6 reasons you’re eating when you’re not hungry – & how to stop

By Susan Bowerman, July 26, 2012

Here are some reasons why you might eat when you’re not hungry – and what you can do about it.

You’re not hungry but you eat anyway:

Life and calorie control would be a whole lot easier if we only ate when we were truly hungry.  Then it would simply be a biological drive that needed to be satisfied – like downing a glass of water when your throat is parched. It’s the rare person who doesn’t eat for reasons other than hunger – most of us find ourselves doing it from time to time. 
Part of the reason is that there is so much context to eating – who you’re with, what the occasion is, how you’re feeling – so that food is more than simply a way to fill up your belly.  Instead, the act of eating can become an emotionally charged relationship.  If this sounds like you, here are some of the reasons that you might be eating – even though you hadn’t intended to – and what you can do about it.

Eating for comfort

For many people, this one tops the list.  Perhaps you have your ‘go-to’ foods that ease the pain of a lousy day at work or an argument with a relative.  Unfortunately, the soothing effect doesn’t usually last long – it’s often quickly replaced by guilt, because you ate something you shouldn’t have. “Stuffing down your feelings” with food isn’t going to make the problem go away – you may be better off trying to deal with any issues head-on.  Call a friend, take a brisk walk to blow off some steam, or write your thoughts down in a diary instead.

Eating as a reward

I’ve never quite understood this, but I’ve had plenty of clients who reward themselves for doing well on their diet with… food.  It’s fine to allow yourself to have a treat from time to time – that’s a natural thing to do.  But if you only allow yourself a treat as a reward for being good, that treat becomes very, very special – and so desirable that you’ll want it again and again.  Find another way to reward yourself – maybe download some new music or get a massage.

Eating because you think you should

Think of those times when you’ve said to yourself, “I should eat this because it was offered to me” or “Mom took the time to make this for me and I don’t want to offend her” or “I should eat these leftovers because it’s wrong to waste food”.  Instead, put the leftovers away – that’s easy.  While it’s not quite as easy to turn down food offers, you can try by simply saying, “thanks, it looks delicious, but I’m not hungry right now”.  Or you can accept, and take just a bite or two to be polite.

Eating food because it’s there

You didn’t mean to eat that stale donut in the break room at work – it was just there.  You weren’t looking for candy – but that bowl of jellybeans on your friend’s kitchen counter was just there.  Next time this happens to you, ask yourself this – “if this food weren’t in front of me, would I even be thinking about eating it?”

Eating because other people are eating

A group of coworkers asks you to join them for lunch – but you just ate.  You had a healthy snack before heading to a friend’s house to watch the football playoffs – and there’s a buffet full of greasy snack foods.  In situations like these, you might feel pressured to eat to be ‘part of the group’ .  But I assure you – you can be just as sociable with a cup of tea or glass of sparkling water in your hand as you can with a plate full of food that you neither want, nor need.

Eating as a distraction

This one also includes ‘eating when you’re bored’.  You’re eating either because it keeps you from doing something else that you should be doing –  or, because you can’t think of anything else to do.  Using food as entertainment can be dangerous.  Instead, take a jog around the block, or get down on the floor and do some stretching and some sit-ups, and let exercise – rather than food – be your distraction instead.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

What Colour Is Your Diet - by David Heber

If you would like to purchase Dr Heber's book discussed in our previous blog post, it is available at Amazon.com:

What Colour Is Your Diet?

I work from home, so as a result I see a LOT of stuff on the internet, most of it not very useful and some of which I wish I could UNsee, but today I came across an article I'd like to share with you all because it really is amazing!

Now I've known for a while that we need to get a mix of colours in our diet when it comes to fruit and veges because they all offer different health and antioxidant benefits, but it wasn't until I read this article that I truly understood it all.


This article has been sourced from and is the copyright of CBS. The link to the article can be found at the end of the blog post.


"Dr. David Heber recommends a diet with fruits and vegetables across the spectrum of color.

Heber, author of "What Color is Your Diet?" and director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, says Americans do not receive enough fruits and vegetables in their diets. He believes a category system he created would make it easier to consume the proper amount and types of vitamins needed in diets.

Nearly all fruits and vegetables are low-fat and contain fiber and natural chemicals known as phytonutrients that can help protect against heart disease, cancer and age-related cognitive decline, cataracts and macular degeneration.

Government health experts say that people should get a minimum five servings a day of fresh produce. Currently it's estimated about a third of the population fulfils that requirement, and it may be as high as 80% that do not get enough servings. As many as 50 percent of Americans don't eat a piece of fruit all day long. Nine servings are optimal for health maintenance.

"What Color Is Your Diet?" provides a color guide to fruits and vegetables and their benefits, as well as recipes to encourage an increased intake of produce. Heber says that counting servings may not be adequate if you are missing out on one or more major color categories. Not all members of the fruit and vegetable group are alike.

They have unique properties that provide combinations of substances with unique effects on human biology. Therefore, simply eating five servings a day of fruits and vegetables will not guarantee that you are eating enough of the different substances needed to stimulate the metabolic pathways of genes in the different organs where fruits and vegetables have their beneficial effects.

The colors represent 25,000 chemicals that are beneficial. There is evidence that interaction between the colors provides benefits, so it's important to have a diverse diet and eat different foods. We normally eat three color groups on average in this country. Heber believes in evolutionary terms, man started out on a plant-based diet.

Fruits and vegetables are historically and biologically important. Our ancestors the hunter-gatherers ate over 800 varieties. The different colors represent families of compounds, and we have even selectively bred the colors we eat into an even narrower range. There are red carrots in India, we eat orange ones. There are 150 varieties of sweet peas, but only a few are available to us. We need to make an extra effort to eat many different foods to get the full range of benefits, he says:

Heber groups produce into seven color categories:

Red Group
(tomatoes, can of V8 juice, pink grapefruit, watermelon)
These contain the carotenoid lycopene, which helps rid the body of free radicals that damage genes. Lycopene seems to protect against prostate cancer as well as heart and lung disease. Processed juices contain a lot of the beneficial ingredients. One glass of tomato juice gives you 50 percent of the recommended lycopene.

Yellow/Green Group
(spinach greens, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, yellow corn, green peas, avocado, honeydew melon)
These are sources of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These are believed to reduce the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Lutein is a yellow-green substance that concentrates in the back of your eye. It may also reduce atherosclerosis.

Orange Group
(carrots, mangos, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes)
These contain alpha carotene, which protects against cancer. They also contain beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.

It protects the skin against free-radical damage and helps repair damaged DNA. Beta-carotene is also good for night vision. It's important to note that these beneficial nutrients can be received from other foods, too. For instance vitamin is found in dairy products and meat. But it's not as beneficial because you get high calories and fat along with it.

Orange/Yellow Group
(pineapple, orange juice, oranges, tangerines, peaches, papayas, nectarines)
These contain beta cryptothanxin, which helps cells in the body communicate and may help prevent heart disease. Also, an orange contains 170 percent of the recommended daily vitamin C. It's interesting to note that the skin of an orange is high in a protective fat that has been found to kill cancer cells in humans and animals, which highlights the fact that two-thirds of all drugs come from the plant world.

 

Red/Purple Group
(beets, eggplant, purple grapes, red wine, grape juice, prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red apples)
These are loaded with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins believed to protect against heart disease by preventing blood clots. They may also delay the aging of cells in the body. There is some evidence they may help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

 

Green Group
(broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage or bok choi, kale)
These contain the chemicals sulforaphane and isocyanate and they also contain indoles, all of which help ward off cancer by inhibiting carcinogens. It's a fact that ten percent of the population - like George Bush Sr. - doesn't like broccoli. But it is important in diets because of the beneficial chemicals it contains.

White/Green Group

(leeks, scallions, garlic, onions, celery, pears, white wine, endive, chives)

The onion family contains allicin, which has antitumor properties. Other foods in this group contain antioxidant flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol."



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Original article link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500165_162-515724.html

Healthy Habits with Herbalife

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As a result, we have become very passionate about helping others achieve their weight and well-being goals and sharing the massive benefits of good nutrition with our community.