TAKING CARE OF YOUR EATING HABITS By: Dr. Trevor Powell At some point in our busy lifes, we experience eating disorders in certain level, in addition to cultural factors, such as modern fashion for a slim figure and the craze for dieting. In an age where female and male models with perfect figures appear in all the magazines and movie screens, being the wrong shape can have a devastating effect on self-confidence. As a result food and eating have become a battleground for many people, especially women where there are good days and bad days. When you are under stress the eating problems may become worse and can deal to more serious condition, such as anorexia, obesity. It is estimated that 1 in 20 women in the developing world experiences distressing episodes of uncontrolled bringe-eating. For some their concern about their shape and weight drives them to extreme measures such as prolonged fasting, self-induced vomiting, and taking appetite suppressants and unnecessary laxatives. This condition is called bulimia, which literally means “ox hunger”. To achieve the shape you want, the obvious way is to go on a diet. However, despite the amount of time, effort, and commitment expended on them, diets are rarely successful. There is good evidence that dieting places people under physiological and psychological pressure not to eat and paradoxically causes overeating. Dieting leads to mood swings, causes cycles of starving and overeating, upsets appetite, and creates a preoccupation with food. People replace pattern of dieting and bingeing with regular meals do not tend to gain weight and some lose weight. Eating problems are often triggered by a period of dieting or stressful phase in which you have too many demands on your time and feel helpless. There are also a number of predisposing factors: LOW SELF-ESTEEM A low opinion of yourself may be caused by an unhappy childhood during which your parents did not openly express their love to you. Up to one-third of all people who suffer from chronic bulimia report having been sexually abused. PERFECTIONISM If your goals are unattainably high, you will never feel content and relaxed. SENSE OF USELESSNESS. You may be unhappy with your present circumstances but feel powerless to do anything to change them. CULTURAL FACTORS Certain eating problems occur only in particular cultures. Bulimia is almost totally confined to women in developed countries where th emphasis is on slimness. Obsessive eating damages your health; creates shame, guilt, and depression; encourages isolation; and can devastate your social life. What can you do to reestablish a good eating habits? 1.- Establish a good meal plan. Work out a sensible eating pattern and keep to it. Eat three meals a day. With two ligth snacks,this can be veggies or fresh frute to get the fibra and water your body needs for extra energy. Do not go for more than three or four hours with out a snack. 2.- Keep a diary of you eating. This my be difficult to keep, but try to write down what you eat if you have a specific eating disorder, such as bulimia, obesity, or anorexia, write down when, where and what you eat. Do not abandon your diary even when things go wrong. Look at this record for a pattern, and use it to identify times when you are at your most vulnerable. 3.- Stop dieting learn more about healty eating, particulary the benefits of more fiber and reducing saturated fats. If you narrowly restrict yourself to eating only certain foods, try to broaden your range by gradually and progressively reintroducing avoided foods back into meal plan. Establish a routine of healthy, regular eating -make it a lifestyle, not a diet. 4.- Stop Binge Eating. Learn to recognize the circunstances that cause you to binge. work out ways of dealing with them so you can prevent the bingeing.Try to talk about you feelings with someone you trust. 5.- List Distracting Activities these should be easy, enjoyable activities that remove you from the place of eating (e.g. cycling,gardening, walking or sports). The best way of breaking any of these eating disorders is to establish good eating habits with three regular spaced meals a day, interspersed by light, realty snacks. Try to include plenty of fresh organic produce in your daily meal plan, and remember that this is not a diet. Eating regular meals does not make you fat it keeps you body healthy and with the energy to confront the challenges we face in our everyday life.MZ www.eatwellguide.com Search by zip code to find restaurants and stores that sell locally grown and produced foods in your area.www.cookingbynumbers.com Make a last-minute meal.Think there's nothing in your kitchen? List your scraps onto the site and, tada, the site gives you a list of meals you can make with what you've got.
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