3 Easy Steps to Stop Thanksgiving Overeating

It's Thanksgiving time in the U.S. In addition to giving gratitude for the many things I am thankful for, I will be sitting down to enjoy a lovely dinner with turkey and other delicious goodies.

Having reached a point in life where I've lived through many decades of Thanksgiving dinners, I'm reminded that for far too many of those dinners I felt more stuffed than the turkey. 

Why does that happen and what can be done to change the pattern?

20-Minutes and Counting

In a recently released *study in the journal, "Cell Metabolism", researchers discovered the process by which gut microbes alert the brain to stop eating. It turns out that process takes about 20-minutes to occur. 

We've known for years that signals of satiation take about 20-minutes to register. This new research extends our understanding about how the gut bacteria interact with the nervous system to create those signals.

3 Easy Steps to Eating Success

Taking the 20-minute period into account, we have a simple 3-step process to ensure we eat in a way that allows us to skip the stuffed feeling and post dinner nap:

• First, create the intention to enjoy the meal, but to consume only a reasonable amount of food.

• Second, remind yourself there is a 20-minute delay before your gut communicates signals of satiation to the brain.

• Third, eat slowly, mindfully, and pay attention to your body. When you first notice the signals of satiation, stop eating. In a few minutes you'll feel completely full, but not stuffed.

Step 3 is likely to be a touch more challenging than steps 1 and 2. Why? Because our attention is easily drawn into conversations with others at the table. 

You've heard Uncle Henry's story a dozen times, but you can still get caught up in the energy and enthusiasm of the telling. Aunt Mary's latest medical situation must be heard with the appropriate level of attention and concern.

Recognize and plan for conversational distractions. Place an object in front of your plate such as an upside down fork or other item that will remind you to check in with your body's felt sense of satiation as the meal proceeds.

Your pre-meal intention to eat sensibly, your awareness of the 20-minute signal delay, and your mindful eating and body monitoring will carry the day.

Blessings to all and have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Steve

Stephen Carter Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

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Resource Citation: *Gut microbes signal to the brain when they are full: http://bit.ly/1NPqGt1

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog along with any statement or statements made in any podcast, audio, or video associated with this site are for informational purposes only. This and all other written posts and statements in any audio or video recording associated with this blog, Stress Solutions, LLC, or Stephen Carter are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting, audio or video recording linked to this website or associated in any way with this website, with Stephen Carter, or with Stress Solutions, LLC does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licensed medical professionals for any and all medical, psychological, emotional, or physical conditions.

Stress Eating and How to Stop the Habit

Two recent studies published in the journal "Neuron", report on findings related to stress and food choices. Links to those two articles mentioned in the podcast are below.

Bottom Line Regarding Stress and Diet

The bottom line for those who are choosing to achieve and maintain a healthy weight is to recognize and account for the role stress plays in our choices about what we eat.

By clicking on the special episode audio podcast link below, you'll learn how to combine two easily done, simple methods that will dissolve stress and place you back in the captain's chair of control when making food choices.

To listen to the 5-minute audio, click:

http://www.audioacrobat.com/email/EDlF9PfRW

To download the MP3 audio file to listen on your smartphone or computer anytime, click HERE.

Key Points:

• Stress affects our ability to make good food choices.
• Stress chemicals can remain in the body up to several hours after a stress inducing event.
• A three-step stress mastering process done before you make a food choice can help you make healthier choices.
• How to apply the three-step stress mastering process:

1. Identify where in your body stress / tension / uncomfortable sensations are located. If possible, touch those areas and really connect with your awareness.
2. Say "Yes to the Stress!" Acknowledge "what is" without resistance or desire to feel any differently.
3. Use Bi-Lateral foot tapping and voice (out loud or in mind) the command to,"Release and let it go... Let all of the stress dissolve and release."

Using this three-step process, you are now ready to make food choices from a place of more physical, emotional, and mental balance that supports better, healthier food choice decisions.

Blessings,

Steve

Stephen Carter Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog along with any statement or statements made in any podcast, audio, or video associated with this site are for informational purposes only. This and all other posts and statements in any audio or video recording associated with this blog, Stress Solutions, LLC, or Stephen Carter are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting, audio or video recording linked to this website or associated in any way with this website does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licensed medical professionals for any and all medical, psychological, or physical conditions.

For more information about the studies mentioned in the podcast and intro above, click the links below.

Scientists scan the brain to see how stress undermines your diet

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-08-scientists-scan-brain-stress-undermines.html

How stress can tweak the brain to sabotage self-control

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-08-stress-tweak-brain-sabotage-self-control.html

Thinking of Skipping Meals to Loose Weight? Think Again!

When working with clients to help them achieve weight change goals, I have them begin by keeping a food and beverage consumption log for one week. This is often an eye opener for clients because the log helps them identify food consumption patterns they didn't recognize before completing the log.

When I notice an absence of entries that should be on the log, I ask the client about the missing information. Sometimes they forgot to include the information and sometimes they say they were simply too busy to eat or they intentionally skipped the meal as a weight loss strategy.

Skipping meals isn't a good weight loss strategy. It can actually result in weight gain. To learn why, have a look at the results of a research study by Ohio University published in the, "Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry".

Study link: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/634538/?sc=dwhn

Stephen Carter Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog are for informational purposes only. This and all other posts are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting on this website does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licensed medical professionals for any and all medical or physical conditions.

Green Veggies Each Day May Keep Dementia Away!

Want to do something to help keep dementia away? Consume at least one serving a day of leafy greens.

Photo Credit: Peter Rome

According to a report published on March 30 by HealthDay, research findings from a team led by Martha Clare Morris of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found solid correlations between the consumption of dark green leafy veggies and the slowing of mental deterioration among the 950 older adults participating in their study. 

According to Morris, researchers "observed a protective benefit from just one serving per day of green leafy vegetables". While the exact reasons these benefits occur isn't known, according to Morris - a nutritional epidemiologist at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center - the brain benefits associated with dark leafy greens likely stem from several key nutrients, including vitamin K. 

Given the number of older adults studied over a five-year period, these findings seem significant. While more studies will likely be needed to better understand the biochemical processes involved, I for one plan to up my consumption of green leafy veggies starting today!

Have a healthy and happy day!

Steve

Stephen Carter Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail!

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog are for informational purposes only. This and all other posts are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting on this website does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licensed medical professionals for any and all medical or physical conditions.

Reference article for this post: 

Lots of leafy greens might shield aging brains, study finds,

by Alan Mozes, Healthday Reporter; http://tinyurl.com/q2jcp4u

Outsmarting Temptation With Science Based Tricks

Photo by Amanda Mills

A good article published in the July 31, 2014 issue of "Fulfillment Daily" entitled, "How to Outsmart Any Temptation With These 5 Science Based Tricks", offers some excellent suggestions for managing food cravings that seem to be everywhere when we're working to achieve a healthy weight.

For those who know Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) or other tapping method, you will, of course, want to use those skills throughout the day to keep stress down and commitment up. 

To learn about EFT, visit http://www.EFT-MD.com.

Additional Practices for Your Self-Regulation Toolbox:

Two additional practices I believe are worthy additions to your self-regulation toolbox are:

• Become mindfully aware of where in your body you're feeling a particular craving / temptation. Notice it; notice how strong it feels; touch that area with your hands. Then, as you notice it, say in mind or out loud,

"It's only a feeling; this too shall pass. Soften, soften, soften and flow, it's only an energy, where does it want to go? Soften and flow..."

• Given we live in the ocean of emotion created by thought, another way to dissolve or lower craving sensations is to notice what thought(s) emerge immediately before sensations arise. Upon noticing the thought, say out loud or in mind, 

"Hm...There is a thought. It's only a thought.", 

and let the thought float by like a cloud moves in the summer sky.

It's Only a Thought:

Recognizing that thoughts are, well, just thoughts, places our conscious awareness in an observer role. We do not become immersed in the thought; we're above it, beyond it. Soon the thought will be replaced with a different thought, and then another. As the thoughts float away, so too do the sensations and cravings.

We have thoughts, but we are not our thoughts. We have feelings, but we are not our feelings. We're greater than our thoughts and feelings. Recognizing that truth places us firmly in the driver's seat of life.

The article link for, "How to Outsmart Any Temptation With These 5 Science Based Tricks", is: http://www.fulfillmentdaily.com/outsmart-temptation-5-science-based-tricks/.

Blessings,

Steve

Stephen Carter CEO, Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog are for informational purposes only. This and all other posts are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting on this website does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licenced medical professionals for any and all medical or physical conditions.

How to Make Your Diet Anti-Inflammatory With a Few Easy Changes

Do our food choices influence the level of inflammation in our bodies? Research suggests the answer is Yes.

One important step toward wellness is to recognize the role inflammation plays in health and what we can do to tweak our food choices accordingly. It turns out when we make anti-inflammatory food choices, we also are making food choices to help us achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Add exercise, stress reduction, and other healthy lifestyle choices, and we have a delicious recipe for long-term wellness.

Easily Make Your Diet Anti-Inflammatory

In a March 3, 2015, news release Melissa Wdowik, PhD, RDN, at Colorado State University offered some cogent guidance about the role inflammation plays in health and what food choices contribute to a good anti-inflammatory diet.

To learn what Dr. Wdowik recommends, visit http://www.news.colostate.edu/Release/7576

To your health,

Steve

Stephen Carter CEO, Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog are for informational purposes only. This and all other posts are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting on this website does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licenced medical professionals for any and all medical or physical conditions.

Could a Feast-and-Famine Diet Extend Life?

Today's short post comes with a very big caveat: before entering into any diet or exercise program, we recommend you consult a qualified medical doctor. 


Of Mice and Men (Women Too):

Researchers at the University of Florida assert that having people engage in a feast-or-famine diet may mimic some benefits of fasting. In some research studies with mice, fasting has been found to extend lifespan and improve age-related disease.

Two important points need to be kept in mind. One, if you're reading this you aren't a mouse; and, secondly, skipping meals and other fasting practices may be problematic for you as an individual depending on your unique medical situation. 

Did I mention it's important to consult a qualified medical doctor before engaging in any diet or exercise program?

If you're interested in learning more about fasting or the feast-and-famine approach highlighted in the University of Florida study, we recommend you research those methods and consult a qualified medical doctor who is an expert in diet and health before deciding to give either fasting or feast-and-famine eating a go.

Stephen Carter CEO, Stress Solutions, LLC p:804-677-6772 | e:CarterMethod@gmail.com | w:http://www.EFT-MD.com

Important Note: This and all other postings to this blog are for informational purposes only. This and all other posts are not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise recommend any treatment for any medical or psychological condition. Anyone using any of the information contained in this or any other posting on this website does so at his or her own risk. You are urged to seek competent medical consultations with appropriate licenced medical professionals for any and all medical or physical conditions.

Article and Resource Links:

"Feast-and-famine diet could extend life, study shows"

http://news.ufl.edu/archive/2015/02/feast-and-famine-diet-could-extend-life-study-shows.html