Tag Archives: overeating

NPR’s Living Large: Obesity in America Takes a Hard Look at Our Growing Crisis

Approximately one-third of the U.S. adult population and 17 percent of children are considered obese according to CDC statistics.

NPR’s special series “Living Large: Obesity in America” takes a  look at what it truly means to be obese in the United States, a country getting larger and unhealthier by the second.

Why are Americans obese? Blame it on the lifestyle. Americans are eating–everywhere. We eat in our cars on the way to kids’ soccer games, on the way to work, in-between meals, and after school. With our lackadaisical view of standard mealtimes, we are not only eating more, but are eating processed foods that are quick and adaptable to our on-the-go lifestyles and it’s rubbing off on other countries. The French are getting fatter, too, according to NPR.

Although France is typically viewed as a counterexample to America’s growing obesity problem, obesity in France is rising slightly. The French pride themselves on their love of food and traditional meal times. The French also know how to properly prepare a meal, something that is vastly disappearing in the age of globalization and urbanization.

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Posted on August 17, 2023 by Jamie

Computers May Make You Overeat

Most of us do it: eat a quick lunch while we attempt to catch up on the day’s work. While you may be doing your boss proud, it may also have some negative repercussions on how much you eat.

According to a small study, people who eat a meal in front of the computer may eat more dessert than those who eat their meal in a more traditional manner.

In the study of 44 men and women, the participants who played video games during lunch ended up eating more cookies than the others 30 minutes after their meal. The researchers attribute this to computer users having a foggier memory of their meal, which lead to them feeling less full.

The researchers found that those in the computer group ate roughly 250 calories worth of cookies 30 minutes after the meal. On the other hand, the other group ate only about half as many calories. (more…)

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Jason

Just Say No to Food Pushers (Nicely)

The time between Christmas and New Year’s is always the hardest time to eat healthy. Why is that? Is it because there’s temptation all around? Sometimes, yes. Is it because we have less time to work out and cook healthy meals? For sure. But what’s the No. 1 reason we all seem to struggle this time of year? Guilt.

We feel bad telling our grandmother that we have to forgo her famous mashed potatoes with lots of salt, butter and cream. Or that we can’t eat our aunt’s prized pecan pie. Or we even feel bad for not baking the family’s sugar cookie recipe that we always make. Change is hard, and in a lot of families, people’s feelings get hurt when you don’t act as though you have in the past. It’s a cliché, but in many ways it’s true: Food is love.

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Posted on December 16, 2023 by Jennipher

Healthy Eating Strategies for Holiday Celebrations

Mary Hartley, RD, MPH, Director of Nutrition at Calorie Count has answered thousands of diet and nutrition questions from Calorie Count members. And that’s not counting the advice she has given countless others during her 30-year career as a professional dietitian. Mary provides accurate and wise diet advice in a no-nonsense way to address the physical and personal barriers to reaching and maintaining ideal weight.

Calorie Count Members find it challenging to maintain their new lifestyle changes during the holidays. Here are a few of our readers’ favorite “Ask Mary Q+As” about coping with holiday food.

Ask Mary: How do I handle eating at a party?

Handle all parties the same way. Don’t go to the party famished and don’t overdo the alcohol because both behaviors open the door to indiscriminate eating. Look over the entire table before joining the serving line. If you are eating a full meal, choose several items in reasonable portions to make up a balanced meal. Look for the vegetables and skip the foods that are breaded and fried or covered in sauce, cream, butter, or cheese. Leave the serving area to eat while seated where you can converse. At a cocktail party, choose only the offerings that you love the best. Take a small portion and think about how great you’ll look and feel at a healthy weight.

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Posted on December 11, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Food for Thought: Imagining Food May Help With Weight Loss

With all those unhealthy treats around this time of year, temptation seems to be everywhere — from grandma’s cookies to your aunt’s egg nog to that tasty finger-food at your neighbor’s annual holiday party. But what if the secret to not overindulging wasn’t based on will power or self control, but rather a simple trick of the mind? It may seem like this type of Jedi-like behavior is right out of the Star Wars series, but research says that your brain can be a powerful ally in losing weight — if you use it the right way.

For many people who are trying to lose weight, visualizing yourself eating a not-so-healthy treat seems more like torture than a weight-loss strategy, but according to new research, scientists have found that imagining yourself eating a certain food may actually help you reduce your consumption of that food by decreasing your appetite for it. Talk about fascinating!

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Posted on December 10, 2023 by Jennipher

Chef Devin and Healthy Thanksgiving Basics on The Doctors

Tune in this Thursday, November 18 to The Doctors to learn how to eat, drink and be healthy this Thanksgiving. Special guest Chef Devin Alexander, of the new Biggest Loser Dessert Cookbook, will share her healthy Thanksgiving feast.

The country’s most beloved holiday does not have to a gorge fest that derails your healthy intentions and expands your waistline. The Doctors show you how to prepare for a healthy holiday season beginning with Thanksgiving.

Get delicious recipes to cut fat and calories from traditional Thanksgiving fare. And, learn about The Doctors three tips to prevent overeating. (more…)

Posted on November 15, 2023 by heather

DWTS’s Margaret Cho Shares Her Struggle With Emotional Eating

Margaret Cho recounted her experience on Dancing With the Stars in a recent blog post. She wrote about body image and how it affected her dancing. Margaret “felt clumsy and awkward among the svelte, swanlike figures of Jennifer and Brandi and Audrina.”

She reports that practicing was much less nerve racking than the weekly competition. During practice, she was able to focus on her body a bit more and was able to achieve true beauty in her dance. She did get distracted by constantly seeing herself in the mirror, something she’s not entirely comfortable with or used to but she was able to dance past it. (more…)

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Theresa

Caffeine Intoxication a Real Risk for Caffeine Addicts

Most of us probably have the regular cup or two of coffee or tea in the morning to wake up and get raring to go for the day. I know each morning I look forward to my cup of hot green tea and sometimes even have a cup in the afternoon as a pick-me-up. On the weekends, I get a nonfat soy latte as a treat.

There’s a lot of research out there on caffeine- some of it good and some of it not so good. For example, caffeine has been shown to have a positive effect on sports performance. Caffeine increases the power output of muscles by releasing calcium, which basically helps you go longer and faster. Caffeine also helps you feel less tired, so, in a race, you just keep going and going. That cup of joe has also been shown to improve mental alertness and may help ward off a number of diseases including Alzheimer’s, cirrhosis and colon cancer. (more…)

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Jennipher

Overeating Blamed on TV Background Noise

This isn’t the first time that someone has suggested that you not eat in front of the television. Generally the reasoning is that you will pay more attention to how much you are eating when you are not focused on your favorite show. The BBC is reporting recent research that suggests that the background noise of the television actually diminishes how much you taste the foods you are eating. The lead author on the study, Andy Woods, explained that they wanted to try to understand why airline food is notoriously bad. I had always figured it was a cost-cutting and logistics issue, but maybe not.

Experiment participants were asked to rate the overall flavor, sweetness, saltiness, and crunchiness of foods while blindfolded and wearing headphones. The headphones of the control group played no sound, while the experimental group heard white noise, like what you would hear on an airplane or with a fan nearby. The louder the white noise was, the less sweetness or saltiness the participants reported; however, they did report more crunchiness as noise increased. (more…)

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

How to Limit the Halloween Candy Eating Frenzy

The question of the month is: How do you manage trick-or-treating overload without being coined the Grinch Who Stole Halloween?

Here are a few suggestions to keep the kids’ sugar comas and your day-after guilt to a minimum:

First off, limit the frenzy altogether. Don’t allow your kids to trick-or-treat for hours. Discuss, ahead of time, that they are only allowed to trick-or-treat until their bag (or bucket) is full. Make your rules about obtaining and consuming candy very clear. Take the opportunity to explain some healthy-living tips to your young ones.

Shift the focus away from candy. Host a Halloween party that encourages other festive activities. (more…)

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Theresa

What is Sleep Eating?

Also sometimes called sleep-related eating (disorder), nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder (NS-RED), or sleep-eating syndrome, sleep eating is a rare and dangerous sleep disorder (not an eating disorder) that affects up to three percent of the population. There can be comorbidity with eating disorders; however, ten to 15 percent of those that suffer from eating disorders also experience sleep eating.

Definition
Sleep eating is classified by episodes of sleep walking during which one eats. Often the foods eaten during sleep are high in sugar or high in fat. Non-food items (such as soap) or odd combinations (such as raw bacon covered in mayonnaise) have also been reported as eaten during episodes of sleep eating. The sleep eater often awakes in the morning with no memory of the event.

There are several dangers associated with sleep eating. Sleep walking of any kind poses the risk of self-injury from running into things, falling down stairs, etc. Those that are sleep eating are at risk of injury from eating uncooked food or non-food items, choking, using knives, and even cooking while sleeping, and starting a fire. In addition, sleep eating also carries the same risks as binge eating, such as weight gain and increased risk of diabetes. (more…)

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Brooke Randolph