5 Best Ways to Manage Your Weight and Eating

Being overweight or obese can result in loss of joy in life, intense shame and helplessness, being bullied or subjected to humiliation. It can also lead to many negative health outcomes as well, including diabetes, high blood pressure and greater risk of heart disease and cancer. Most overweight people have tried to diet, "starved" themselves, mentally beaten themselves up about their eating, tried to have more so-called willpower with only short-term or ineffective results. The weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, yet many merchants sell unrealistic promises and wishful thinking, rather than teach people new skills and ways of living that can transform their lives.

Our minds and bodies are interconnected, and excess weight can be a sign of systems imbalance.

Mindful eating is an alternative, more-holistic and compassionate approach to weight and eating. Mindful eating involves deliberately and compassionately turning in to your own inner experiences, including thoughts, feelings and behaviors. You begin to be more aware of the sensory aspects of eating, such as the taste and texture of food, when you feel hungry and full, and whether you are actually hungry or just bored, anxious, sad or angry.

Some mindful principles that can help you manage your weight and begin to live a healthier life include:

• Begin to notice in what ways your eating is automatic and mindless.

When you are hungry, do you automatically eat, reaching for ice cream or fries, without taking note of what you are really hungry for? Do you eat while watching TV, texting, driving or working? Do you gulp the food down without tasting it, or do you eat slow and savor the taste? Start noticing your automatic pattern and habits when eating.

• Slow down and focus on your thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.

Notice the way your breath flows in and out of your body and how this changes when you get anxious. Focus on your thoughts, feelings and sensations when you eat. What are your feelings? Are they helpless or ashamed, angry or rebellious? Sit down when you eat, and stop doing other things. Try to eat slowly, noticing the taste and texture of the food, and try putting your fork down between bites, stretching out the eating experience.

• Develop positive rituals around food and eating.

Overweight people associate eating with shame, self-hatred and helplessness. Mindful eating involves reaching for the positive instead of the negative. Take time to shop for groceries and buy the freshest, most natural, colorful and tasty foods you can afford.

• Choose a way of eating you can live with forever.

A typical diet involves restricting food intake for quick weight loss to reach a particular goal in as short a time as possible. One of the biggest problem is that when we reach the goal, we revert back to our old patterns and quickly put weight back on again. You begin to feel like a failure. With mindful eating, the focus is on developing healthier eating and exercise patterns that you can live with the rest of your life. Healthy living is something positive that can add pleasure and energy to your life.

• Encourage and nurture yourself.

The process of lifestyle change is long and difficult. Begin by trying to accept and love yourself right now. Positive change is easiest when you don’t try to force changes and beat yourself up. You are doing this for you, not to please anybody else. Make a list of your reasons for wanting to be healthier, and carry it with you. Focus on the realistic benefits you can achieve, such as improved health, mood and energy. Imagine yourself in the future, living a more vital, free and energetic life, less hampered by the excess weight and automatic patterns.

The first step is always the most difficult. Make a conscious and mindful effort about the way you feed yourself. Let go of automatic patterns, and begin to be fully present in your life.

 

7 Steps to Heart Disease Prevention

Keeping your heart healthy no matter how old you are does take effort and change in your everyday habits. This includes eating a heart-healthy diet and increasing activity level. Here are some things to help you get started:

• Exercise. At least 30 minutes almost every day of the week.
• Quit smoking. Time to quit.
• Eat a heart-healthy diet. Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and limit saturated fats, salt, foods containing cholesterol and fatty meats.
• Watch your numbers. See your doctor regularly to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and heart. Make sure to take your medication regularly.
• Decrease alcohol intake. Excess amounts of alcohol can contribute to heart disease, blood pressure, arrhythmias and high cholesterol.
• Limit stress. Stress can add to heart disease. Find healthy ways to relieve stress and lower heart disease risk.
• Watch weight. Increased weight can contribute to heart disease risk. Try to maintain a healthy body weight for your body size.

Remember, working with your doctor to keep your health problems under control is possible. It’s never too late to start living healthy and getting your heart disease risk in check

 

Healthy Recipe

Berry Banana Popsicles

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries, diced

1 medium banana, diced

2 cups nonfat vanilla yogurt

Instructions:

• Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
• Pour mixture into popsicle molds.
• Freeze for at least 6 hours.
• Run molds under hot running water until popsicles can pull out easily to serve.

Tips:

• You do not need popsicle molds to make this recipe. Use small paper cups and wooden popsicle sticks instead.
• Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Pour mixture into popsicle molds.
• Try with blackberries, blueberries, cherries or raspberries.

Calories 50

 

Louisiana FCU Trainings

September 27, 2017 – Identity Theft

October 25, 2017 – Estate Planning for Women

All of these trainings will be held at the Louisiana FCU Training Center at 406 East Airline Highway, LaPlace, from 6-7:30 p.m. Please RSVP at getsmart@LouisianaFCU.org or call 985-653-1736.

If you would like to participate in any of these nutrition workshops, please call Cynthia Clifton at 985-497-3261.

The LSU AgCenter is a statewide campus of the LSU System and provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.

 

Nutrition Blog

MANAGING YOUR WEIGHT: IT CAN BE DONE!

We all know that it’s important to maintain a healthy weight. Keeping to a healthy weight will give you more energy and self-confidence and improve your overall health.

Question: How do we do that?

Each day we are bombarded with advertisements for diet pills and programs promising quick weight loss. These may be tempting, but there is no such thing as a quick, healthy weight loss that lasts.

Question: Do we have to fall into temptation?

The best way to lose weight and stay healthy is by creating a plan that encompasses diet, exercise and lifestyle changes. Before starting any weight loss program, please check with your doctor.

Here are some ways to get started:

• Assess your current weight: How much do you need to lose? Set a realistic goal in a realistic timeframe.
• Set short term goals: You should not lose more than 2 pounds per week. Losing more than that would put you in a position to gain back faster.
• Edit your diet: Eat mostly whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean meats. Choose low-fat dairy products, and limit sweets and fats. Make sure you pay attention to portion size.
• Make lifestyle changes: Walking more, exercising more, playing outside with your kids, all of this gets you off the couch and moving more.