in Health Psychology (2012) conducted by Brian Wansink, PhD, and his team at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, if food had “stop signals,” portion controlling food amounts would be a lot easier. In their study, 98 students were recruited from the University of Illinois and Pennsylvania State University. The students were given stacks of potato chips to munch on during a movie in class. Some had red dividers (or a tomato basil chip) placed within the chips (at every 7th chip and every 14th chip) and others just had yellow chips. The findings showed that the subjects who had dividers ate 50 percent less than the ones who didn’t – about 250 calories less! Plus, the ones with dividers knew how many chips they ate – within 1 chip, whereas the others underestimated how much they had eaten by 12.6 chips!
What does this study reveal about knowing when to stop eating? Cues to stop eating are very effective. These cues can include things such as:
✔ Single-serve packages
✔ Snacks divided into serving-size bags
✔ Food placed on a plate and not eaten out of the bag, box, or carton
✔ Snacks that allow you to see how much you’ve eaten, like pistachios in shells
Understanding why you can’t stop at one bite
You may relate to the following scenarios: You have one bite of chocolate cake, and it leads you to take another and another. Or you take one potato chip from the bag and that leads to eating half the bag. Or you have a spoonful of ice cream and keep going back for more. Why is it hard to stop at one bite, chip, or spoonful? It’s not a mystery that foods high in added sugar, salt, and solid fat set us up to want to eat more. Sometimes the food is filling an emotional need brought on by feeling lonely or depressed. Even joyful and celebratory feelings bring on eating and overeating.
According to The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, by David A. Kessler, MD, foods that are fatty, salty, and sugary tap receptors in the brain that release feel-good chemicals like dopamine, which make us want more of that food. Typically, those foods are high in calories, too – and they don’t provide much in the way of nutrients.
These trigger foods can make you want to eat more. Not surprisingly, these are the foods that you want to limit on the Total Body Diet. Throughout this book, I give you helpful tools and strategies to limit these types of foods. Understanding what foods are trigger foods for you is life-changing and allows you to create a healthier relationship with food.
Once I start eating ________, I can’t stop.
Multiple foods may be trigger foods for you.
Now that you’ve identified foods that are triggers to overeat, avoid keeping those foods in the house or at work. Set limits around these foods in order to reach your Total Body Diet goals.
How does sleep foster total body wellness? Recent research shows that a well-rested body and mind are essential to good health. Just as eating well and getting regular physical activity are important to your health, sleeping seven to nine hours at night is a must for revitalizing your energy, thinking, and muscle repair and recovery. Sleep science, a relatively new field of research, reveals how sleep can affect overall quality of life.
Your body and mind work hard while you’re awake. Sleep allows your major organs like your heart, lungs, brain, muscles, and stomach to slow down and literally recharge. According to the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleep.org), here are some of the ways different parts of your body benefit from sleep:
✔ Brain: Cerebral spinal fluid is pumped more quickly through the brain while you sleep, clearing away waste from brain cells, so your brain is clean and clear for the day ahead.
✔ Heart: Your blood pressure and heart rate slow during sleep, giving the heart a break overnight.
✔ Lungs: Breathing slows and becomes very regular during sleep, easing the load on your lungs overnight.
✔ Muscles and joints: Growth hormone is released to rebuild muscles and joints while you sleep.
✔ Stomach: Eating a balanced meal with a bit of carbohydrates (like whole-grain pasta, brown rice, or whole-wheat bread) along with protein-rich foods (like turkey or cheese) with some healthy fats (like avocado or olive oil) can keep your stomach satisfied overnight, which helps you sleep more soundly.
Recognizing the power of catnaps
You get drowsy in the afternoon and nod off for 20 minutes. Is that beneficial? Yes! Naps can recharge your brain, boost your energy, and make you more alert for the rest of the day. Many cultures plan for naps on a daily basis, but in the United States, the hustle and bustle of life gets in the way of regular naps. Sleep deprivation can lead to major health issues like weight gain, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and mood disorders like depression.
Whether snoozing during the day is planned or spontaneous, brief catnaps of 10 to 20 minutes can be good for your health, according to sleep science experts. The value of an afternoon nap can mean the difference between performing well at work or not, or between being happy or sad.
Relishing your bedtime routine
You’ve had a long day at work, at school, or with the kids, and you deserve a good night’s sleep. Some of the best ways to ensure a good night’s sleep is to have a regular routine at night. If you have an established routine, you’ll be more apt to stick with it and get better shuteye, too.
✔ Establish a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.
✔ Keep your bedroom temperature cool. For most people, about 67 degrees is ideal for sleep.
✔ Take a warm bath or shower before you go to bed. As you cool down, the drop in body temperature will make you feel sleepy.
✔ Make your bedroom soothing and tranquil.