Week 2: Driven to Distraction

So, I didn't do very well on eliminating sugary beverages from my diet this past week. I lasted two days, better than nothing, but not the week I had planned on.  Sugary drinks are my krytonite. I've decided to move on from this goal for a few weeks and focus on not eating while distracted. Oh, such a hard feat. We have magazines, tablets, newspapers, TV, Spotify, and children (some of us) to distract us while we eat.  I can attest to the sheer joy I feel when I combine TV and food, any food.

Have your ever sat down in front of the TV with a whole bag of chips? You've got your snack, and you're ready to enjoy your TV show or movie. Fast forward to the credits rolling. You've eaten the whole bag! How is that possible? Did you even enjoy them? Did you truly taste them after the first few bites? Research by Dr. Brian Wansink tells us that you went on autopilot. His first book Mindless Eating addresses this very scenario. He gathered a movie theater full of people, gave them a medium or large popcorn (Both serving sizes were purposefully so large, it was nearly impossible for any of them to finish.), and told them to enjoy the movie. When he and his research assistants measured the amount of popcorn left after the movie, they found that the large-popcorn-serving eaters ate more than their medium-sized serving counterparts. Bigger container = bigger portion eaten. Added to that, the unsuspecting people in the study had just had lunch. And finally THE POPCORN WAS 5 DAYS OLD! They weren't even hungry. The popcorn tasted like packing peanuts, and they still ate it. Crazy, right? What makes us do this? Dr. Wansink put it simply; it's all the cues surrounding the food. The huge bucket, being distracted by entertainment, and the fact that everyone else was doing it are just some of the reasons that these people ate enormous servings of this stuff even when they weren't hungry. So I urge you to consider...are you even hungry for that?

If you're as guilty of mindless eating as I am, join me this week in eating in a calm and non distracting environment. It's tough, and you may find that you don't enjoy eating quite as much.

Check out the brilliant Brian Wansink at mindlesseating.org.  I can't say enough wonderful things about his research.

So It Begins

As you're reading the title of this blog, you may be thinking, "Wow, someone's full of herself." Or maybe even, "Is she a personal trainer, like 'Body by Jake.'" The answer to both of these questions is no (okay, maybe sometimes, I'm full of myself), but the title is more about the fact that my body looks and functions how it does today because of the way I've treated it up to this point. God made it, but it's up to me to maintain it. Unfortunately, I've done a pretty terrible job of that. Years of overeating, emotional eating, and just plain eating the wrong things have made me overweight and many times, I'm unhappy with that. I have fought the good food fight many times (I'm looking at you, Weight Watchers.) and done well, but more often than not, I've tried doing it on my own and failed miserably.

So, here's the deal, I'm going to try something every week or two, and you follow my journey. I post what I'm doing, giving you updates as appropriate, and just by publishing this and you reading it, I'm keeping myself honest. Deal? Okay, now that we've got that out of the way.

My poison is sugar, sugar, SUGAR! Always has been and probably always will be. I don't drink, I don't smoke, but I will take down that cake, ice cream, and breakfast cereal... I'm an equal opportunity eater.

However, I have managed to give up sodas, or cokes, as we Southerners say. My mother would slap me if she heard me say "soda." Anyway, it was nothing short of a miracle.  But now the problem is other sugary drinks, mostly sweet tea. Ultimately, all sugar is evil, but I have found that overly-restrictive plans with multiple rules at a time don't fly with me, so I have to take baby steps.

This week's task: no sugary beverages with meals. Caveat: I do put no-sugar creamer in my coffee. I know it'll kill me, but again, that's another baby step for another time.

Have a good week!

Jeanette

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live in."
-Anonymous