The “Ruined” Diet Day Mentality and Why It’s Bad
Women (and a lot of men too) tend to think a certain way when they start their day off on a bad foot as far as their diet and eating healthy. Many people say the same thing. “Oh, I already ate horribly today, why not just finish off the day with a cheeseburger and french fries or pizza and call it a day”.
There is a reason the commercial was made about a woman who starts her day off right ( I think it is for a yogurt, or a healthy bowl of cereal), and then makes better food decisions throughout the rest of the day.
Then it shows the counter of that, and the woman starting off with a totally unhealthy breakfast and snacks, and going through the day eating fattening, greasy and fried foods.
It is true that the way we start our day, or even if we ruin it in the middle, our bodies crave “crap” for the rest of the day. I’m definite proof of that, and I have the mentality myself.
However, I noticed when I started to reject that mentality, and get right back on track that same day and eat right, my weight really seemed to either stabilize or come off if that’s what I was trying to do.
Foods like salty, fried fattening foods and sweets that are heavy and fatty in nature are truly addictive. There has been multiple studies that have pointed out that fatty and sugary foods have the same addictive chemical effects on the brain as some addictive drugs. However, part of it is also a state of mind.
You can definitely put yourself back into the right state of mind after eating unhealthily at one meal, and get back in the groove. It’s just that it takes a lot more effort to do it after you’ve indulged because your brain is sort of programmed to crave that kind of food for the rest of the day. When it doesn’t get it, it may still send out those signals, but they will go away.
You just have to be patient and realize that this is a typical process. It’s almost like going through a withdrawal phase. You have to add some willpower to it and really try to resist the urge to splurge.
You will be amazed that if you can get into the habit, it will impact your waistline like nothing else. Skinny people typically have this habit, even if they don’t know it or actively try to do it.
They just may have a natural affinity to get back on track and they may naturally crave good eats after indulging in foods that make them feel crappy. Your appetite gets fueled for fatty, greasy and sugary foods when it gets a taste of them in other words.
Emulate the skinny people in your life in this way, and in a few months, you will realize the positive impact it has on your weight goals.
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :
Children’s Dietary Guidelines
Food pyramids and dietary guidelines have always been something that you think of as outlines for adults. Another belief we, as a society always held was that you’d outgrow your baby fat. Neither of these beliefs hold true anymore.
There is a growing concern about the fact that one in five preschoolers, ages 2 to 5 years old, is overweight. One of the changes taking place to combat this trend is education for parents to find out what quantity of food to feed their children as they outgrow baby food and switch to regular adult food.
In daycare, there is now a proposed change to get children 15 minutes of activity for every hour spent in the daycare. This is a good time in life to instill healthy habits and attitudes towards a beneficial amount of physical activity. Another recommendation for daycare is to limit standing or sitting time for the children to no more than 30 minutes at a time.
Also, avoidance of taking away recess or physical activity time as a punishment is a recommendation. For the babies in daycare, they should not be in equipment that limits movement, such as baby swings, for any extended periods of time.
Babies often know what’s best for them when it comes to portion control when they are very young. They usually drink enough formula until they are full and then refuse to take any more. When babies make the transition to solid food as toddlers, parents need to know what is a healthy portion size.
Parents may tend to give them more than they should eat and insist that they finish it. Without meaning any harm, parents may be establishing a lifetime habit of overeating. The national dietary recommendations are now going to include guidelines specifically for preschoolers. For portion size, the recommendation for each food category is one tablespoon of that food per year of the child’s age.
When it comes to attitudes towards physical activity and eating and what the norm will be, parents have the largest influence on their children. Daycare still is a good place to work on instilling norms of portion control and activity, since three-fourths of preschoolers spend some or all of their days there.
Recommendations here are to use portion control as it is age appropriate. Also, daycare staff should be sensitive to a child’s cue that they are full. For moms, breastfeeding is preferable because breastfed babies tend to be less likely to become obese adults. Pediatricians need to be sensitive to the issue of preschool obesity.
Infants and children need to be weighed at each checkup. If there is the beginning of an unhealthy weight increase, parents should be counseled and advised on steps to prevent obesity in their child. Federal nutrition assistance programs are available so parents can afford healthful eating for their children.
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :
When Food is an Addiction
Many people pass judgement on others who are overweight especially if they, themselves, don’t have a weight problem. Most people don’t realize that overeating and the often resulting obesity may be from differences in how our brains are “wired.”
Overeating and obesity doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is lazy or has no will power. In a recent study, results show that, for some people, food is an addiction and their brains respond to food in a similar way that people with other addictions respond to alcohol or drugs when the binge on food.
There are differences in actual brain activity in those who have have an addiction to food than in those who don’t when shown a picture of a sweet treat. The participants in the study who had signs of food addiction had more activity in the craving areas of the brain in response to the picture. The same participants also had less activity in the part of the brain that inhibits the desire to eat.
When measuring food addiction in this study, the researchers measured responses in a similar manner to how they would gauge any other addiction such as drugs or alcohol. Food addicted individuals will have the same type of behavior patterns as those addicted to any other substances .
They will be preoccupied with thoughts of food, be prone to going on eating binges and will have little control over their eating patterns.
Since obesity is such a problem and the effects on our health are serious, the medical profession is as concerned about food addiction as they are about other substance addictions like drugs or alcohol. Extreme overeating and resulting obesity is just as dangerous to our health.
The importance of recognizing that food is, for some, an addiction and not just a lack of will power, can change how individuals approach weight loss and changing eating patterns. Breaking the cycle of food addiction can be dealt with the same way as breaking addictions to any other substance.
Recognizing signs and symptoms of withdrawal from certain foods and a one day at a time attitude can help an individual overcome food addiction. The researchers at Yale University have come up with a list of questions to determine if you have an addiction to food that are similar to the self questioning thresholds for other substance addictions. They can be looked up online at abc world news and click on the health tab.
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :
Lady Gaga Skewered Over Eating Comments
Posted by EatingToLive on April 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Lady Gaga, everyone’s favorite pop star weirdo (besides Nicky Minaj I guess) endured a lot of criticism over a recent tweet she posted. The star, who has acknowledged her struggles with bulimia after detailing how she barfed up fried chicken recently, actually posted that pop stars don’t eat on her twitter.
Of course, the comments sparked some outrage and some very screaming responses back, which they actually deserved. What makes me the most bad about an irresponsible comment like that is that millions of young, impressionable girls love her music, and they probably listen to what she has to say, as evidenced by her thousands of twitter followers.
When a pop star admits that she starves herself to look good, what kind of precedent is this setting for already-insecure teens that probably want to have a body like hers? And it definitely doesn’t help that she has been a bulimic herself, and knows how she got that way was from pressure from the business of looking good.
I felt like her comments basically just promoted not eating. After she posted this comment, she further says how she’d love to eat a cheeseburger. Although this comment can be construed as funny, it’s really kind of sad that she’s depriving herself and sharing this deprivation with millions of fans.
Perhaps it was an attempt to be honest, which I definitely appreciate, but as someone myself who has struggled greatly with an eating disorder in the past, I feel like what may have been an attempt at humor and letting her fans get to know her better fell pretty flat.
Obviously, I write about dieting, but I write about it more so to get my endeavors to stay healthy down and share them with people. I don’t promote starvation, but I definitely do promote eating healthy so you can feel great, and having the willpower to stay away from certain foods at times.
I feel like Lady Gaga’s slim figure has come from unhealthy body image, and obviously she has struggled with eating disorders, and I don’t advocate getting super skinny like she is that way. Isn’t it her that says “born this way”? Her latest statements definitely don’t back that up….
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :Filed under Celebrities and Diets, Daily Diet Blog, bulimia, cheeseburger, comments, disorder, eating, lady gaga, pop star don't eat, twitter, twitter comments · Tagged with