10 Ways to Get Back on Track After Summer
Article By: Sally Bevan www.weightwatchers.com
Still trying to ditch your summer vacation eating habits? Follow our ten tips for getting back in control.
One minute you're eating, drinking and making merry in the summer sun. The next you're back home, very possibly disappointed by any vacation weight gain and facing the prospect of the oncoming colder weather. It's enough to make anyone ditch their diet, grab the comforter and become one with the cookie jar.
Follow our 10 top tips to get back on track
It might seem obvious but you can avoid the post-vacation panic if you eat and drink sensibly while you're away. Eating well over summer is easy as you can always get access to low POINTS® value foods (sorbets, salads, exotic fruits etc.) and you'll also have lots of opportunities to earn activity POINTS values by swimming, walking and other outdoor activities.
Your vacation feeling doesn't have to end the moment you walk through your front door. Make the most of the fading light by getting out and about. The exercise will not only burn calories but it will also keep you feeling cheerful and buoyant well after your vacation has ended
Same goes for food. Recreate some of the best meals of your trip at home. Buy the best fish you can afford or the leanest cut of meat, season well and grill over charcoal for the authentic alfresco taste. Serve with a crisp salad, juicy tomatoes and fresh herbs for a light, low POINTS value meal.
Foods that make you feel full will stop you from overeating, even if you're suffering the back-to-work blues. Mix tastes, textures and temperatures to keep your palate entertained and opt for filling, slow-release foods such as brown rice, bananas, potatoes and lentils.
Have a kitchen clear-out. Get back on track by clearing out the cupboards and fridge. Have an amnesty on naughty foods; don't feel guilty for having bought them, just trash them.
Stock up on delicious fall foods. Swap out light summer herbs like basil and cilantro for woodsy rosemary, thyme and sage, and look for autumn apples and squash. Spend an afternoon with a cup of coffee and your favorite cookbooks, finding low POINTS value recipes for the forthcoming months. You could also cook a few meals in advance and freeze them.
Anticipate any monthly milestones. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just a few of the seasonal events that revolve around food. We've got lots of recipes for all these occasions so there's no reason you have to miss out on all the fun.
Exercising in bad weather can be brutal. Keep on track with your fitness routine by investing in a new workout video or picking up second-hand copies from a thrift shop. If you don't feel like buying any videos, your local library and video store will have them to rent for a few bucks.
Make sure you get enough sleep. Vacations, jet lag and getting back to work can all disrupt your sleep patterns leaving you tired and low. Tiredness is often a trigger for snacking and overeating, so make sure you get plenty of rest and the full eight hours.
Stay positive! Your summer vacation may be over but each season has its own charm. Some of the nicest walking weather happens in the fall, with its clear skies and glorious colors, while winter is the perfect time to be sledging, skiing and building fires — all great fun activities which will earn you extra activity POINTS values!
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
How to respond to Saboteaurs
Cindi L. sent me this today and I want to share it with you.
From Clean Eating magazine & I thought these positive statements would be good for the group to help deal with potential saboteurs:
*I'm trying to eat better- say-Thanks, I'm going to pass for now.
*I can't have any-say-Thank you! I may have a little bit later.
*That's not good for you-say-Thanks, I'm full. Everything was delicious.
*I'm watching my weight-say-I just ate, but I'd love to keep you company.
*I'm not supposed to eat that.-say-It looks delicious! Can I have the recipe?
*It's too fattening.-say-That is so thoughtful of you to make it just for me. Can I take some home?
*None for me, thanks.-say-I'm going to stick with my water/juice/tea for now.
*I told you I'm on a diet!-say-I've had plenty, thanks. I'm going to pass on dessert for now.
Helpful tips for sidestepping sabotuers:
1. Express Gratitude
2. Acknowledge the Effort
3. Suggest an Alternative
The key apparently is to not make people feel rejected? And to never be caught off guard.
From Clean Eating magazine & I thought these positive statements would be good for the group to help deal with potential saboteurs:
*I'm trying to eat better- say-Thanks, I'm going to pass for now.
*I can't have any-say-Thank you! I may have a little bit later.
*That's not good for you-say-Thanks, I'm full. Everything was delicious.
*I'm watching my weight-say-I just ate, but I'd love to keep you company.
*I'm not supposed to eat that.-say-It looks delicious! Can I have the recipe?
*It's too fattening.-say-That is so thoughtful of you to make it just for me. Can I take some home?
*None for me, thanks.-say-I'm going to stick with my water/juice/tea for now.
*I told you I'm on a diet!-say-I've had plenty, thanks. I'm going to pass on dessert for now.
Helpful tips for sidestepping sabotuers:
1. Express Gratitude
2. Acknowledge the Effort
3. Suggest an Alternative
The key apparently is to not make people feel rejected? And to never be caught off guard.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Be a Champion
Are you finding hard to keep up with your goals. This is something I copied from an email and I don't know the real source but I believe it is worth reading it.
1. Champions have the ability to focus on the goal and never give up. No matter what, champions are focused on a goal with committment and determination.
2. Champions are willing to learn skills and push themselves beyond what they think their limits are. It's important to learn the basics well, be realistic, BUT never think you can't do it.
3. Champions are willing to take risks. This means change...and change is the only way to excel.
4. Champions spend lots of time practicing the things that will take them farthest - and being willing to do it over and over and over. Yes, WW Olympic champions learn do it for a lifetime!
5. Champions are optimistic and positive. Look at feedback instead of setbacks. Know you can succeed despite obstacles and challenges. As Scott Hamilton says, "Eliminate the 'woulda, coulda, shoulda."
1. Champions have the ability to focus on the goal and never give up. No matter what, champions are focused on a goal with committment and determination.
2. Champions are willing to learn skills and push themselves beyond what they think their limits are. It's important to learn the basics well, be realistic, BUT never think you can't do it.
3. Champions are willing to take risks. This means change...and change is the only way to excel.
4. Champions spend lots of time practicing the things that will take them farthest - and being willing to do it over and over and over. Yes, WW Olympic champions learn do it for a lifetime!
5. Champions are optimistic and positive. Look at feedback instead of setbacks. Know you can succeed despite obstacles and challenges. As Scott Hamilton says, "Eliminate the 'woulda, coulda, shoulda."
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Changes from one of my dearest members
Hi winners,
I received this email from Margaret yesterday and with her permission I am going to share it with all of you. It is important that we persevere and go for our goals. Remember "Winners Never Quit and Quitters never Win".
This is a list of the changes that Margaret made since she joined and she is almost at Goal, just a couple more pounds.
I USED TO:
Eat fast food on the way to the beach: 3 to 5 chicken wings at Popeye’s plus a biscuit or two or maybe some onion rings.
NOW
I get a chipotle grilled chicken snack wrap at McDonalds
I USED TO:
Buy steaks at Costco and cook up one for me and my husband
NOW
I cut each steak into three pieces, freeze them, and serve one piece each to me and my husband
I USED TO:
Run or walk 5 or 6 times a week on the treadmill
NOW
I do a variety of exercise 6 times a week: run (working up to running a full 5k), bike on the stationary bike, now at level 10, and go to a computrainer class once a week, and swim two to three times a week. This means some days I do two activities. Plus I also do yoga once a week and I lift weights. And I've started to participate in races.
I USED TO:
Take atenelol and HCTZ for blood pressure and either Lipitor or zetia for cholesterol
NOW
I take HCTZ for blood pressure
I USED TO:
Serve bread and butter for most dinners
NOW
I do not serve bread and butter, even to guests. I try to provide more vegetables also. We buy so little bread that I keep it in the freezer.
I USED TO:
Buy popcorn in the movies and get them to add lots of butter.
NOW
I don’t buy anything except for the movie ticket.
I USED TO:
Serve cheese as appetizers for guests
NOW
I serve vegetables and chick pea dip for guests
I USED TO:
Serve a lot more fried food
NOW
I use the egg white dip method and spray it with cooking spray and bake it in the oven. EXCEPT FOR fried chicken. That will never change.
I USED TO:
Not eat breakfast
NOW
I eat oatmeal most days or a treat on Sunday (waffles and bacon)
I USED TO:
Eat oatmeal with butter
NOW
I eat oatmeal without butter
I USED TO:
Make waffles with white flour
NOW
I make waffles with whole wheat flour and corn meal.
I USED TO:
Eat 5 pieces of bacon at a time
NOW
I eat 3 pieces of center cut bacon (40% less fat) at a time and this only once a week
I USED TO:
Eat a BLT with 5 pieces of bacon and lots of mayo
NOW
I eat ½ of a BLT made with much less bacon and sometimes avocado instead of mayo and on whole wheat bread
I USED TO:
Order off the entre list at a restaurant
NOW
I order off the appetizer and salad lists at a restaurant
I USED TO:Cook up delicious dishes made with sausage. NOW I don’t buy sausage.
I USED TO:Drink wine from a very large glass.
NOW I drink wine from a very small glass.
I STILL:
Drink alcohol every day (I guess that’s the next habit to break)
Use whole milk in my coffee
Use butter, just not as much
Use cream upon occasion
Use mayo
Never go to any fast food restaurant except on the way to the beach.
Look at ingredients and buy as little processed food as possible
Snack on stuff at Costco and the Common Market, only now it is lunch, not in addition to lunch. Go out to lunch with my husband several times a week, but I try to get steamed mussels or something like that, no sandwiches or chips or fries or wine
Cook most meals at home
I DON’T: Eat low fat or no fat sour cream (it’s all chemicals) Eat any butter substitute Eat turkey bacon Use any artificial sweetener Snack much Eat very much cheese Eat any mayo that isn't Duke's or Hellman's. Eat anything that contains high fructose corn syrup, if I can help it. Eat anything that contains ingredients that I can't pronounce.
I USED TO
Just go to the gym and try to do more than I had been doing
NOW I am learning about training techniques such as interval training, muscle tension, heart rate monitoring and recovery, and (with the bike) cadence. This knowledge is really helping me improve my performance.
I received this email from Margaret yesterday and with her permission I am going to share it with all of you. It is important that we persevere and go for our goals. Remember "Winners Never Quit and Quitters never Win".
This is a list of the changes that Margaret made since she joined and she is almost at Goal, just a couple more pounds.
I USED TO:
Eat fast food on the way to the beach: 3 to 5 chicken wings at Popeye’s plus a biscuit or two or maybe some onion rings.
NOW
I get a chipotle grilled chicken snack wrap at McDonalds
I USED TO:
Buy steaks at Costco and cook up one for me and my husband
NOW
I cut each steak into three pieces, freeze them, and serve one piece each to me and my husband
I USED TO:
Run or walk 5 or 6 times a week on the treadmill
NOW
I do a variety of exercise 6 times a week: run (working up to running a full 5k), bike on the stationary bike, now at level 10, and go to a computrainer class once a week, and swim two to three times a week. This means some days I do two activities. Plus I also do yoga once a week and I lift weights. And I've started to participate in races.
I USED TO:
Take atenelol and HCTZ for blood pressure and either Lipitor or zetia for cholesterol
NOW
I take HCTZ for blood pressure
I USED TO:
Serve bread and butter for most dinners
NOW
I do not serve bread and butter, even to guests. I try to provide more vegetables also. We buy so little bread that I keep it in the freezer.
I USED TO:
Buy popcorn in the movies and get them to add lots of butter.
NOW
I don’t buy anything except for the movie ticket.
I USED TO:
Serve cheese as appetizers for guests
NOW
I serve vegetables and chick pea dip for guests
I USED TO:
Serve a lot more fried food
NOW
I use the egg white dip method and spray it with cooking spray and bake it in the oven. EXCEPT FOR fried chicken. That will never change.
I USED TO:
Not eat breakfast
NOW
I eat oatmeal most days or a treat on Sunday (waffles and bacon)
I USED TO:
Eat oatmeal with butter
NOW
I eat oatmeal without butter
I USED TO:
Make waffles with white flour
NOW
I make waffles with whole wheat flour and corn meal.
I USED TO:
Eat 5 pieces of bacon at a time
NOW
I eat 3 pieces of center cut bacon (40% less fat) at a time and this only once a week
I USED TO:
Eat a BLT with 5 pieces of bacon and lots of mayo
NOW
I eat ½ of a BLT made with much less bacon and sometimes avocado instead of mayo and on whole wheat bread
I USED TO:
Order off the entre list at a restaurant
NOW
I order off the appetizer and salad lists at a restaurant
I USED TO:Cook up delicious dishes made with sausage. NOW I don’t buy sausage.
I USED TO:Drink wine from a very large glass.
NOW I drink wine from a very small glass.
I STILL:
Drink alcohol every day (I guess that’s the next habit to break)
Use whole milk in my coffee
Use butter, just not as much
Use cream upon occasion
Use mayo
Never go to any fast food restaurant except on the way to the beach.
Look at ingredients and buy as little processed food as possible
Snack on stuff at Costco and the Common Market, only now it is lunch, not in addition to lunch. Go out to lunch with my husband several times a week, but I try to get steamed mussels or something like that, no sandwiches or chips or fries or wine
Cook most meals at home
I DON’T: Eat low fat or no fat sour cream (it’s all chemicals) Eat any butter substitute Eat turkey bacon Use any artificial sweetener Snack much Eat very much cheese Eat any mayo that isn't Duke's or Hellman's. Eat anything that contains high fructose corn syrup, if I can help it. Eat anything that contains ingredients that I can't pronounce.
I USED TO
Just go to the gym and try to do more than I had been doing
NOW I am learning about training techniques such as interval training, muscle tension, heart rate monitoring and recovery, and (with the bike) cadence. This knowledge is really helping me improve my performance.
Friday, December 4, 2009
De-Stress your Holiday
I loved this article from WW.com and I wanted to share it with you:
Christmas shopping, office parties, high-pressure family dinners – let's face it, the holidays can be as stressful as they are merry. With a little help, though, you can say so long your inner Scrooge and enjoy this season.
"The four sources of stress during the holidays are fantasies, family, food and finances," says Mark Gorkin, a psychotherapist and public speaker who goes by the moniker "Stress Doc." "The temptation is to want it all," he says. People often get so caught up in the eating, drinking, partying and shopping, he adds, "that there is no time for spiritual reflection and quiet nurturing."
So nurture your sanity this holiday season with these tips from Gorkin:
Just say "no." Be realistic about how many parties you can actually attend. Remember that saying yes to every invitation could result in burnout. Also, going to tons of parties presents more challenges to your diet than you might want.
Stay in your groove. Carve out time for yourself – and greedily guard it. If you have an exercise routine, such as walking every other day, keep that as your anchor, and try to make holiday chores and events revolve around your exercise schedule, not the other way around.
Take baby steps. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of holiday tasks, like sending out 114 holiday cards. Certain tasks are more doable when broken into chunks. For example, you could purchase the cards a month before Christmas or Hanukkah and write a few at a time over the next several weeks. Then, address all the envelopes. If you have kids, why not enlist them to stuff envelopes and put on the stamps?
Appoint a "designated nagger." Give your partner or a close friend permission to nag you when you start worrying too much. Have your "designated nagger" tell you to slow down and take a deep breath as soon as you begin worrying too much about overeating, not exercising enough or finding the perfect gift for everyone down to your boss's cat.
Big holiday draw. Sit down with your family early in the holiday season and discuss the sources of stress and conflict that always seem to rear up this time of year. Then distribute crayons and paper, and have everyone draw pictures of your "family stress image" – a big ogre wearing a Santa hat or a giant present exploding like a firecracker, for example. "This is a great way to get out your frustration in a positive way," says Gorkin.
Revel in the scent of solitude. Light a lavender-scented candle in your bathroom and take a hot bath, or use some lavender-scented bath oil. A study on aromatherapy reported in the International Journal of Neurosciences stated that the scent of lavender helped adult test subjects feel more relaxed and perform mental calculations more accurately than did other scents.
Walk it out. Take a nice long walk and focus on smelling the crisp winter air or watching snow falling for a form of meditation.
Immerse yourself in music. Listen to a tape of holiday songs, or make your own recording by dubbing a set of your favourite tunes onto a cassette tape, CD or MP3.
Stroll down memory lane. Fill a hatbox or shoe box with objects that are important to you, such as your child's first tooth, family photos, postcards, love letters or inspirational poems or quotes. Whenever stress looms, take out your box and enjoy the warm feelings your mementos inspire.
Christmas shopping, office parties, high-pressure family dinners – let's face it, the holidays can be as stressful as they are merry. With a little help, though, you can say so long your inner Scrooge and enjoy this season.
"The four sources of stress during the holidays are fantasies, family, food and finances," says Mark Gorkin, a psychotherapist and public speaker who goes by the moniker "Stress Doc." "The temptation is to want it all," he says. People often get so caught up in the eating, drinking, partying and shopping, he adds, "that there is no time for spiritual reflection and quiet nurturing."
So nurture your sanity this holiday season with these tips from Gorkin:
Just say "no." Be realistic about how many parties you can actually attend. Remember that saying yes to every invitation could result in burnout. Also, going to tons of parties presents more challenges to your diet than you might want.
Stay in your groove. Carve out time for yourself – and greedily guard it. If you have an exercise routine, such as walking every other day, keep that as your anchor, and try to make holiday chores and events revolve around your exercise schedule, not the other way around.
Take baby steps. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of holiday tasks, like sending out 114 holiday cards. Certain tasks are more doable when broken into chunks. For example, you could purchase the cards a month before Christmas or Hanukkah and write a few at a time over the next several weeks. Then, address all the envelopes. If you have kids, why not enlist them to stuff envelopes and put on the stamps?
Appoint a "designated nagger." Give your partner or a close friend permission to nag you when you start worrying too much. Have your "designated nagger" tell you to slow down and take a deep breath as soon as you begin worrying too much about overeating, not exercising enough or finding the perfect gift for everyone down to your boss's cat.
Big holiday draw. Sit down with your family early in the holiday season and discuss the sources of stress and conflict that always seem to rear up this time of year. Then distribute crayons and paper, and have everyone draw pictures of your "family stress image" – a big ogre wearing a Santa hat or a giant present exploding like a firecracker, for example. "This is a great way to get out your frustration in a positive way," says Gorkin.
Revel in the scent of solitude. Light a lavender-scented candle in your bathroom and take a hot bath, or use some lavender-scented bath oil. A study on aromatherapy reported in the International Journal of Neurosciences stated that the scent of lavender helped adult test subjects feel more relaxed and perform mental calculations more accurately than did other scents.
Walk it out. Take a nice long walk and focus on smelling the crisp winter air or watching snow falling for a form of meditation.
Immerse yourself in music. Listen to a tape of holiday songs, or make your own recording by dubbing a set of your favourite tunes onto a cassette tape, CD or MP3.
Stroll down memory lane. Fill a hatbox or shoe box with objects that are important to you, such as your child's first tooth, family photos, postcards, love letters or inspirational poems or quotes. Whenever stress looms, take out your box and enjoy the warm feelings your mementos inspire.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Diamond Leader 3 years in a row
Today I have received for the 3rd time my "Diamond Leader" award. This is a very special award and we were just a couple of us that got it so it means a lot to me. This is based on your commitment and success so I want to thank you all for being part of my groups. I totally owe this award to you all and my teams.
I want to thank specially my co-workers: Janice, Cathy, Cindy, Jean, Robin, Sherry, Gail and Dawn for all your help, I really appreciate all your hard work and dedication. Please know that part of my award is yours too.
I love you all and thank you again for being part of my teams and members.
Diana
I want to thank specially my co-workers: Janice, Cathy, Cindy, Jean, Robin, Sherry, Gail and Dawn for all your help, I really appreciate all your hard work and dedication. Please know that part of my award is yours too.
I love you all and thank you again for being part of my teams and members.
Diana
Friday, June 5, 2009
Shopping Smart for Weight Loss Success
Top 10 Ways to Cut Costs and eat healthy.
This week we talked about ways of eating healthy and at the same time make it fit in our budget. I believe we all agreed that it is posible and even easier than what we thought. In my case I also discover I can save some money by making a few changes using ideas you gave me at the meeting this week. So here is a recap of our meeting. I am looking forward to hearing wihich of this you tried so we can share them in our next week's meeting.
This week we talked about ways of eating healthy and at the same time make it fit in our budget. I believe we all agreed that it is posible and even easier than what we thought. In my case I also discover I can save some money by making a few changes using ideas you gave me at the meeting this week. So here is a recap of our meeting. I am looking forward to hearing wihich of this you tried so we can share them in our next week's meeting.
- 1) Make a list: Shopping with a list can help you limit impulse buys and remember don't go doing groceries when you are hungry.
2)Think Filling Foods: The more processed foods you buy, the higher the price, which means Filling Foods make a great points value bargain AND help you save money.- 3)BYO (Bring Your Own): A person can easily spend up to $10 a day stopping for a morning latte and eating out for lunch—not to mention a few stops at the vending machine. According to the lunch savings calculator on American Public Media website, brown bagging it can save you $70 per month!
4) Buy Bulk: Bulk items generally cost less per item. Choose a single item to use for different dishes throughout the week. Turn ground beef into chilli, burritos and a topping for baked potatoes. Put your imagination to work.
5) Raid the freezer or go canned: If fresh produce is too expensive, buy frozen or canned alternatives. They’re just as nutritious and in some cases more so, having been picked at the peak of the season and flash-frozen immediately to preserve nutrients.- 6) Be a bean counter: Beans are rich in fiber, plus they’re a cheaper protein source than meat. A pound of 93% lean ground beef can cost close to $6.00 while a can of black beans is a mere $.75.
- 7) DIY (Do It Yourself): Generally, supermarkets increase the cost of fruits and vegetables when they cut and package them. It might be easier but if you want to save $$ DIY!
- 8) Buy in season: Items like blueberries are a cheap treat in summer but practically an investment once it’s fall. ETools features a frequently updated column called Market Fresh, which highlights seasonal produce.
9) Patrol portions: Your budget and pantry can be devastated by portion sizes that are too large. By monitoring the portions you use in meals, you can stretch your food throughout the week.
10) Clip coupons: Coupons can help you save a bundle on your grocery bill. Shop the weekly ads too! Go to www.weightwatchers.com/sensible foods, this will link you to "featured offers" and you can find coupons for featured products. Enjoy them.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Getting back on the right track
And I don't know for you but this last week has been a tough one for me. I had a lot of personal things I had to deal with and when I get emotional I kind of think in "food" meaning "whatever food", just literally anything because everything will do it at that moment, I am just "looking for food" like if it is going to fix all my problems and worries and you would think that when you've done this for so many years this doesn't happen any longer, well you are wrong, it does!!! but different than in the past now I just don't beat up myself and move on and this avoids my old behaviours of "I blew it already so I might us well keep eating", do you agree with me?
Friday, May 22, 2009
See those BBQ points sizzle
Hi Winners!
What a beautiful week we are having. Let’s hope Memorial Day will be fantastic too.
Are you ready? Did you prepare yourself? Have you organized some activities too?
As I promised here is the link for the “Grill Cheat Sheet” in our Weight Watchers site. Copy and paste the link in your browser and hear those points “sizzling”
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=54331
What a beautiful week we are having. Let’s hope Memorial Day will be fantastic too.
Are you ready? Did you prepare yourself? Have you organized some activities too?
As I promised here is the link for the “Grill Cheat Sheet” in our Weight Watchers site. Copy and paste the link in your browser and hear those points “sizzling”
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=54331
Friday, May 8, 2009
Crave Man
Did you read last week at the Washington Post this Article. I really enjoyed it.
C1From the Washington Post, April 27/2009
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CRAVE MAN
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David Kessler Knew That Some Foods Are Hard to Resist; Now He Knows Why
He went in the middle of the night, long after the last employee had locked up the Chili’s Grill and Bar. He’d steer his car around the back, check to make sure no one was around and then quietly approach the dumpster.
If anyone noticed the man foraging through the trash, they would have assumed he was a vagrant. Except he was wearing black dress slacks and padded gardening gloves. “I’m surprised he didn’t wear a tie,” his wife said dryly.
The high-octane career path of David A. Kessler, the Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration had come to this: nocturnal dumpster diving. Sometimes, he would just reach in. Other times, he would climb in.
It took many of these forays until Kessler emerged with his prize: ingredient labels affixed to empty cardboard boxes that spelled out the fats, salt and sugar used to make the Southwestern Eggrolls, Boneless Shanghai Wings and other dishes served by the nation’s second-largest restaurant chain.
Kessler was on a mission to understand a problem that has vexed him since childhood: why he can’t resist certain foods.
His resulting theory, described in his new book, “The End of Overeating,” is startling. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain’s chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. “Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology — what’s going on in our body,” he said. “The real question is what’s going on in our brain.”
The ingredient labels gave Kessler information the restaurant chain declined to provide when he asked for it. At the FDA, Kessler pushed through nutritional labels on foods sold through retail outlets but stopped short of requiring the same for restaurants. Yet if suppliers ship across state lines, as suppliers for Chili’s do, the ingredients must be printed on the box. That is what led Kessler, one of the nation’s leading public health figures, to hang around dumpsters across California.
The labels showed the foods were bathed in salt, fat and sugars, beyond what a diner might expect by reading the menu, Kessler said. The ingredient list for Southwestern Eggrolls mentioned salt eight different times; sugars showed up five times. The “egg rolls,” which are deepfried in fat, contain chicken that has been chopped up like meatloaf to give it a “melt in the mouth” quality that also makes it faster to eat. By the time a diner has finished this appetizer, she has consumed 910 calories, 57 grams of fat and 1,960 milligrams of sodium.
BY ERIC RISBERG — ASSOCIATED PRESS
David Kessler researched part of “The End of Overeating” by climbing into restaurant dumpsters to look for the nutritional labels of menu items high in fat, salt and sugar.
Instead of satisfying hunger, the salt- fat-sugar combination will stimulate that diner’s brain to crave more, Kessler said. For many, the come-on offered by Lay’s Potato Chips — “Betcha can’t eat just one” — is scientifically accurate. And the food industry manipulates this neurological response, designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want, Kessler found.
His theory, born out in a growing body of scientific research, has implications not just for the increasing number of Americans struggling with obesity but for health providers and policymakers.
“The challenge is how do we explain to America what’s going on — how do we break through and help people understand how their brains have been captured?” he said.
Kessler is best remembered for his investigation of the tobacco industry and attempts to place it under federal regulation while he was FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997. Although he was appointed by George H.W. Bush, Kessler became popular among Democrats for his tough regulatory stance. He got the nickname “Eliot Knessler” after he authorized the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota to seize a large quantity of Citrus Hill Fresh Choice orange juice in 1991 because it was labeled “fresh” when it was, in fact, partially processed. After he was elected in 1992, President Bill Clinton asked Kessler to continue to run the FDA.
Kessler’s aggressive approach toward the tobacco industry led to billion-dollar settlements between Big Tobacco and 46 states and laid the groundwork for legislation now pending in Congress that would place tobacco under FDA regulation.
Kessler, 57, sees parallels between the tobacco and food industries. Both are manipulating consumer behavior to sell products that can harm health, he said.
Whether government ought to exercise tougher controls over the food industry is going to be the next great debate, especially since much of the advertising is aimed at children, Kessler said.
“The food the industry is selling is much more powerful than we realized,” he said. “I used to think I ate to feel full. Now I know, we have the science that shows, we’re eating to stimulate ourselves. And so the question is what are we going to do about it?”
The idea for the book came seven years ago as Kessler was channel-surfing and came across an overweight woman named Sarah on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” While Sarah was successful in nearly every aspect of her life, she tearfully told Winfrey, she could not control her eating.
Kessler was mesmerized by Sarah — she was describing his own private struggle. “I needed to not only figure out Sarah — I needed to figure out myself,” he said. “Little did I know it would lead me into real fundamental issues of what makes us human and how our brains are wired.”
At 5-foot-11, Kessler’s weight has swung from 160 pounds to 230 pounds and back, many times over. He owns pants in sizes ranging from 34 to 42.
“I was a fat kid,” he said. “I grew up in the world of Entenmann’s cakes. I was pretty much of a science nerd. If you looked in my refrigerator in college, it was Entenmann’s.”
Every few years, Kessler would go on a diet and apply the kind of discipline that enabled him to earn a law degree from the University of Chicago while attending Harvard Medical School. “I’d lose weight and over time gain it back,” said Kessler, who also completed a medical residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore at the same time he worked as a staffer to Sen. Orrin Hatch. “I couldn’t control it.”
The man who took on Big Tobacco was helpless when confronted with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. He couldn’t focus on anything else until he had eaten them all.
“My weight was yo-yoing all the time,” said Kessler, who estimates that 70 million Americans struggle with conditioned hyper-eating. “And I never understood why.”
He embarked on a mission to figure it out while serving as dean of the medical school at Yale University and later the University of California at San Francisco. UCSF fired Kessler from his position as dean in December after he alleged financial malfeasance at the institution. The university maintains there were no financial misdeeds; Kessler says he was forced out because he blew the whistle. He remains on the faculty at the medical school and lives in San Francisco with his wife, Paulette, a lawyer. They have two grown children, both of whom live in Washington.
Paulette says that she was not taken aback when her husband of 34 years would disappear in the middle of the night on his dumpster tour. “Nothing surprises me anymore,” she said. “When he wants to find something out, there’s really no stopping him.”
Through interviews with scientists, psychologists and food industry insiders, and his own scientific studies and hours spent surreptitiously watching other diners at food courts and restaurants around the country, Kessler said, he finally began to understand why he couldn’t control his eating.
“Highly palatable” foods — those containing fat, sugar and salt — stimulate the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center, he found. In time, the brain gets wired so that dopamine pathways light up at the mere suggestion of the food, such as driving past a fast-food restaurant, and the urge to eat the food grows insistent. Once the food is eaten, the brain releases opioids, which bring emotional relief. Together, dopamine and opioids create a pathway that can activate every time a person is reminded about the particular food. This happens regardless of whether the person is hungry.
Not everyone is vulnerable to “conditioned overeating” — Kessler estimates that about 15 percent of the population is not affected and says more research is needed to understand what makes them immune.
But for those like Kessler, the key to stopping the cycle is to rewire the brain’s response to food — not easy in a culture where unhealthy food and snacks are cheap and plentiful, portions are huge and consumers are bombarded by advertising that links these foods to fun and good times, he said.
Deprivation only heightens the way the brain values the food, which is why dieting doesn’t work, he said.
What’s needed is a perceptual shift, Kessler said. “We did this with cigarettes,” he said. “It used to be sexy and glamorous but now people look at it and say, ‘That’s not my friend, that’s not something I want.’ We need to make a cognitive shift as a country and change the way we look at food. Instead of viewing that huge plate of nachos and fries as a guilty pleasure, we have to . . . look at it and say, ‘That’s not going to make me feel good. In fact, that’s disgusting.’ ”
Kessler said he’s made that shift in his own life, eating small portions of foods that contain fat, salt and sugar, part of a “food rehab” plan he suggests in the book. He has certain rules — no french fries, ever — that help him navigate through vulnerable moments.
He has embraced spinning — the first time he has regularly exercised. “I hated physical activity, all of my life, mostly because I was fat and it was hard to do,” he said. “But I just wanted to do something. I picked spinning because you can’t fall off the bike.” He worked with a private trainer for weeks just to be ready to take a class. “I was embarrassed to go into the class,” he said.
Now Kessler tries to spin every day and belongs to multiple health clubs so that he has more options for class times.
He avoids the cues that focus his brain on “highly palatable” foods, going so far as to chart a different route through San Francisco International Airport so that he doesn’t walk past the fried dumpling stand.
Kessler’s weight is relatively stable at 162 pounds. But there’s something else that’s changed. As he has come to better understand himself, the food cravings and the resulting anguish he felt have subsided.
“So I’m at peace,” he said. “After 30 years, I’m at peace.”
C1From the Washington Post, April 27/2009
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CRAVE MAN
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David Kessler Knew That Some Foods Are Hard to Resist; Now He Knows Why
He went in the middle of the night, long after the last employee had locked up the Chili’s Grill and Bar. He’d steer his car around the back, check to make sure no one was around and then quietly approach the dumpster.
If anyone noticed the man foraging through the trash, they would have assumed he was a vagrant. Except he was wearing black dress slacks and padded gardening gloves. “I’m surprised he didn’t wear a tie,” his wife said dryly.
The high-octane career path of David A. Kessler, the Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration had come to this: nocturnal dumpster diving. Sometimes, he would just reach in. Other times, he would climb in.
It took many of these forays until Kessler emerged with his prize: ingredient labels affixed to empty cardboard boxes that spelled out the fats, salt and sugar used to make the Southwestern Eggrolls, Boneless Shanghai Wings and other dishes served by the nation’s second-largest restaurant chain.
Kessler was on a mission to understand a problem that has vexed him since childhood: why he can’t resist certain foods.
His resulting theory, described in his new book, “The End of Overeating,” is startling. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain’s chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. “Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology — what’s going on in our body,” he said. “The real question is what’s going on in our brain.”
The ingredient labels gave Kessler information the restaurant chain declined to provide when he asked for it. At the FDA, Kessler pushed through nutritional labels on foods sold through retail outlets but stopped short of requiring the same for restaurants. Yet if suppliers ship across state lines, as suppliers for Chili’s do, the ingredients must be printed on the box. That is what led Kessler, one of the nation’s leading public health figures, to hang around dumpsters across California.
The labels showed the foods were bathed in salt, fat and sugars, beyond what a diner might expect by reading the menu, Kessler said. The ingredient list for Southwestern Eggrolls mentioned salt eight different times; sugars showed up five times. The “egg rolls,” which are deepfried in fat, contain chicken that has been chopped up like meatloaf to give it a “melt in the mouth” quality that also makes it faster to eat. By the time a diner has finished this appetizer, she has consumed 910 calories, 57 grams of fat and 1,960 milligrams of sodium.
BY ERIC RISBERG — ASSOCIATED PRESS
David Kessler researched part of “The End of Overeating” by climbing into restaurant dumpsters to look for the nutritional labels of menu items high in fat, salt and sugar.
Instead of satisfying hunger, the salt- fat-sugar combination will stimulate that diner’s brain to crave more, Kessler said. For many, the come-on offered by Lay’s Potato Chips — “Betcha can’t eat just one” — is scientifically accurate. And the food industry manipulates this neurological response, designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want, Kessler found.
His theory, born out in a growing body of scientific research, has implications not just for the increasing number of Americans struggling with obesity but for health providers and policymakers.
“The challenge is how do we explain to America what’s going on — how do we break through and help people understand how their brains have been captured?” he said.
Kessler is best remembered for his investigation of the tobacco industry and attempts to place it under federal regulation while he was FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997. Although he was appointed by George H.W. Bush, Kessler became popular among Democrats for his tough regulatory stance. He got the nickname “Eliot Knessler” after he authorized the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota to seize a large quantity of Citrus Hill Fresh Choice orange juice in 1991 because it was labeled “fresh” when it was, in fact, partially processed. After he was elected in 1992, President Bill Clinton asked Kessler to continue to run the FDA.
Kessler’s aggressive approach toward the tobacco industry led to billion-dollar settlements between Big Tobacco and 46 states and laid the groundwork for legislation now pending in Congress that would place tobacco under FDA regulation.
Kessler, 57, sees parallels between the tobacco and food industries. Both are manipulating consumer behavior to sell products that can harm health, he said.
Whether government ought to exercise tougher controls over the food industry is going to be the next great debate, especially since much of the advertising is aimed at children, Kessler said.
“The food the industry is selling is much more powerful than we realized,” he said. “I used to think I ate to feel full. Now I know, we have the science that shows, we’re eating to stimulate ourselves. And so the question is what are we going to do about it?”
The idea for the book came seven years ago as Kessler was channel-surfing and came across an overweight woman named Sarah on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” While Sarah was successful in nearly every aspect of her life, she tearfully told Winfrey, she could not control her eating.
Kessler was mesmerized by Sarah — she was describing his own private struggle. “I needed to not only figure out Sarah — I needed to figure out myself,” he said. “Little did I know it would lead me into real fundamental issues of what makes us human and how our brains are wired.”
At 5-foot-11, Kessler’s weight has swung from 160 pounds to 230 pounds and back, many times over. He owns pants in sizes ranging from 34 to 42.
“I was a fat kid,” he said. “I grew up in the world of Entenmann’s cakes. I was pretty much of a science nerd. If you looked in my refrigerator in college, it was Entenmann’s.”
Every few years, Kessler would go on a diet and apply the kind of discipline that enabled him to earn a law degree from the University of Chicago while attending Harvard Medical School. “I’d lose weight and over time gain it back,” said Kessler, who also completed a medical residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore at the same time he worked as a staffer to Sen. Orrin Hatch. “I couldn’t control it.”
The man who took on Big Tobacco was helpless when confronted with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. He couldn’t focus on anything else until he had eaten them all.
“My weight was yo-yoing all the time,” said Kessler, who estimates that 70 million Americans struggle with conditioned hyper-eating. “And I never understood why.”
He embarked on a mission to figure it out while serving as dean of the medical school at Yale University and later the University of California at San Francisco. UCSF fired Kessler from his position as dean in December after he alleged financial malfeasance at the institution. The university maintains there were no financial misdeeds; Kessler says he was forced out because he blew the whistle. He remains on the faculty at the medical school and lives in San Francisco with his wife, Paulette, a lawyer. They have two grown children, both of whom live in Washington.
Paulette says that she was not taken aback when her husband of 34 years would disappear in the middle of the night on his dumpster tour. “Nothing surprises me anymore,” she said. “When he wants to find something out, there’s really no stopping him.”
Through interviews with scientists, psychologists and food industry insiders, and his own scientific studies and hours spent surreptitiously watching other diners at food courts and restaurants around the country, Kessler said, he finally began to understand why he couldn’t control his eating.
“Highly palatable” foods — those containing fat, sugar and salt — stimulate the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center, he found. In time, the brain gets wired so that dopamine pathways light up at the mere suggestion of the food, such as driving past a fast-food restaurant, and the urge to eat the food grows insistent. Once the food is eaten, the brain releases opioids, which bring emotional relief. Together, dopamine and opioids create a pathway that can activate every time a person is reminded about the particular food. This happens regardless of whether the person is hungry.
Not everyone is vulnerable to “conditioned overeating” — Kessler estimates that about 15 percent of the population is not affected and says more research is needed to understand what makes them immune.
But for those like Kessler, the key to stopping the cycle is to rewire the brain’s response to food — not easy in a culture where unhealthy food and snacks are cheap and plentiful, portions are huge and consumers are bombarded by advertising that links these foods to fun and good times, he said.
Deprivation only heightens the way the brain values the food, which is why dieting doesn’t work, he said.
What’s needed is a perceptual shift, Kessler said. “We did this with cigarettes,” he said. “It used to be sexy and glamorous but now people look at it and say, ‘That’s not my friend, that’s not something I want.’ We need to make a cognitive shift as a country and change the way we look at food. Instead of viewing that huge plate of nachos and fries as a guilty pleasure, we have to . . . look at it and say, ‘That’s not going to make me feel good. In fact, that’s disgusting.’ ”
Kessler said he’s made that shift in his own life, eating small portions of foods that contain fat, salt and sugar, part of a “food rehab” plan he suggests in the book. He has certain rules — no french fries, ever — that help him navigate through vulnerable moments.
He has embraced spinning — the first time he has regularly exercised. “I hated physical activity, all of my life, mostly because I was fat and it was hard to do,” he said. “But I just wanted to do something. I picked spinning because you can’t fall off the bike.” He worked with a private trainer for weeks just to be ready to take a class. “I was embarrassed to go into the class,” he said.
Now Kessler tries to spin every day and belongs to multiple health clubs so that he has more options for class times.
He avoids the cues that focus his brain on “highly palatable” foods, going so far as to chart a different route through San Francisco International Airport so that he doesn’t walk past the fried dumpling stand.
Kessler’s weight is relatively stable at 162 pounds. But there’s something else that’s changed. As he has come to better understand himself, the food cravings and the resulting anguish he felt have subsided.
“So I’m at peace,” he said. “After 30 years, I’m at peace.”
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