10 Steps to Changing Your Eating Behavior
Do you alternate between following a meal plan and losing weight
(being “good”) and falling off the plan and regaining weight (being
“bad”)? It’s a frustrating but common cycle. Nutrition experts Ellie
Zografakis, RD, and Dale Huff, RD, CSCS, co-owners of
NutriFormance Personal Training and Sports Nutrition in St. Louis
believe that behavior modification strategies--rather than diets--can
help you break this self-defeating cycle and make lasting lifestyle
changes.
Enlisting the aid of qualified professionals (e.g., a registered
dietitian, a physician, a personal trainer and/or a psychologist) will
make it easier to interrupt old behavior patterns. You can also begin
to practice the following lifestyle change principles developed by
Zografakis and Huff:
1. Stop Dieting. How can you lose weight if you don’t diet? Creating
a deficit of about 500 calories a day for one week should result in a
1-pound weight loss. Most people can incur a large part of this
500-calorie-a-day deficit by exercising and making moderate
changes in food intake. In choosing this approach you avoid the
negative consequences of rigid dieting.
2. Become Physically, Not Externally, Connected to Eating.
Internal hunger cues--such as a rumbling stomach, a slight
headache, fatigue, irritability and decreased concentration--are
meant to remind you to meet your energy requirements and
maintain your natural set point weight. Reconnecting with your
physical signals of hunger and satiety can help you acquire the
internal power to regulate your food intake.
3. Use the Rating of Perceived Hunger (RPH) Scale. Using this
scale can make you more aware of your internal hunger and satiety
cues. Think of 0 as indicating extreme hunger and 10 as signaling
extreme fullness. With the scale in mind, begin to read your body’s
signals. Your target range should be between 3 and 8. If you go to
0, you may eat too much too fast, particularly since it takes your
brain 15 to 20 minutes to sense that your body is full. You should
begin to eat at 3 on the RPH scale and stop at 7 or 8, when you’re
comfortably full and satisfied.
4. Distinguish Between Emotional and Physical Hunger. Physical
hunger is a physiological process that occurs every three to four
hours. When you don’t listen to hunger cues, your hunger subsides
and your body begins to slow down to conserve energy. Emotional
hunger involves eating when you’re sad, happy, anxious or bored.
Understanding when you are trying to satisfy emotional needs with
food can help you find more appropriate ways to meet those needs.
5. Neutralize Food. There are no good or bad foods--all foods are
okay when eaten in moderation. Forbidding certain foods may
simply make you want them all the more. If portion control is a
problem with particular foods, try specific strategies with these
items--for example, measure out one serving of potato chips and
put the bag back in the pantry.
6. Do Not Skip Meals. Eating frequently throughout the day (3
small meals and 2-3 snacks) will stimulate your metabolism.
Skipping meals (including breakfast) can decrease your
metabolism.
7. Dispel Myths; Do Not Create Them. A safe weight loss is 1 or 2
pounds a week, not 20. Be wary of supplements and meal
replacement products. Product testimonials may or may not be
true; spokespersons may or may not have any credentials.
Remember, a healthy body comes from healthy eating.
8. Be Supportive, Not Critical. People lose weight at different rates.
Weight may drop off quickly at first and then plateau, or vice versa.
The important thing is that long-term healthy behavior gets results.
Reassure yourself that you are working hard and remember that
hard work pays off.
9. Watch Your Language. Do you find yourself thinking “I will never
lose weight” or “I feel fat”? Watch for thoughts that are negative or
irrational, rather than supportive of your goals. See if you can
accurately describe your mood. Are you angry, sad, afraid?
Understand that “fat” is not a feeling.
10. Change the Reward System. You are probably used to
rewarding yourself and being rewarded by others for losing pounds,
rather than for altering your behavior. Create a system of rewards
for the positive changes you make, rather than the numbers you
see on the scale.
This article is brought to you by Fitness By Day as a service of Idea, the leading international membership organization in the health and fitness industry. Always consult your physician before making any changes to your diet.