Food & Mood

Separate Food from Mood
*Don't buy snacks you habitually abuse when you are stressed
*Keep tempting snack foods (that you might have on hand for family members) out of sight
*Keep healthy snack foods available
*Pick up the phone, and chat with a friend instead of picking up a chip or a cookie (OR, I might add, get online and reach out here!)
*Practice yoga, weed your garden, knit (I do this!), or do some other activity instead of stress eating
*Switch to a stress food substitute that won't make you fat
*Talk yourself out of mood eating
(p. 68)

Gullo says, "I will never tell you that the foods you choose to eat as mood lifters don't have a pleasurable taste. They do. But nothing tastes better than looking in the mirror every morning and feeling proud of what you see. Food pleasure is fleeting, and I've yet to meet the stress eater who is happy with his behavior or himself for doing it!" (69).''

"What mood eaters want is an IMMEDIATE change in their feelings. That's why it's about SNACKING, not real food, and it's about snacking on what's easiest to get into your mouth..." (70)

"Common patterns of mood eating:
*Same food: mood eaters return time and time again to their favorite snack food
*Same place: mood meaters eat alone in the kitchen
*Same time of day: Mood eating is done in the late afternoon or evening, almost never in the morning
*Same mood: It's feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration betrayal, disappointment, or boredom that are the common triggers for mood eating
*Same people: Mood eaters snack b/c they become stressed by the same people over and over again (boss, partner, child, relative, friend)
*Same situation: mood eaters snack b/c they become stressed by the same situations over and over again, even b/c of boredom
*Same quantities of food: Mood eating is almost always about volume
*Same reason: Mood eaters want a treat or comfort from food. That is why mood eating is almost always done with a food they buy and bring home for themselves, even if they may believe they bought it for others, especially family or company."

"Once you realize your mood eating is totally predictable, you can control it with strategy!"

"The best place to end mood eating is not a psychiatrist's couch. It's at the supermarket...The interesting and even wonderful thing about ending the pattern of mood eating is that when snacks aren't immediately available, almost all mood eaters automatically busy themselves with a non-eating activity...In the end, no matter what the burdens or stresses of your life may be, you can't eat what's not there!" (all of the above, p. 72)

Strategies for Snack Foods:
*Toss out the mood snacks in your kitchen right now and do not re-stock
*If you absolutely must keep snacks in your home for other people, here are proven strategies to keep you from eating them:
-- Ask the others in your house for permission (weird choice of word, to me) to buy a type of snack that is not your favourite or that you are unlikely to abuse
-- Keep snack foods out of sight, NEVER on the kitchen counter
--Ask those in your immediate family not to snack in front of you
--Have family members hide tempting snack foods if you're given to grazing (my hubby has me do this when he's dieting)
--If nothing else works, lock all snacks in a cash box with a combo lock, and make sure only those who eat the snacks have the combination (for some reason, I think this is a cool idea)
--Keep healthy snack foods available so you're not tempted to go on to the fattening ones
(pp. 73 - 74)

Strategies for Stress on the Horizon
*Write out what you will eat for that day in advance. Direct your psyche to think in terms of these foods only and to avoid all others.
*Plan which snacks you are going to eat and keep all others out of sight
*Plan to avoid trouble
(p. 75)

Best Activities to Block Stress Eating
*Knitting and crocheting
*Warm bath or shower
*Playing a Game Boy
*Playing with a pet
*Saying a favourite prayer
*Keeping a diary
*Sending e-mails to friends
*Going online to learn about something that interests you
*Having sex (Yay!)
*Stretching and exercising, especially with hand weights
*Meditation or yoga
*Squeezing a rubber ball
*Watching a video or reading a book
*Playing an instrument
*Shopping for items you enjoy (other than food)
(P. 77)

"If you can't stop it, switch it" i.e. if you must snack, choose "legal" foods (P. 78)

Finally, I thought this observation at the end of this chapter was compelling: "One of the most destructive aspects of mood eating goes almost totally unrecognized: Mood eating deceives us into living as mimics. When someone hurts or disappoints you, you then disappoint yourself by breaking with you weight program and gaining weight simply b/c you were eating over their behaviour. It's rather ironic that when we eat b/c someone or something has made us angry or upset, we then also get angry with ourselves for doing it. It's a no-win pattern" (p. 81).

Source:

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/stillmans/644573-stillmans-losers-rock-november-7.html