Estimating portion size is difficult for all of us, but developing rules of thumb will be handy. Because we have got used to larger portions in restaurants, our estimate of calorie content of a meal gets confused.
Research by Brian Wansink and colleagues has shown that everyone (normal weight, underweight and overweight, men and women) has difficulty in estimating the calorie content of a large plate of food, whereas they accurately assess the calories in a more normal portion.
If we are overweight, we tend to have larger portions. That means that those of us who are overweight are making these wrong estimates frequently. As a result, we are underestimating the calorie content of most of our meals and so we put on weight. What to do?
These researchers suggest that you should estimate the calories and then double them. A normal meal might be 500 calories. If you are overweight and you know that you are eating a large portion, then advise yourself that this meal probably contains 1,000 calories - half your day's allowance.
Counting calories is dull, but having a fair idea of the calorie content of your meals is handy. It allows you to develop useful rules of thumb when you are seriously trying to control your eating.
http://www.carolinebrowntherapy.com/
Showing posts with label overeating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label overeating. Show all posts
Monday, 18 January 2010
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Take up knitting!
I often suggest to my clients that they might take up knitting! I heard on the radio recently that the majority of people watch tv for more than 3 hours a day. This is an obesity risk, since we often feel the need to do something while watching telly, and this frequently takes the form of eating. Eating and knitting are incompatible, so it is a way to stop you nibbling.
And today on the radio, it seems that NHS Highland staff are taking up knitting to relieve stress. Why not give it a try! Look here.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
And today on the radio, it seems that NHS Highland staff are taking up knitting to relieve stress. Why not give it a try! Look here.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Yoga can help you lose weight
One of my clients told me she found yoga helpful. As a result, I have been keeping an eye out for research into yoga and weight loss.
A study funded by the United States National Cancer Institute shows that regular yoga practice can help control middle-age spread, maintaining the weight of normal-weight middle-aged people, and possibly contributing to weight loss among the overweight middle-aged. They published a follow-up in August 2009.
“In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesised that mindfulness — a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga — could affect eating behaviour,”
This supports a great deal of the research which you will find on my blog. Eating in front of the telly, in the car, or any time when you are really doing something else, means you eat more. This sort of eating stops your digestive system from telling the brain that you have had enough to eat. Stretch receptors take about 20 minutes to notice that we are full, and if we miss the signals, we will overeat. His research shows the Mindfulness that comes from practising yoga keeps you in control when faced with delicious food when you are not hungry.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
A study funded by the United States National Cancer Institute shows that regular yoga practice can help control middle-age spread, maintaining the weight of normal-weight middle-aged people, and possibly contributing to weight loss among the overweight middle-aged. They published a follow-up in August 2009.
“In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesised that mindfulness — a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga — could affect eating behaviour,”
This supports a great deal of the research which you will find on my blog. Eating in front of the telly, in the car, or any time when you are really doing something else, means you eat more. This sort of eating stops your digestive system from telling the brain that you have had enough to eat. Stretch receptors take about 20 minutes to notice that we are full, and if we miss the signals, we will overeat. His research shows the Mindfulness that comes from practising yoga keeps you in control when faced with delicious food when you are not hungry.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com
Monday, 24 August 2009
Why do we stuff ourselves at Eat All You Can Buffets
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
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
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