In this and upcoming articles I will focus on helping you with your eating habits and working on your diet plan as well as helping you to avoid those hidden dangers. Today I will give you some simple tips on how to prevent overeating and change your mindset. It is so easy to be misled by today’s packaging and labeling, to the point where you think you are eating healthy. The reality is you aren’t.
A perfect illustration of misleading is what happened to me the other day. At my favorite “after gym” restaurant, I decided to have a Caesar salad with grilled chicken. I figured I would splurge a little and have some fattening dressing. The calories, fat and carbs couldn’t be that much I reasoned. It’s salad with grilled chicken. After all it’s my job to know these things.
My meal arrived along with laminated sheet from which caloric information on every item on their menu could be perused. So I decided to look up the feast in front of me. I nearly had a seizure as I read the totals for my so-called healthy meal (their wording not mine). With dressing on the salad the total calories were 1768 with 9 grams of saturated fat. Carbs were over 70 grams. The kicker was the sodium, which was an astounding 2700 mg!!
I always get dressing on the side so I was able to discard a huge portion of fat and calories. I didn’t eat the garlic bread, nor did I have all the greens so I was able to cut a large amount of sodium, sat. fat, carbs and calories from the salad. If this was a healthy meal then I wonder what constitutes an unhealthy one. Let’s just say that reading the nutritional info for the kid’s meals will send you running for cover. I want you to be aware of what lurks out there and how a lot of prepared food is not as healthy as you are led to believe. Don’t be afraid to ask, and more important don’t be afraid to make substitutions. All restaurants will accommodate your requests, you just need to ask. Read the tips below and try to incorporate them into your daily routine.
Here are 3 Steps why most people overeat
Let’s face it; the extra pounds you’re carrying around are due to overeating – plain and simple.
Why do you overeat? Here are a few likely reasons:
Habit: Whether you realize it or not, you eat in a learned pattern, rather than out of need. You clean your plate because that’s what your mother taught. You eat what is served without stopping to check if you are full. You butter two pieces of toast for breakfast rather than questioning if one piece would do the job.
Absentminded: You forget to pay attention when you eat. Mindless munching while watching a movie, snacking while driving, or picking at food while cooking – these absentminded calories really add up.
Something Deeper: Sometimes you use food for recreation or to change your mood. These calories may lend you a temporary sense of comfort or pleasure, but ultimately your body suffers from the indulgence. Depression certainly plays a large part in overating and any eating disorder. Speak with your doctor about treatment.
Here are 3 Steps To Overcome Overeating – read these, and apply them to your life.
Step #1: Pay Attention
Be aware of what and how much you eat. This simple concept will save you from hundreds upon hundreds of calories each week.
To apply this rule, don’t eat while your attention is distracted by another activity. Only put food in your mouth when you are hungry and conscious of it. This means turn off the T.V., get out of your car, and no matter what you do, don’t graze in the kitchen while cooking.
Step #2: Practice Balance
Be aware of the types of food that you eat during each meal, and make sure that it’s balanced. When you eat a balanced diet filled with lean protein, whole grains, lots of veggies, a few daily servings of fruit and limited fat and sweets, your body will be satisfied and you’ll lose the urge to overeat.
This means you shouldn’t always eat carb-based meals, and you also shouldn’t always eat high-fat meals. Make a mental checklist of the food groups that you’ve eaten each day. Did you eat lean protein? Did you have plenty of vegetables? Did you refrain from eating more than one or two primarily carb-based meals? This mental checklist will save you from making food decisions that you’d later regret.
Step #3: Be Tuned In
Your body will always tell you when its hunger has been satisfied – you’ve just gotten so good at ignoring the signs that you barrel through your meal only to feel like you’ve been hit by a ton of bricks once all that food hits your stomach. It’s time to take a deep breath and listen to your body.
An important part of being tuned in is to eat slowly. Once you start to pay attention you’ll notice a point when each bite becomes less and less satisfying. That is your body’s way of letting you know that you’ve had enough and that each continued bite is simply overkill (yes, even if you’re only halfway through that plate of pasta).
By learning how to control your eating habits, you’ll find weight loss to come simply and naturally.
Want to speed up your weight loss, make it permanent, and shape your body at the same time? I’ve got what it takes to get you there! No guesswork, no fad diets, and no super long workouts.
No More Clean Plates
You know that portions are now larger than ever. Do you really need to eat all of that food? Of course you don’t. It is time to release yourself from the obligation to eat every morsel on your plate. Start by always leaving one or two bites. Soon you will find that you naturally stop eating when you’re full – even if your plate isn’t empty.
You’ve probably heard that portions have gotten bigger over the years, but do you know how much bigger? Check out some of these popular foods and see how different things were 20 years ago than they are now.
20 years ago: a bagel was three inches in diameter and had 140 calories.
Today’s portion: six inches and 350 calories.
Breakfast burritos at your favorite fast food place come in at around 920 calories!
20 years ago: a cheeseburger had 333 calories.
Today’s portion: 590 calories.
And have you seen the new 4,800 calorie burger???! There is such a thing. Google it if you dont believe me.
20 years ago: a portion of spaghetti and meatballs used to have 500 calories.
Today’s portion: 1,025 calories. This includes two cups of pasta with sauce and three large meatballs.
20 years ago: French fries were 2.4 ounces and 210 calories.
Today’s portion: 6.9-ounces with 610 calories.
20 years ago: a turkey sandwich had 320 calories.
Today’s portion: a 10-inch turkey sandwich has 820 calories.
No wonder obesity rates are so out of control in this country.
Did any of these portions surprise you?
BEWARE
Next time you eat out, beware of what lurks behind those tempting desserts, and foods. One example is the Cheesecake Factory Chris’ Outrageous Chocolate Cake. Each 5 inch high slice has a whopping 1380 calories, weighs 3/4 of a pound, and contains an astronomical 32 teaspoons of sugar. By the time you hit the door you have consumed 33 grams of saturated fat and 5 grams of trans fat. That is akin to 2 McDonalds Quarter pounders plus a large fries. WOW! Stay tuned as we expose more of these calorie fat bombs each time.
Yours in health,
Perry Mosdromos
Owner
One 2 One Fitness
Call or email today to learn more about my fitness and fat loss programs that will quickly change your life.
website: www.one2onefitnessandnutrition.com
You may email me directly with your comments at: perrymoss66@hotmail.com
Perry Mosdromos
BS Kinesiology, NFPT Nutrition Cert, SCIRION PT, NAHF PT
