from something in your day. Food is quicker and easier than dealing with the real issue.

Thinking is a lot of work! Sometimes the emotions are so intense we want to jump out of our skin, right? If we sit with our emotions or the situations, they will pass. However, the effects of emotional eating don't pass but translate into extra weight. Sometimes, we just don't want to bother with figuring out our emotions. But in many situations, the trade-off of NOT thinking is overeating.

The next time you have that immediate feeling of "I have to eat" changes are it isn't true hunger. Hunger doesn't come on that way but emotional hunger does. Try my Stop-Look-Listen and see if it works for you.

Cathy

I want to know what I'm eating. I used to LOVE Power Crunch Bars but noticed that I always got tired after eating them. The tired feeling was very similar to what I feel when I dump.

I checked the nutritional breakdown and it all checked out as far as health levels. However, the ingredients include one that my body (and many wls RNY patients) causes a dump. That experience showed me the critical importance of not only reading the nutritional breakdown but going even further to the ingredient list.

Do you know that the first three ingredients comprise the majority of what the item is made of?

A survey released today by the Nielsen Co. found that 65% of American consumers say they notice information on food packaging more often compared to only two years ago.

Sixty-seven percent of U.S. consumers claim to mostly understanding what they are reading compared to 44% world-wide. That leaves a third of the U.S. and more than half the world wondering exactly what Sodium Benzoate and other ingredients and metrics actually mean.

"The relationship between consumers and nutritional information and labeling provides unmistakable insight into health and diet concerns," said Deepak Varma, svp-Nielsen Customized Research in a statement. Nielsen, which owns Brandweek, polled 28,253 Internet users in 51 markets in April.

More than half (51%) of U.S. consumers always check fat content followed by 48% who always check the calories and 44% who look at the sugar content. Sodium (37%), carbohydrates (35%) and even gluten (9%) are among key concerns.

Forty-two percent of U.S. consumers said they check a product's label when buying it for the first time. Eight percent said they never read labels.

You are what you eat so know what you are eating!

Cathy

I've been stressing the importance of vitamin D in the past to many, including my wife. My wife found this in a recent health insert to a local newpaper, by tow doctors:

PAIN CONTROL: A fascinating study from the Mayo Clinic published last month online (article was from June) in the journal Pain Medicine looked at vitamin D levels in people with chronic pain. They found that those patients who had low vitamin D levels required twice as much narcotic pain medication compared to those with normal levels. The vitamin D deficient folks also perceived their health as poor.  Another study from the Mayo Clinic in 2003 looked at the prevelance of vitamin D deficiency in people aged 10-63 with chronic pain syndromes like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue--93 percent of them were found to be vitamin D deficient.

HEART BENEFITS: A study published last month in the journal Circulation looked at the impact of vitamin D blood levels on heart health in people with high blood pressure.  Participants in the study with low vitamin D levels were two times as likely to have angina, a heart attack. or heart failure and stroke compared to those with normal vitamin D levels.

 DAVE

The Opening Ceremony for the Olympics is tomorrow night. We're having a family night together to watch it.

This morning on the Today show, they featured snipets of the athletes. It was great to get to hear them interviewed and their goals and aspirations for the Games.

I always look forward to the Olympics. What I enjoy the most are the bio clips they play on some of the athletes. I love to hear the personal stories, struggles, and what they've done to get where they are and be among the best. The commitment and dedication to their sport and themselves is so inspiring.

It reminds me of us here on OH. We all have our stories, our struggles, and what it takes for us to be weight loss surgery successes. I love to talk to members and leaders to learn about them and what they do to stay successful not just with weight loss but in their lives.

Go U.S.A. and OH Members!!!

Cathy

Pre-op, Krispy Kremes were my thing. I loved them. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I could down an entire dozen easily in a day. I can't believe it but it is true.

Now being more health conscious and incorporating healthy habits in my life, I am more respectful of what I eat. As we all know, Krispy Kremes are NOT a healthy choice......fat and sugar. That's it.

I sure appreciate the changes I've made in my food choices. Pre-op, I'd have loved to eat this....now, it completely grosses me out!! Check this out......as if it couldn't get worse:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccaviness/2625223578/

Cathy