Despite what a major fast-food chain’s commercials say, hunger is not an emergency.  Hunger can be caused by many things – our body asking for energy, stress, sadness, boredom, seeing or smelling food, etc.  Hunger, luckily for most of us, is rarely an emergency.  What does this mean you’re asking?  It means that just because you’re hungry doesn’t mean you have to eat.

Is this a novel concept?  It was to me until I was working through the Beck Diet Solution.  One day you skip lunch.  “OH NO!” I thought.  “I’m going to be STARVING!”  Well, yes – and no.  What she has you do is rate on a scale some items of discomfort with 0 being no discomfort and 10 being extreme discomfort.  For me, 1 was a mild headache, 5 was bad headache, 10 was a migraine where I can’t do anything but sleep.  Then, at each hour on the day you skip lunch, you rate  your discomfort level – not your hunger level.  This helps define hunger in a different way.  Almost, I found, to put it at arms length.

I found out that realistically, I was only mildly uncomfortable when I had a slight headache for a short period of time.  It really wasn’t a bad day or too difficult at all.  Looking at hunger from the frame of discomfort was eye opening for me.  My body is telling me it is hungry (which is almost all the time it seems), but it really isn’t harming me.

Now, there are times when eating is a necessity.  Just like most of you, those blood sugar drops come along.  However, the key is to know the difference between “I’m hungry but can wait” and “MUST HAVE FOOD NOW!”

This was one of the most valuable lessons from the book.  I’ve learned that its OK to be hungry; I don’t have to eat every time I feel or think I am hungry.  Honestly, it is freeing.  I don’t have to have food with me all the time “just in case” I get hungry.  I know I can make it until I can get something to eat.

On a side note, I’m heading to the annual American Dietetic Association conference in Chicago this weekend.  I’ll be keeping my eyes out for new and exciting things to bring you in the coming weeks!

In one of my graduate school classes – Individual Determinants of Obesity – we were talking about the prevalence of obesity and the food environment. The discussion came around to the question of “do food companies want people to be fat?” Well, lets think about this. . .

Food companies make, obviously, food! They make their food tasty. They make their food pretty to look at. They make food that smells good. They make food cheap and easy to eat. Yes, I’m thinking about processed foods – but those are the ones that tend to put on weight. Think the candy bars at the checkout, cake mixes, snack mixes, ice cream, mac and cheese and those sorts of foods. And, don’t forget all those fast foods and restaurants out there. Do they want you fat?

Honestly, I don’t think they want you, or me, or anyone else fat. But what they do want is for you to eat more of their food. The more of their food you eat, the more money they make. They entice you to eat more through commercials (food = love and acceptance, food = a treat or something you deserve), packaging, and product placements in movies and TV shows to name a few.

Restaurants get you to eat more by hiding calories in the food to make it taste good. Honestly, I don’t want to know how much butter they use. OK – I KNOW they use a lot of butter. I had the chance to work in a kitchen for a few months and discovered the secret of tasty food – BUTTER! The cooks had pitchers (yes, those iced tea pitchers) full of butter that went in and on everything. Next time you get a sandwich or hamburger, look at the bun. I’ll bet you it has butter on it. And, restaurants are good with add-ons. “Yeah, I’d like that dessert.” Sound familiar? It does to me, too.

It doesn’t take a lot of thought to see that if you eat more than your body needs – whether you know it or not -you’ll gain weight. Our bodies are not good at calculating calories as we eat. So, what can you do? Be an informed eater. Print out the nutrition information from all the restaurants that have them (I keep copies in my car for quick reference). Look at the book Eat This Not That or Dining Lean. Or, try Dr. Jo’s Eat Out and Lose Weight Diet Plan which is a deck of cards to keep with you to help make healthy choices.

Food companies can try to entice you to eat more, but you don’t have to. Remember – you are in control of what you eat. So, food companies may inadvertently want you fat – but you don’t have to be.

Have you ever noticed the colors on your plate before you eat your meal?  There is a show on BBC America called “You are What You Eat.”  The hostess revamps people’s diets to help them lose weight and become healthier.  One of the first things she does on the show is to take all of the food the person eats in a week and puts it on a single table.  What amazes me every time is that almost all of the food is shades of brown and tan – hamburgers, fries, eggs, fry-ups (eggs, beans, etc), ale/beer/alcohol, and the list goes on and on.  She then shows them a table containing the foods of their “new diet.”  The table is beautiful and colorful – reds, yellows, greens, etc.  It is, literally, a feast for the eyes.

This got me thinking about the colors on my plate – and on yours.  Here’s a challenge for the week.  Each time you eat something, notice the color.  Is it a shade of brown/tan or does it have other brighter colors in it?  By the way, the brighter colors should be natural – not artificial.  Why colorful food?  For two reasons.  First, you if your plate is colorful, you are eating fruits and vegetables.  Second, those fruits and vegetables are full of all sorts of phytochemicals, antioxidants and fiber which are good for you.  So, if your plate is full of color, your body is getting all sorts good things it needs.

Want a bigger challenge?  Take a picture of everything you eat for a week and paste them all together to see how a weeks worth of food would look.  I haven’t done this yet myself, but will in the next month.  I’ll post the picture on my blog for all the world to see.

I can remember being a kid and thinking how slowly the days moved along.  It seemed like Christmas was f-o-r-e-v-e-r away.  Now, I’m experiencing what those adults would tell me – “You mean its already October?!?!  Where did the time go?”  Of course, from looking at the stores you would have thought it was October in early September with the appearance of the Halloween decorations and. . .the CANDY!  YIKES!!!

Actually, rather than a scary experience, Halloween can be a great time for you to practice for the other holidays that are right around the corner.  This is a time when you can prove to yourself that you can pass by the candy without eating it, or only have a piece or two, rather than the whole bowl or bag.  I’m not saying Halloween candy is “bad” – I don’t like to assign labels to foods.  I’m saying that it is one of those things you can include in moderation in your diet.  However, managing that “moderation” part is the trick.

Here’s some tips for dealing with the candy:

• If you’re buying candy for trick-or-treaters, don’t buy it until right before the 31st.  If it is not in the house, you can’t eat it.
• Buy candy you don’t like.  If you don’t like it, there is less of a chance you’ll eat it.
• Hide the candy out of sight.  If you don’t see it, you’ll be less likely to eat it.  Also, put it in a place you don’t normally go (the laundry room or a guest bedroom closet for example).
• Don’t open the bags.  A sealed bag is much less tempting than an open bag.
• Tell yourself “That candy is for the kids, not for me.  I’m not going to eat it.” each time you are tempted.
• If you’re really tempted, think about how you’d feel after eating it.  Often, when we eat something we think we shouldn’t we experience feelings of guilt, etc.  Thinking about the consequences before having the candy can help avoid eating it in the first place.
• If you really, really, really want a piece or two, take only what you are going to eat out of the bag, put the bag back up and go sit down while you eat it.  Don’t do anything else while you’re eating it, but focus on the taste and feel of the treat in your mouth.  If you really focus on and enjoy the experience, a piece or two may satisfy you.  And, if you’ve put the bag up, you have to make the decision to go back for more.
• If you do have a splurge and eat more than you intended, think about why and what you’d change to avoid doing it again in the future.  Then, get back on track with your healthy eating.

Managing the temptations of Halloween candy proves to yourself that you can do it.  This will make managing the temptations to come in the next couple of months with Thanksgiving, and other holiday parties easier.