Weight Loss Retreat Tip

It happens to us all-that urge to overeat, generally this occurs when you have deprived yourself and are starving.  When you blood sugar drops significantly, you become ravenous and search for anything to eat within sight!  At Unite, we teach many expert led lunch and learn classes, a recent discussion was on  “How to Avoid Overeating by Using a Behavior Chain” (see below) and a few other note-worthy tips.

Here is a sample of one of our recent weight loss retreat lunch and learns on how to avoid overeating:

• Practice mindful eating, which includes eating slowly while paying attention to the flavor and texture of each bite, instead of eating too quickly which doesn’t allow the brain (almost 20 minutes) to feel satisfaction from the food you’ve eaten.
• Create a relaxing ambiance at meals, while sitting down and using a small plate.
• 4-bite rule: Do you really want that whole piece of cake?  Think back to the times you have eaten the whole piece. Was the first bite as enjoyable as the last? Not usually. The first 4 bites are the most flavorful bites and from there we move to autopilot eating. Try being mindful of your first 4 bites, savoring each one, then push the plate away or share with a friend. You will still feel satisfied and yet save calories.
• Set your mind on portions before you snack: If put in a situation where you are in front of a tempting treat, set your mind on having a certain of number of servings that you feel comfortable with (i.e. not deprived, but not guilty either, for example ). For you this might be 6 chips or 1 cookie. Set the number in your head, enjoy the treat and walk away satisfied.
• Make a behavior chain: which is a series of sometimes minor events that lead to an undesirable outcome, like overeating. By looking back at what occurred before you overate, you can re-create your own behavior chain and see where you may have taken a misstep and make a plan to prevent it from happening again.