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by Anita RomaniwIt's that time of year again, the holidays. What this means is countless festivities, food, family, friends and fun. For weeks we're surrounded by mounds of potatoes and pounds of pie. How do you survive a season where butter and sugar seem to ooze from every plate?
‘Tis the season when unconscious eating reaches its climax, bringing with it excess baggage that take much longer to get rid of than it did to put on. Unconscious eating is also called ‘automatic eating'–when the sight of food becomes an automatic signal to eat without regard for physical hunger.
Often this eating involves little bites that add up to a lot of food. Here are a few examples of how the bits and pieces can add up over the holidays:
• The cookie that didn't fit into the tin 150 calories
• 1 bite of cookie dough 50 calories
• licking the frosting spoon 60 calories
• 1 handful of peanuts 225 calories
• 1 glass of eggnog (6 oz.) 300 calories
• 5 potato chips with dip 130 calories
• 15 broken cracker pieces unsuitable to serve 135 calories
• one piece of fruitcake 300 calories
How do you deal with automatic eating? The key is not to forbid any of your favourites. Instead decide what your favourites are and choose to eat them purely for pleasure. Really savour them.. If you don't have room to enjoy your favourite, save it for later. My personal rule . . . never rush when you eat chocolate!
Unfortunately, automatic eating often becomes chaotic eating. When life gets too busy, we take a hit or miss approach to feeding ourselves. We rationalize the time we save by eating on the run or grabbing a snack while we drive. While one cannot argue such choices may be healthy, studies show it usually promotes over-eating. First, because our minds are not focussed on food, we generally do not pay attention to physical hunger and eat more than we need. Second, although our body get fuel, we really did not get to enjoy the food. Research suggests this leads us to look for more food later despite physical hunger, which has already been satisfied.
Experts advise whenever possible we should separate eating from working, driving, reading or watching TV–all activities which divert our attention from enjoying our food and being able to sense when our hunger has been satisfied.
Why bother to learn new strategies to deal with automatic and chaotic eating when the holidays only last a few weeks? You will enjoy the season much more without the ups and downs in energy that accompany frequent bouts of unconscious eating. And if unconscious eating is a problem now, it is most likely a problem all year round. The main message? Munch, but be mindful. Have a healthy and happy holiday season.
- Anita Romaniw is the Community Nutritionist for the Fraser Valley Health Region in British Columbia, Canada.
