When we are trying to lose weight, we should avoid going to places where we are inclined to overeat. It just puts pressure on our limited supply of willpower. If you had a friend with a gambling problem, would you meet him in the bookies, or suggest somewhere safer? It is the same when you are wanting to reduce the amount you eat. Don't make it harder than it needs to be.
And one of the places to avoid is the Eat All You Can Buffet. Pretty much everyone stuffs themselves. Are we just wanting our money's worth? That might be part of it, but there is something else going on....
We rely on cues and rules of thumb to help us control our eating, so that we don't have to be constantly counting calories or measuring things out. For example, most of us will pour half a bowl of cereal. This is our rule of thumb quantity control. It doesn't matter if the bowl is small or large. A serving is half a bowl. So trick yourself with small bowls.
When there is lots of variety, we eat more. There is lots of research on this. Served a bowl of mixed colour sweets, people eat more than if they are all the same colour. It seems that when items are all the same, our brains recognise the items as a single whole, and can estimate the quantity. We lose this ability to estimate when there is variety. Effectively we see less when there is variety.
At buffets, the variety is the thing, and this is what gets us eating more than we should. At buffets, limit yourself to 2 different things on the plate at any one time.
American researchers state that "Both people and animals will eat more food when a meal or diet contains a greater variety of food, which can eventually cause weight gain". Variety seems to slow down the feelings of fullness and satisfaction. Eating the same sorts of food every day on the other hand limits the amount that you eat. Meals where the foods are similar in shape, texture or colour, can help reduce overeating.
So in our food-saturated society, where you can buy whatever food you want, variety is always there. And this is a risk for over-eating. Reducing variety when you are out shopping will help. If you must buy snacks, buy just one sort, only one flavour. If you must buy desserts, buy just one type.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Monday 24 August 2009
Saturday 22 August 2009
Are we training our children to be obese?
The Scottish Government has recently published research showing how much fatter we are becoming in Scotland. The latest figures are for 2003, comparing them with 1995.
In 2003 almost two-thirds of men (64%) and more than half of women (57%) were overweight. In 1995 57% of men and 47% of women were overweight. That is an increase of 12% for men and over 20% for women in less than 10 years.
Worse news is that the trend for obesity is increasing even faster. In 1995 16% of men and 17% of women were obese. This had increased to 21% of men and 24% of women in those 8 years. That is a staggering 30-40% - in just 8 years!
Let's just look at those figures again. 1 in 5 men is obese. 1 in 4 women is obese. And the trend is upwards. 2 in 3 men are overweight. Nearly 2 in 3 women who are overweight. That means that the large majority of Scottish people are overweight. And the trend is upwards. Rapidly upwards.
Now most people don't want to be obese, with all the social stigma, illness and physical difficulties it causes. So somehow it must be just too easy to put on those extra pounds. This blog will try to show you how some of this is happening (and it is just too easy to put on weight) and what you can do without having to follow a restricted diet.
What is more worrying, is that we seem to be passing this problem onto our children. Over 30% of our children are outside the healthy weight range. Here are some things you can do now to assist your children to avoid obesity in adulthood.
1. Don't eat in front of the telly. This is an obesity risk factor.
2. Reduce the amount of time doing sedentary things (which most children prefer). Some children are spending 4 hours in front of the tv, computer or with their game consoles. This is an obesity risk factor. If you reduce the opportunity for sedentary activity, research shows that children will do something more active. It is not about offering a choice, but just removing the chance to sit and veg.
3. Fizzy pop should be a very rare special treat and not an everyday drink. Pop is implicated strongly in obesity.
If you are overweight, and the majority of Scots are, don't pass it on.
Adults are classed as overweight if their BMI is 25 or more, obese if their BMI is 30 or more and morbidly obese if their BMI is 40 or more. Check your BMI now.
If you are wanting to lose weight, and live near Glasgow, then contact me and see how hypnotherapy can help.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
In 2003 almost two-thirds of men (64%) and more than half of women (57%) were overweight. In 1995 57% of men and 47% of women were overweight. That is an increase of 12% for men and over 20% for women in less than 10 years.
Worse news is that the trend for obesity is increasing even faster. In 1995 16% of men and 17% of women were obese. This had increased to 21% of men and 24% of women in those 8 years. That is a staggering 30-40% - in just 8 years!
Let's just look at those figures again. 1 in 5 men is obese. 1 in 4 women is obese. And the trend is upwards. 2 in 3 men are overweight. Nearly 2 in 3 women who are overweight. That means that the large majority of Scottish people are overweight. And the trend is upwards. Rapidly upwards.
Now most people don't want to be obese, with all the social stigma, illness and physical difficulties it causes. So somehow it must be just too easy to put on those extra pounds. This blog will try to show you how some of this is happening (and it is just too easy to put on weight) and what you can do without having to follow a restricted diet.
What is more worrying, is that we seem to be passing this problem onto our children. Over 30% of our children are outside the healthy weight range. Here are some things you can do now to assist your children to avoid obesity in adulthood.
1. Don't eat in front of the telly. This is an obesity risk factor.
2. Reduce the amount of time doing sedentary things (which most children prefer). Some children are spending 4 hours in front of the tv, computer or with their game consoles. This is an obesity risk factor. If you reduce the opportunity for sedentary activity, research shows that children will do something more active. It is not about offering a choice, but just removing the chance to sit and veg.
3. Fizzy pop should be a very rare special treat and not an everyday drink. Pop is implicated strongly in obesity.
If you are overweight, and the majority of Scots are, don't pass it on.
Adults are classed as overweight if their BMI is 25 or more, obese if their BMI is 30 or more and morbidly obese if their BMI is 40 or more. Check your BMI now.
If you are wanting to lose weight, and live near Glasgow, then contact me and see how hypnotherapy can help.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Thursday 20 August 2009
Diet soft drinks makes you put on weight - so what is that all about then?
To try to control your weight, you've moved onto diet soft or fizzy drinks. But scientific studies are showing that for each can of diet drink, your risk of being overweight goes up by a belt-busting 41%.
Well, diet drinks don't themselves make you put on weight. So what could be going on?
It could be that your body is complaining at being tricked. In comes all this lovely sweetness and your body is expecting calories. They don't come, so your body sends you the munchies by way of complaint. There is some evidence that soft drinks stimulate appetite.
It could be that part of you thinks that no-cal drinks constitute a diet, giving you permission to eat a bit more than you otherwise might.
So, if you are drinking diet pops, have a think about whether you are making up for it by eating more of something else.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Well, diet drinks don't themselves make you put on weight. So what could be going on?
It could be that your body is complaining at being tricked. In comes all this lovely sweetness and your body is expecting calories. They don't come, so your body sends you the munchies by way of complaint. There is some evidence that soft drinks stimulate appetite.
It could be that part of you thinks that no-cal drinks constitute a diet, giving you permission to eat a bit more than you otherwise might.
So, if you are drinking diet pops, have a think about whether you are making up for it by eating more of something else.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Tuesday 18 August 2009
The conspiracy of fat and sugar
Andrew Drenowski is an American scientist studying why we are all getting so much fatter than we were just 30 years ago.
He shows that it is the wicked conspiracy of fat and sugar that is the culprit - the blame swithering between the two from decade to decade. His work shows that energy-rich foods, food with lots of calories to the ounce, have become cheap, convenient and good-tasting (developed by other clever scientists in the food industry). Energy dense foods cost less per calorie than do nutrient dense foods. It is this low cost of high calorie, great-tasting manufactured food that is causing the overall increase in weight of the population as a whole, and individuals too.
You might have seen the film "Supersize me". The star complained that he felt the burgers he was eating gave him an initial shot of intense pleasure, but didn't make him feel full or satisfied, but rather made him want more.Fatty, sugary foods trigger the pleasure receptors in our brains, in a similar way to recreational drugs.
It is not just the burger chains though. I once read the ingredients on boned leg of lamb for sale from a famous upmarket UK store. It read 84% meat. What was the other 16% for goodness' sake?
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
He shows that it is the wicked conspiracy of fat and sugar that is the culprit - the blame swithering between the two from decade to decade. His work shows that energy-rich foods, food with lots of calories to the ounce, have become cheap, convenient and good-tasting (developed by other clever scientists in the food industry). Energy dense foods cost less per calorie than do nutrient dense foods. It is this low cost of high calorie, great-tasting manufactured food that is causing the overall increase in weight of the population as a whole, and individuals too.
You might have seen the film "Supersize me". The star complained that he felt the burgers he was eating gave him an initial shot of intense pleasure, but didn't make him feel full or satisfied, but rather made him want more.Fatty, sugary foods trigger the pleasure receptors in our brains, in a similar way to recreational drugs.
It is not just the burger chains though. I once read the ingredients on boned leg of lamb for sale from a famous upmarket UK store. It read 84% meat. What was the other 16% for goodness' sake?
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
Wednesday 12 August 2009
What makes us start eating, and then again, what makes us stop?
There are lots of cues that triggering eating, and hunger is seldom one of them. Most of us don't ever really feel hunger, and when we do, we can satisfy it straight away, no waiting at all. Knowing what triggers your eating, and also what causes you to stop eating is crucial to controlling your weight. After all, your weight is the result of what you eat - when calories in are more than calories used up, we gain weight. We all know that.
The eating cues that we respond to include the people we are with. If you are with a companion who eats like a sparrow, it is harder to ladle out a second or third helping. Sometimes we associate things with food - like watching a film with a bucket of popcorn or driving home eating a chocolate bar. When we know what the eating cues are, we can work out ways to avoid them.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
The eating cues that we respond to include the people we are with. If you are with a companion who eats like a sparrow, it is harder to ladle out a second or third helping. Sometimes we associate things with food - like watching a film with a bucket of popcorn or driving home eating a chocolate bar. When we know what the eating cues are, we can work out ways to avoid them.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Tuesday 11 August 2009
More about mindless eating
Mindless eating is when we just chomp away for want of something better to do. So we might be eating popcorn in the cinema (out of a bucket!), munching on a chocolate bar in the underground or bus. Or maybe we are at the football, eating a pie. Or in front of the telly, with a bag of crisps (some bags so huge now they would be better called sacks).
When we are concentrating on doing something else, then we are not concentrating on what we are eating. The calories go in, and we don't even get that nice feeling of a full tummy. This sort of eating is relatively easy to give up.
Reducing weight means eating less, so it is important that we really enjoy our food. Concentrating on what we are eating allows us to enjoy it more, but also gives time for the stretch receptors in our stomach to notice when we are getting full.
Take the Mindless Eating Challenge! This website is run from Cornell University, and is really helpful in making those frequent small changes to eating behaviour. Give it a try.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
When we are concentrating on doing something else, then we are not concentrating on what we are eating. The calories go in, and we don't even get that nice feeling of a full tummy. This sort of eating is relatively easy to give up.
Reducing weight means eating less, so it is important that we really enjoy our food. Concentrating on what we are eating allows us to enjoy it more, but also gives time for the stretch receptors in our stomach to notice when we are getting full.
Take the Mindless Eating Challenge! This website is run from Cornell University, and is really helpful in making those frequent small changes to eating behaviour. Give it a try.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Sunday 9 August 2009
Should I be counting calories?
Counting calories is very difficult to do over the long term, but we do need to have a good idea of the amount we can eat without putting on weight. Click here for a good website. It tells you how many calories you are consuming to maintain your present weight. Then if you enter the weight you would like to be, then it tells you your goal calories too.
For the moment, lets say that women need 2,000 calories a day, and men need 2,500. This is plenty for 3 satisfying meals. Research shows that over the last 30 years or so, the calorie value of each meal has made no significant change.
So why are we on average 10 pounds heavier?
The difference is the 4th meal. We munch away on chocolates, crisps and biscuits to the value of a complete meal.
Don't forget, if you buy them, you will eat them. In the hand is in the mouth!
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
For the moment, lets say that women need 2,000 calories a day, and men need 2,500. This is plenty for 3 satisfying meals. Research shows that over the last 30 years or so, the calorie value of each meal has made no significant change.
So why are we on average 10 pounds heavier?
The difference is the 4th meal. We munch away on chocolates, crisps and biscuits to the value of a complete meal.
Don't forget, if you buy them, you will eat them. In the hand is in the mouth!
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Wednesday 5 August 2009
How does hypnosis help weight loss
Following a discussion of your concerns, the therapist will check out with you a series of immediate goals. This might be to eat at a table rather than in front of the telly, to use smaller plates, or to cook more at home. Once these goals are clear, the hypnosis begins. In a deep state of hypnosis, these goals will be proposed to you as suggestions.
The hypnotic state (which is very pleasant!) makes you very suggestible. While you retain full control and awareness of what is going on, you are highly sensitive to positive suggestions. Away from the therapy room, you will find yourself reminded of these goals and before picking up the phone to order a takeaway, you will stop and think. That gives you enough time to reconsider your order, or decide to go ahead anyway. That little voice remains with you though - always at the back of your mind.
As a hypnotherapist I have so often given the suggestion "You can leave food on the plate" that I can now do it. I was brought up to clean my plate and breaking out of this habit has taken time. Hypnosis made it easier, and now after many years of being a good girl and cleaning my plate, I can now leave a plate half-eaten. It means I can enjoy the taste of the occasional cooked breakfast, without the guilt of eating too much fatty food.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
The hypnotic state (which is very pleasant!) makes you very suggestible. While you retain full control and awareness of what is going on, you are highly sensitive to positive suggestions. Away from the therapy room, you will find yourself reminded of these goals and before picking up the phone to order a takeaway, you will stop and think. That gives you enough time to reconsider your order, or decide to go ahead anyway. That little voice remains with you though - always at the back of your mind.
As a hypnotherapist I have so often given the suggestion "You can leave food on the plate" that I can now do it. I was brought up to clean my plate and breaking out of this habit has taken time. Hypnosis made it easier, and now after many years of being a good girl and cleaning my plate, I can now leave a plate half-eaten. It means I can enjoy the taste of the occasional cooked breakfast, without the guilt of eating too much fatty food.
If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
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