Dietician

Jackie_W · October 2008

For those of you that don't know, I went to my first dietician meeting this morning, and thought people might like to have the worksheets she gave out.

Do you feel you eat when you are not hungry? what are the triggers?
Internal Triggers: External Triggers:
Boredom Stress
Loneliness Family
Unwell Jealousy (other people can get jealous when you lose weight)
Lack of confidence TV/Media (Adverts etc)
(These are examples, we are not all the same, so we may have other influences)

Can you think of a time that you have exercised self-control (NOT an eating situation)
Stop smoking, stop nailbiting, stop/reduce alcohol intake

(The following are scales, we have to be honest, and mark ourselves from a scale of 1-10 on each subject - 1 being not really bothered, 10 being huge influence):

Which are your most comon triggers?
Seeing,hearing or smelling food
Watching others eat
Looking at food adverts
Shopping for food
Preparing food
Not having healthy foods available
Having an argument with someone
Beign left alone
Having nothing to do
Facing lots of freebies or a buffet
Other people tempting or teasing you
Being in a 'foodie' situation like a party or a restaurant
Having skipped a regular meal

Which are your most common internal triggers:
Hunger
Cravings
Thinking about food - taste, texture, sight or smell

Unhelpful thoughts such as:
I need cheering up
I've done well today I deserve a treat
I've blown al my plans today; I might as well eat what I want
If I don't eat now my cravings will get out of control
If I eat this now, I'll just skip the next meal

Mood changes:
Feeling depressed or sad
Boredom
Feeling angry or annoyed
Feeling disappointed or upset
Feeling guilty

Strategies to help with triggers:
Hunger or craving?
It is important to try and have mroe conscious control over your eating patterns.
Cravings are more psychological (head control) than hunger which is stomach control.
If you feel hungry stop and think:
When did I last eat?
Am I truly hungry?
Is there an external trigger?
Rank your hunger on a scale of 1 - 10
'Surf the urge' - cravings come in waves and if you can resist, the urge (peak) will subside and this usually takes 15-30 minutes.
Find distractions:
find something or a few things you like doing:
Knitting, reading, suduko, puzzles, a walk outside, listen to music - anything that will take your mind off your craving.

Avoidance strategies:
Look back on your external triggers and how could you deal with them?
You need to control or avoid the things that stimulate, trigger or lead you to overeat.
e.g. avoid buying chocolate if you can't resist it every time you see it.

My strategies might be:
Go shopping alone - kids and partners are a nightmare, you need to eat healthy, they want to buy chips, sweets, biscuits, popcorn, basically anything loaded with fat and sugar!
Write a shopping list - and stick to it!
Avoid the baked bread/cake isle in the supermarket!

Response Substitution:
Try to identify alternative responses to your internal triggers, apart from eating.
What else other than food do I find relaxing/comforting?
Apart from food, what else can relieve boredon/take my mind off things?

Dealing with lapses:
Lapses are normal and part of learning how to control/manage your eating.
How do you feel when you have lapsed?
How could you make this negative feeling more positive?

Try to reward success not dwell on failure!
Forgive yourself and be honest with your self but not over critical!
Aim to get back on track and not have feeling of 'I'm off the rails'.
Get/look for support from others (that's where you guys come in, in this wonderful community :bigsmile:

Hope this is of some help :flowerforyou:

Jackie_W · October 2008