How to Not Overeat During the Holidays
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| Orcunkoktuna /Wikimedia Commons |
Compare that to
the risk of dying in a car
accident on the way to your holiday dinner (1 in 19,000); drowning in a bathtub
after dinner (1 in 800,000); and Wikipedia notes that
obesity is a contributing factor in 100,000–400,000 deaths in the United
States per year.
That
means that homemade stuffing is 5,882 to times 23,528 more likely to kill you than a terrorist. The bomb we should fear detonating is the
one in our chest. It’s shocking to learn how many
calories we eat at a meal. According to the Calorie Control Council, the average American will
consume more than 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day alone. At my age, with my slow metabolism, I would
have to jog from LA to NY and back to work off just one piece of pecan pie. What’s
said about Las Vegas could be said about me: what goes into my body stays in my
body.
Weight
Watchers doesn’t pretend to know what to do about terrorism, but here are some
tips from last week’s meeting from my Weight Watcher leader, Amy Brunell to
help you not overeat over the holidays.
1. Put everything on a
plate.
You can really
lose count eating appetizers from the toothpick into your mouth. Putting things
on a plate helps limit your impulse eating. And no, repetitive arm movements
don’t count as exercising.
2. Don’t eat during preparation.
Half the
calories eaten on Thanksgiving come from what’s nibbled during preparation.
Again – see tip one and stop hand to mouth impulse eating. ABC News has a
breakdown of the calorie content. OMG! Pecan Pie 505 – for just one slice?
I’ll just lick the knife and eat some fruit.
3. Go to the bathroom even if you don’t
have to go.
In the middle of
the meal, leave the table and go to the bathroom. This helps to break the
eating frenzy. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask if you’re full. That’s
the cue to stop eating. Feel free to do this more than once.
4. Commit to no seconds.
You know what
the mashed potatoes taste like on the first go around. Be virtuous and you will
be rewarded. You don’t want the only thing from high school you fit into is
your high school earrings.
5. Excessively salt the food on your
plate.
You don’t have
to finish everything that’s found its way onto your plate. I know – what a
concept. I was pressured by parents telling me to finish my meal because,
“People in China are starving.” That was before we found out the reason they
were starving is you’re hungry an hour after eating Chinese food. If you have
no restraint, toss massive amounts of salt on what’s left on your plate. You
will be far less tempted to eat it.
P.S. Please add
YOUR tips for handling the Thanksgiving Food Orgy in comments
Judy Carter
teaches how to speak your message and change the world.
More info at
judycarter.com.
I remember being rather disappointed in myself when I discovered I couldn't make myself barf after over-eating. I later went on to discover there *was* such a thing as Binge Eating Disorder (a slightly underwhelming acronym - BED, for what transpired to be an entirely over-whelming condition), that differed significantly from bulemia, though has similar mental health roots. Anyway, another string to add to my bow of MESSages - I have quite some tales to tell! And Judy, you may well provide me with the key to discovering the missing puzzle piece of my exisitence. Nope, doesn't sound weird at all, right? And thanks! Probably...
ReplyDeleteI live by Orson Welles quote:
ReplyDeleteMy doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.