How to Stop Letting Our Food Hang-ups Win: Common Scenarios
So now we know what are the common food hang-ups and rituals that people tend to have. We also know that when we stay stubbornly stuck in these behaviors, we’re less likely to reach our weight loss and fitness goals. Or, if we do reach them, we’re more likely to put the weight back on that we lost.
What goes in the typical adult’s life that can trip up your health and fitness quest? How can we actively decide on a course of action, so we aren’t as likely to fall into the trap of our food hang-ups when the goal is to lose weight and get healthy? What about our kids? How do we stop the food hang-up patterns from repeating?
Let’s get into some scenarios.
Scenario 1: Trying to stick to a healthy eating plan after starting a new job.
Starting a new job means you’re likely to feel hungrier than normal, as well as experiencing cravings due to the change in work environment and all of the adjustments and new things to learn that go along with it.
What can happen if you're not careful? A long busy day at a new job can leave you feeling pretty hangry when all is said and done. Probably you have a strong urge to hit the drive-thru and load up on whatever your favorite fast food is. Or maybe you want to make a beeline to the local bakery while it's still open and lose yourself filling sweets.
Make the healthier choice. There are definitely ways to reduce cravings when you're facing a life transition like starting a new job. First, don't deny the hunger. Even if you're trying to lose weight, your body is signaling that it needs something to combat the stress… so give it what it needs.
Add protein and healthy fiber.
There are lots of great snacks that don’t need to be full of fat and sugar to relieve that hungry feeling when it happens as a result of stress or mental overload.
Pack a healthy snack.
Get in the habit of packing a snack that combines fruit or crunchy veggies with a filling protein. Think hard-boiled eggs, cheese in small amounts, a handful of nuts, or something like lean turkey bacon. Mix up with a few whole grain crackers, carrot sticks or some other healthy produce to curb your hunger and stop you from cruising to the drive-thru after work.
Scenario 2: Let’s celebrate your personal victory with a great, big meal or fattening treat!
Most people’s food hang-ups involve always celebrating accomplishments, both for ourselves and our kids, with an unhealthy food choice. We buy cakes for every occasion, make small personal victories into a pizza night, reward our kids for straight A’s with a night out at a restaurant, and eat pie after we do our taxes. But when you’re really trying to make a permanent lifestyle change that leads to weight loss, falling back on the same old food hang-ups can trip us up big-time. So how can we change the pattern?
Make the healthier choice.
Nonfood based reward.
When you want to reward yourself or your kids for a job well done, you do have other options other than treats and snacks. For kids, you might decide to offer an experience type of reward such as a trip to a trampoline park, amusement park, night of bowling or something else that the family would enjoy doing together. If it’s for yourself, how about a spa day, trip to a museum, or something that you would enjoy as a reward for a job well done?
Don’t double down on ice cream.
Another creative option is to use the treat as a meal. Maybe on a night where there's no school the next day, you can treat the kids to an ice cream dinner. Normally people would do dinner and follow it with ice cream. But if you treat ice cream as the main meal for the evening, you can supplement with a light snack like veggies and yogurt dip later on.
Scenario 3: Emotional upheaval has you reaching for fattening desserts using the biggest spoon you can find.
Your boyfriend broke up with you. Or your rent went up and you’re freaking out about money. Your boss came down on you at work today. Or your sister is having health problems. You’ve been trying to be so good with making healthy food choices. But the emotional stress is putting a crimp in your plans. Carrot cake sounds so much better than carrot sticks right now. How can you avoid using food as an emotional band-aid when everything seems so crappy in your life?
Make the healthier choice.
Fattening and addictive foods always seem to be within easy reach. But try to remember that once you start, it’s hard to stop, especially when you’re feeling emotionally worn down and your nerves are in a fragile state.
The best thing to do for yourself when your emotions are getting the best of you is give your body and brain what’s needed most: protein, and whole grains. It’s hard to believe that when you want pie you should go for brown rice and lean chicken. But if you plan ahead and keep your fridge and pantry stocked with the right foods that will make a difference for your health, you’ll be less likely to cave to cravings when emotions run high.
Run it off, stretch away the stress.
You might not feel like it at first, but at those times when you’re experiencing emotional pain are exactly the times when you should exercise. Getting started can be tough if you’re feeling down, it’s true. But this is where having a motivating support group on your side can help you over the hurdle of not being emotionally up for caring for yourself.
Work through the emotions.
Instead of using food as an emotional band-aid, try actual emotional support.
A better idea when someone we care about is upset or struggling with something emotional is to provide a healthy balanced meal and a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen. Fattening foods might send a message of love because that’s what mom always did. But you can break the cycle and offer a hug and a big dose of sympathy instead. Then, when it’s your turn to grapple with emotions, you’ll have established a good way for others to offer you what you’ve been giving.
We’re here talking about how a mental shift is needed if we want to make permanent lifestyle changes that lead to weight loss, a fitter, stronger body and better health overall. So, let’s talk about the food psychology that’s standing in the way of our weight loss success. Did your family do any of the following (See next post)? If so, it may be time to get a new way of thinking about old eating habits.
When you’re on a healthy eating trend, do you call it a “diet?” Studies show that “diets” don’t work for the long term. Why? Because they look and feel like a temporary change. Our food hang-ups that we hold in the back of our minds see dieting as the means to an end which you can quit doing once you reach your goal.
Diet don’t work because we must change our mindset before we can adopt a healthy way of eating and living that doesn’t stop once we reach that number on the scale that we’re striving for or drop that pants size.
So, you do the “diet” and lose the weight.
You have the wedding or take the vacation that you worked so hard to get fit and fabulous for. Then your brain tells you, “Mission accomplished, now we can finally eat “normally”. And so, you fall right back into the “normal” way of eating– that is, the way of eating that you *think* is normal because it’s what you were brought up with.
So, if you were brought up to pile food on your plate and then eat it all… if you were brought up to ALWAYS have dessert after dinner… if a late-night snack of ice cream before bed was the NORM in your family… then that’s what you’ll lapse back into.
As soon as the “diet” is over and within months of returning to old eating habits, you’re right back where you started.
Not to mention, if you decide to make healthy changes in how you eat your meals, you'll inevitably be pulled back into your old ways by people and your family and friends.
So, what's the biggest boost you can give yourself in making healthy dietary changes that aren't just a diet but become a way of life? How do you break the cycle of your food hang-ups?
The very first step is awareness.
You don't have to judge or criticize your family or the people that you spend your time with for their food hang-ups, or bad habits, or whatever they do that could be standing in your way of good health. But you can simply observe and become cognizant of people's attitudes and behaviors around food and eating.
Become aware of how people conduct themselves at mealtime. For example, listen to what they say about food and eating, what their beliefs about food are. See if you can pinpoint why eating is often the focal point of their activities. This will help you identify what you want to change because you can clearly see that it isn’t working for them. Which means it won’t work for you – not if you want to be fit and healthy for the rest of your life.
When you think of your favorite meals, you probably immediately associate these comfort foods with weight gain. It is true that if you eat traditionally hearty, stick-to-your-rib types of meals prepared in the way that one would expect them to be made, you will be overloading your system with fat and simple carbs. Both of these cause weight gain. So today we will discuss a favorite meal healthy makeover: classic cheeseburgers.
But just because you won't generally experience weight loss and improved health by gorging yourself on diner-style cheeseburgers does not mean that you must avoid a cheeseburger meal all together. Even if you're targeting weight loss goals – yes, you can indulge in a burger every now and then!
Here's a meal makeover for you to model after the next time you crave a cheeseburger:
Reduce your meat portion. If your super-sized meat meal consists of a half-pound cheeseburger, then make it a quarter pound or even smaller portion if possible. Again, if you don't like to measure, you can just estimate the meat portion that you would normally expect served and then divide it in half. Another option is to make the full restaurant serving but eat it for THREE different meals instead of one! Remember, leftovers are your friend.
Choose higher quality meats.
Saturated fats are worse for you when they come from animals that have been fed a high sugar diet. The beef that you get on your grocery store shelves comes from cows that were fed corn which is not a proper diet for cows. This causes the meat to taste sweeter and actually raise blood sugar levels.
Choosing meats from grass-fed animals means that you will have a better-quality beef when you do treat yourself to some beef in the form of a juicy burger. Even though beef is sometimes publicized as not being good for you, good quality red meat contains iron which is an essential nutrient.
Trade American cheese for aged cheddar or any other aged cheese.
American cheese is really not cheese. It's some whey-based “cheese food” product that is heavily processed. American cheese is more like butter and may create digestive difficulties for people who are allergic to milk or who do not tolerate dairy products. The digestive complications that come with eating cheeses like American or mozzarella which is made from whole milk, can cause bloating and gas which may mimic weight gain. If you're striving for healthy meals, you're better off eating and aged cheese which does not contain lactose.
Reduce your serving of complex carbs.
When we think of that delicious diner burger, we envision the meat sitting atop a thick hamburger bun made of enriched white flour.
If you have no other carbohydrate alternatives and enjoy your burger on a bun, every once in a while, you can treat yourself to a burger on a bun by at least reducing the size of the bun.
How to do this? One trick to try is to hollow out the middle of the bun. What you have left is a thin breadbasket that can hold your burger meat and other toppings. So, you still get the sandwich, but you aren't consuming as many carbs.
Another way to reduce carb intake is by replacing that enriched white bun with a whole wheat roll or a roll made of some other type of whole grain. If you can find smaller rolls to serve your burger on or choose a flatbread alternative, you will be reducing the amount of carbs and helping yourself by choosing a healthy alternative.
Go bunless.
This is the better option especially if you plan to enjoy some starchy sides in addition to your burger bun.
For example, some people enjoy a potato salad side with their cheeseburger. A half a cup serving of potato salad can be your healthy carbohydrate alternative to the high sugar burger bun.
Ditch the fries.
Another typical side that you'll get with your diner burger is French fries made from white potatoes and a lot of them. Swap out that giant pile of fries for a variety of healthy veggie toppings.
Also: fried foods add weight gain and clog your arteries… and the white flour from the large portion of fries is something a healthy weight watcher could do without.
If you're really craving that side of fries, you have some alternative options. One, you can make a side of white potatoes with skins on, drizzled with olive oil and oven bake until crispy.
Just be sure that you stick to a small portion, no more than 3/4 of a cup if you're really digging those potatoes. If you choose potatoes as your white starch then skip the burger bun entirely.
Other foods to give you a healthier French fry experience are oven roasted parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes, or a combination of these types of healthy root vegetables. Again, choose to bake instead of fry and drizzle with a healthy oil such as olive which is rich in Omega fats.
If you're opting out of a starchy side for your burger, you can fill your plate with fresh veggies and healthy toppings.
Here are some ways to make your healthy burger meal really delicious. Fill your belly and round out the meal with balanced nutrition are toppings such as…
sauteed onions and peppers
sauteed mushrooms
pickles
lettuce
tomato
raw onion
hot peppers
green peppers
cucumber and onion salad
pickled beet salad
a side of vinegar slaw
Better yet, switch to turkey (my favorite) and try some lowfat feta cheese. Check out the delicious recipe below. Be sure to tell us what you think! oxoxo
Keyword: feta, lightened hamburgers, sun dried tomatoes, turkey burger
Servings: 4servings
Calories: 553kcal
Author: Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC
Ingredients
4tbsp.sun dried tomatoes
4kale leaves
1lb.450g ground turkey
¼cup40g feta, crumbled
4whole wheat burger buns
4tbsp.mayonnaise
1avocadosliced
1 totomatosliced
lettuce leaves
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Place the sun dried tomatoes and kale into a food processor or high-speed blender and blitz until minced.
In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, minced sun dried tomatoes, kale and crumbled feta cheese. Form the mixture into four burgers and lay them on the baking sheet. Place the sheet into the hot oven and bake for 7 minutes, then flip the burgers over and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the burgers from the oven and assemble the buns.
Toast the buns and spread each bun with 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise. Place ¼ of avocado on the bottom of each bun and add the burger. Next top the burgers with tomato and lettuce leaves, before covering with the top bun. Serve immediately.
Tacos are all the rage these days, and for good reason. You can even find t-shirts that express your love of tacos to the world. And while the American tradition of boxed taco kits featuring a crunchy hard corn tortilla shell lives on, these days the taco bar has been raised. That means you've got plenty of healthy options while getting your taco on. In other words, it's easier than ever to get a healthy taco makeover.
First things first: let's take a look at that tortilla shell.
Non-fried is the better option and if it doesn't have white flour you're ahead of the game. Pick up a plain corn tortilla for your taco. Compared to the wheat ones they may smell a little funny it's true. But if you brush with a bit of olive oil for that good fat and pop in the toaster oven for a few minutes, you will soon have a much-improved corn taco which counts as whole grain.
If you really want to go low carb, replace your taco shell with a big lettuce bowl made from a couple of leaves of crunchy iceberg lettuce. Granted, there really is no nutritional value to iceberg lettuce. But it makes a nice edible holder for your taco ingredients, and you can mix in some spring greens for a burst of good vitamins.
Looking to reduce fat?
Then make your taco meal something other than ground beef or shredded pork. These are meats that are higher in saturated fat. If you're striving for improved heart health and weight loss, look for some nutritious alternatives.
You still have plenty of options to fill that taco shell. Some include black beans, vegetarian refried beans, lean shredded chicken, or fresh fish such as salmon, tilapia, or shrimp.
Another way to ensure that your taco is as healthy as possible is to avoid any fried ingredients. Keep in mind that if a crispy tortilla is your jam, there's always the air fryer option for those who love a little crunch.
Choose fish that has been gently broiled in the oven or on the stove top rather than coated with breading and fried.
Swap out half the meat!
If you love meat on your taco and would feel sad without it, try this healthy work around. Cut down your portion of meat that you plan to serve with your taco. Add in a half a can or so of organic black beans to complete your portion serving while still managing to reduce the amount of meat that you're eating.
Go crazy with the fixings. There's plenty to get happy about when making a healthy taco and that includes tomatoes, onions, peppers, and green, leafy lettuce.
You get your choice of fresh or jarred salsa — either will work and both will be healthfully delicious. But fresh is superior because the vitamin C will still be available. (See recipe below for delicious homemade salsa).
You can also be generous with your serving of jalapenos if you're into extra spicy tacos. Olives get the nod of approval for being a healthy fat, so slice up a few black or green ones. While you're at it, top your taco with a few sprinkles of chopped fresh cilantro for a burst of color and vitamin C.
Fun fact about hot sauces: some actually contain butter as part of the recipe.
If your hot sauce is more light orange in color, then likely there has been butter mixed in to create a savory smoothness. Tabasco sauce is a basic recipe that does not include added fat. Our favorite, Cholula, comes with a little garlic. When in doubt, check labels.
For your taco cheese, this is considered a saturated fat. But if plan to enjoy a black bean taco, then it's okay to add a modest serving of cheddar or other aged cheese which will balance out your protein along with the beans.
Add in a healthy fat in the form of fresh avocado.
Chop it up or mash into a quick guacamole seasoned with some finely chopped onion, fresh cilantro bits and a squirt of lime if you have it.
To replace the saturated fat laden sour cream, choose Greek yogurt which will balance out any spiciness from the hot sauce or jalapeno peppers if you eat those on your taco.
A final way to ensure that you won't be veering into the unhealthy fattening taco territory is to watch your portions.
You can get your fill of a single taco, going lighter on the protein and cheese and going heavier on the fresh veggie fix ins. Make sure to eat your taco mindfully to get the full enjoyment while managing to avoid going on a wild taco eating binge.
And don't forget to try our own delicious taco recipe here. We eat this almost weekly!
This homemade salsa is made with fresh tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro, and is rich in Vitamin C. Combining this recipe with bean burritos (or other meat burritos or tacos) will increase the iron in the foods served with (beans, tortillas, chicken).
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Total Time15 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: easy, healthy
Servings: 8Servings
Calories: 8kcal
Author: Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC
Ingredients
1cupRoma Tomatoesabout 2 large, diced
1/4cupOnionsdiced
2tbspCilantrofinely chopped
1wholeJalapeno or AnaheimJalapeno (Medium Heat); Anaheim (Mild Heat)
1tbspLemon Juice
1/2teaspoonSaltTo taste
Instructions
Chop all vegetables to desired size (remove seeds from pepper) 2) Add lemon juice and salt 3) Mix all ingredients together4) Chill 2 hours and Serve
Pizza is a lot of fun, but we all know it's a food to avoid if you're looking to shape up, drop some pounds and improve your cardiovascular health.
Ordering pizza from the local Italian restaurant is always tempting. But now you're dealing with really a huge amount of cheese and a big serving of white flour in the dough. Plus, there's just something about having that huge box with the big pizza pie in it that makes it really hard to stop at just one slice. None of this is good for weight loss minded eaters.
Let's see if we can healthy up a pizza night with a homemade version.
First, revisit the crust. You have a few healthy options for this. One, you can make a whole wheat pizza crust from scratch using a few simple ingredients. It's even a fun project to do with your kids: kneading the dough and waiting it for it to rise, then punching it down and even tossing it in the air a few times.
Another option if you don't want to make dough from scratch is to pick up a frozen whole wheat dough from the grocery store. These pizza doughs come ready to make, so all you have to do is roll it out and press it into press it onto a big metal sheet.
Finally, if you're going lower in carbs, you have many options in the way of cauliflower crust pizzas from the frozen section of your grocery store. Or could make this delicious looking cauliflower pizza crust by clicking here. They're quite delicious and can help you stay on track with carbohydrate reduction so you can continue on your path to weight loss and good health.
If you normally salivate for a meat lovers pizza pie, just know that sausage and pepperoni and ham are not ideal if you're looking to do pizza but keep it healthy. Some options for not going meatless with your pizza are to find a high-quality brand of sausage. Artisan could be a better option or sausage that comes from farm-raised animals.
Try draining the fat from the sausage with paper towels.
Crumble a little bit over the top of your pizza pie but reduce the serving size. Instead, add fresh veggie toppings to balance out the saturated fats in the meat.
What kind of veggies can you enjoy on your pizza? If you're trying to lose weight, the good news is there's really no limit to how much vegetables you can eat. You have many options for topping your pizza pie including fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, roasted veggies like zucchini and eggplant and peppers, diced mushrooms, onions, peppers, black olives. The possibilities abound and you really don't have to worry about your diet when it comes to the veggie portion of your meal.
Choose the sugar-free sauce.
If you're doing a jarred sauce for your homemade pizza pie, choose a brand that does not contain added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Somewhere along the way someone decided that sweet stuff should be added to jarred tomato sauces. You'll find these sugary offenders in common brands that live on your grocery store shelves.
Despite this, tomato sauce is quite delicious without any sugar at all. So, if you can find a better-quality brand that contains simple ingredients like tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, onions, and spices, you can stick to your healthy eating plan and not ingest extra sugar unnecessarily.
What about the cheese?
Did you know that in Italy, pizza doesn't always come with cheese on it, never mind copious amounts? Minimizing your cheese serving is the way to go if you're looking to enjoy pizza night but keep it healthy and on the weight loss plan.
We mentioned this before, but mozzarella can be difficult to digest. This is due to the lactose. Between the yeast in the dough and the lactose in the pizza cheese, you are likely to experience some belly distension after eating pizza. The good news about this: it could actually be a fake out in terms of thinking that you gain 10 lb. overnight after eating a slice or two.
To avoid this, take a Lactaid supplement which will help you digest the milk sugar that's present in mozzarella. Another option is to top your pizza with provolone which is really just aged mozzarella. Aged cheeses have less or no lactose which is simply milk sugar.
Reduced fat mozzarella, also known as partial skim, can be a healthier alternative to whole milk mozzarella when it comes to Italian American favorites like pizza.
Wanting to get your veggie on? Opt for a white veggie pizza instead of the traditional red sauce pie. For this, you'll need some reduced fat ricotta and half skim mozzarella. Sauté either fresh broccoli, fresh spinach, or a combo of the two, with minced garlic and olive oil. Roll out your whole grain pizza dough and spread with a thin layer of the ricotta followed by the sauteed veggies. Sprinkle on more cheese, then bake at high heat.
If you're feeling especially adventurous, try the delicious Mini Sweet Potato Pesto Pizza below. And stay tuned for our next recipe makeover.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a large baking tray with baking paper or foil.
Slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise (¼ inch thick) and rub with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
Place the sweet potato slices on the baking tray and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip and top each slice with pesto, chicken and mozzarella cheese.
Return the tray to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.
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