Taking Small Steps to Good Health: Stop Mindless Eating!

 If you are thinking about making some small changes to your health in the next month or so, remember choose carefully and make it slow and steady.  As a fitness coach, I recommend picking one or two changes you can commit to and focus on them over a period of two or three weeks.  Once you feel comfortable with that change, you can add on and work on new ideas to improve your health, energy level and fitness.   

Small Plates v. Big Plates

Dinner plates in the United States have grown 22% in size since the 1960's.  Here is one change that can be made to help your family control portion size and reduce mindless eating.  Choose a plate 6 to 7 inches for children and 7 to 9 inches for adults for your largest meal.  Also for your occasional sweet treat, try serving one scoop of ice cream or pudding in a ramekin rather than a bowl.  It will take some time but your body will adjust to the new  portions and you will be surprised that, in time, it will be enough to satisfy you.

 NO Eating in the Living Room!

Eat all your meals including snacks at a table (and I don't mean the coffee table in the living room).  Make it a rule that you and your family members must eat at the kitchen table with no distractions while you eat.  This is important because you want to be aware of how much you are consuming at each meal or snack.  If you are watching your favorite TV show, you may not listen to your body telling you that you are full.  Instead, you will continue to eat until the show is over or your bag of chips is empty!  Sitting at a table and focusing on what you are doing (just eating) will allow you to enjoy your meal and listen to your body cues telling you that you have had enough.

 Mindless Eating after 7pm

So here is the rule - No Eating After 7pm.  Try to eat your dinner by 7pm and make it a rule to never pull out snacks after 7pm while you are working on the computer or watching TV.  You may need to replace that behavior if you have created a strong habit of doing this.  Having a cup of tea or decaf coffee may be a way to address this issue and break the habit.  Sometimes changing your activity helps diminish the urge to snack.  Instead of grabbing a bag of chips from the cabinet while watching TV, remove yourself from the situation and take a short walk or do some stretching.  You will need to think about what triggers the desire to eat in the evening and replace the behavior with a positive action or possibly change up your evening routine until you no longer want to snack in the evening.

 Share Your Food or Get a Doggie Bag (for you or your dog)

If you are in the habit of cleaning your plate because that is what you were taught to do, here is one area you can work on changing your mindless eating.  There is no reason to clean your plate every time you eat.  Sharing your food at a restaurant or taking home half for lunch tomorrow is a way to cut down on what you are mindlessly eating. Often, we don't need the whole portion that we are served but we eat everything because of the habit or distractions while eating.  Often we feel so full and sleepy after eating these large meals.  Commit to listening to your body, save a little on your plate and you will feel so much better after you eat.

 Being mindful of what we eat can help us to be healthier in our food choices and food intake.  Think about these suggestions and choose one or two changes for your family.  Start slow and develop habits by taking small steps.  Don't get overwhelmed by starting new programs and diets and changing everything at once.  You will find that if you introduce and succeed in making one small change, you will develop the confidence to make other changes and improve the overall health and fitness of your family.

 Kiersten Bartolotta is a fitness & wellness coach in Sayville.  She offers fitness classes for walkers, runners and kids. She also conducts seminars for community groups and businesses and consults on healthy living.  She believes in taking small steps to making big changes in fitness and health.  To contact her, go to www.walktorunfitness.com.