How to get disciplined about your health

For most of us, the impulse to reach out for something to eat when we are upset and disturbed, is as natural as breathing. At some point in life all of us experience uncalled for stress which upsets our controlled eating patterns and washes away all our efforts to lose weight. An angry phone call, any festival, children’s exams, an argument with your spouse or a difference of opinion with your mother-in-law may trigger the well-under-control tongue to begin a binge which seems uncontrollable & by the time you are through with it, the damage is done. After all its not a perfect world, with calm workplaces, perfectly behaved children, and terribly understanding spouses. We are all driven towards food for solace when under stress. When your feelings are pushed to their limits, your eyes will seek and find food & there begins your binge eating. After the storm has passed away you feel terribly guilty about having blown your diet. At this juncture it is very important for you to know two important facts 1) Bingeging does not equal failure and that should not be an excuse to go off your diet. 2) Binge attacks happen to people who have low serotonin levels.

Serotonin is a brain chemical, which has a calming effect on you. If you are stressed out there is a demand made by your body for more serotonin. A stressful condition increases the demand for serotonin & if it is in short supply in your body you will crave for foods which help boost its production. Such foods are usually rich in carbohydrates, as carbohydrates help in producing more serotonin which in turn sends the calming signals and the ‘feeling full’ signals to the brain and that is how one stops eating after the serotonin levels are increased to optimum level. A drain on your emotions increases the demand for serotonin and that is how binge eaters attack carbohydrate rich foods to overcome their emotional stress. These foods include chocolates, pastries, bread, potatoes, pizzas, burgers, ice creams etc. Therefore our emotions control the level of serotonin which in turn controls our appetite. That is why when bad mood strikes, many of us feel the need to eat sugary snacks which helps increase our serotonin levels and makes us feel better – for a short while. Two hours after a sugary snack when the blood sugar level drops again, hunger signals are sent to the brain and the body demands more food. The more sugar you consume the more hungry you feel and the more frequently you feel the need to eat. The body pumps out more and more insulin to take the sugar away from the blood and utilize it for energy. Whatever the body needs is used for energy and stored as glycogen, the excess is stored away as fat. Hence every time you binge you store away some excess calories in the form of fat. Therefore you may be watching your diet most of the time, but over the years, with periodic attacks of binge eating, weight creeps in and one fine day you realize that you are overweight.

 

 

THE SOLUTION

1. It is possible that intellectually you know how to prevent yourself from bingeging, but practically speaking you do not have the will or energy to avoid the binge foods. All you want to do is to sink your teeth into that chocolate or that pastry that you have been dreaming about. The first rule to avoid bingeing when you are stressed is to avoid keeping tasty snack foods in the house. As most binge eaters crave for something sweet to binge on they usually take on to chocolates, cakes & pastries. Never keep these in the house. Instead take in 2-3 tbsp. of glucose powder by itself. It is so terribly sweet that serotonin levels rise immediately & you will not be able go through the second tablespoon & soon your brain will send you the feeling full signal that will make your binge eating come to a screeching halt without doing much damage to your calorie intake. Each table spoon of glucose powder is equal to 40 calories therefore if you have consumed between 2-3 tbsp. of glucose powder you have ingested about 100 calories which is comparatively less than what you would have consumed in the form of chocolates and pastries which could amount up to 500-800 calories. Remember all you need is anything sweet at the time of a binge attack and if the sweet food eaten is not tasty it is easier to control the binge. Eating seedless dates is also a good idea when you feel the urge to binge.
2. There are times when there is no emotional stress but you may want to relax controls over food soon after a weight loss program. You may want to load up on junk food soon after you have achieved your target weight. At that point the requirement may not be sugary foods as mentioned above, but just foods of your choice which you have been missing out on when on a diet. This kind of a binge is less damaging as the demand made by the body is not for sugary food but just about anything that you may be yearning to eat like Pani-puri or a Bhel or a meal at your favourite Mexican restaurant or sizzler or may be just a hearty home –cooked meal without thinking of food combination and calories. Well! The good news is that you can do all of this without feeling guilty, as eating this kind of food once or twice after a weight loss program will not make you gain any weight. It will just stop the weight loss process, which in any case you had planned to stop as you have already reached your target weight. Weight gain is brought about by sugary foods & not once in a while restaurant dinners of your choice. In fact after you have binged on the foods of your choice you will experience a return of eating control & a lessening of diet-induced tension.
3. As soon as you re-enter the wonderful world of food choices, unrestricted meals, social dining, and to top it all a perfect weight, you are in the presence of triggers that can easily destroy your eating control.
4. When you have entered the maintenance phase of your weight-loss program remember that you have worked hard to achieve that ideal body weight.
5. That meal timings are maintained.
6. Do not go back to your pre-diet days of no breakfast, light lunch and heavy dinners.
7. Continue eating wholesome food like whole grain cereals, fruit & vegetables.
8. If you couldn’t help going wrong over your food choices more than once or twice in a fortnight on your maintenance phase then substitute one of your main meal for fruits, especially dinner.
9. Remember that the only way to increase muscle mass and in turn your metabolic rate is to exercise. If you are committed to keeping off the kilos you worked so hard to lose, exercise has to become a part of your life. Do not give up on exercise as soon as you have achieved your target weight.
10. Above all, do not give up on your maintenance diet if you binge occasionally. As long as you are exercising, eating a couple of extra oily meals during the festive season doesn’t matter. You are not going to gain weight. Soon after the binge get in control again.

(As published in Hindustan Times dated August 05, 2019)

 

ANJALI MUKERJEE, Nutritionist, Founder Director-Health Total, having health centres in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune.

Health Total treats obesity & other health related disorders.

Contact numbers: 1800 266 0607 / 022-672 66888

For further information, visit www.health-total.com

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