A TRIGGER FOOD SETS OFF "OVEREATING." It is specific to each person. Chocolate candy might be
your trigger food while pizza might prompt your best friend to forget moderation.
According to psychologist Stephen Gullo, ( His book " Thin Taste Better") the best defense againts trigger
food is not to take even one bite. These food are so enticing and tempting to you that you cannot allow yourself even a small portion because you can't control yourself. If you don't begin, you dont have a problem.
Trigger behaviors,meanwhile, are eating patterns that are "habitual and often almost unconcious behavioral
patterns that lead to the repeated abuse of trigger food that make you fat."
Five types of trigger behaviours and what you can do about them. ( From the book "Thin Taste Better")
PICKER...
If you are a picker, you are not alone. 99% of his clients love finger foods of any kind. They can consume
thousands of calories without realizing it. More people have gained weight from what they eat before, after
and in between meals than from what they consume in the meal itself.
Pickers need to control their fingers to control their weight.
Here are some tips.
* Don't eat while standing up because it means you are not paying attention to what you are eating, which
leads to loss control.
* Don't eat while cooking. There is a big difference between tasting the food and eating half of what you cook.
Stay in the kitchen only for cooking. Don't hangout there if you are a picker.
*Don't eat while on the phone.Not only is rude, but you also are not concious of what and how much you are
eating.
* Eat only food that requires the use of utensils. If finger food is your problem, it's a threat to your control.
* Use your non- dominant hand to pick up finger food at a cocktail party. Gullo recommends keeping a drink in your dominant hand so you will have to use your other hand.
* In restaurant, beware of the bread basket. Pickers can unconciously consume excess calories while
waiting for the main meal.
PROWLER...
Pickers and Prowlers have a lot in common except that Prowlers never sit down for a meal. They graze
throughout the day claiming they don't have the time to eat or they feel they are eating less by prowling
for their food. (Tips for prowlers work also for pickers.)
* Don't skip meals. Eat real food, not snack food all day long.
* Sit down while eating. " A meal isn't a meal if it's eaten on the run, or at a counter, or in the car on the
way to work.
* Focus on your meals. Don't eat while doing something else like watching television or trying to finish
your work.
* Beware the 10 minute problem. Gullo says Prowlers are most weak the first 10-minutes when they arrive
home, at a party or a restaurant. It is before the main meal is served that many calories are consumed
unknowingly.
Finshers belong to the "clean plate" club. Finishers are people who still hear their mother's words:
"It's sinful to waste on food," "Think of the starving children!" and "Always get what you pay for."
Childhood attitudes need to be addressed and challenged for finishers to change their behavior.
But two practical tips can also help.
* Don't over load your plate. If it's in your plate, you will feel obligated to eat it.
* Eat more slowly. You will be satisfied with less and still feel like you were a "good" girl or boy for
finishing your food.
HOARDER
Hoarders are the opposite of Pickers and Prowlers. They eat as if they are on installment plan. They
hardly eat during the day, skipping meals and ignoring the hunger signals from the body, but at nighttime,
they eat all the calories and more because they are so ravenous. Gullo recommends that the Hoarders stick to a fixed meal schedule to spread their calories around.
FOOD THERAPIST
Emotional eaters, Food therapist eat in response to their emotions, positive or negative.
When they are happy, they eat. When they are sad, they eat. When they are bored, they eat.
"When the going gets tough, they stuff."
For these people, food is the only substance of comfort they use to deal with their emotions.
Food Therapist need to find non food ways to comfort themselves--- a massage, talking to a friend,
taking up a craft or hobby, or listening to music. Food Therapist may also need real therapist to help
them deal with their emotional needs.
"Calories cannot make you happy. Food cannot resolve stressful situations. Food will not teach you new skills to deal with stress. It will not repair your relationships. Instead, It will block your development and make you dependent on an external to cope.
"As long as your eating is tied to your emotions, you will never achieve a stable weight. Your weight will
change as often as your emotions do. And any diet--- no matter how sound---will be as futile as trying to
build a castle in the sand. It will be swept away with the next wave of emotion."
"SMILE!"
"LIFE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!"
"GOD BLESS US ALL!"
from.
Princess Dianne Ritz
