In honor of Emotional Overeating Awareness Month, the challenge for the month of April is to feel those uncomfortable feelings without using food as a coping mechanism. If you overeat when feeling stressed and/or upset, ask yourself these questions:

Do I try to fill a void with food?

Does the food fill the ache?

Does food do what I want it to do?

Eating is a mood-altering experience which stimulates brief feelings of euphoria and happiness. Research has proven that food consumption, similar to alcohol or drug consumption, stimulates the release of neurotransmitters. The euphoric producing neurotransmitter dopamine floods the brain when eating refined and processed carbohydrates. Once this pattern of overindulging is established, you experience compulsive urges to stimulate the pleasure center of the brain through food. This patterned response to emotional distress is a significant component of obesity.

Emotional eating suggests that you use food to cope with your unpleasant emotions and problems. Eating for comfort may temporarily soothe or numb your feelings. However, the aftermath of emotional overeating is generally associated with feelings of remorse, pain, disgust, anger, and guilt. There are many reasons that people overeat such as boredom, replacing love, stuffing, grief, depression, or anxiety. This patterned behavior creates a destructive habit of avoiding the underlying problem at hand. Remember, you live the way you eat!

To effectively change this pattern, you must first identify your triggers.

When do you tend to overeat?

What are you feeling?

What lead up to the binge?

What time of day is it?

After the trigger and emotions have been pinned down, replace the urge to overeat with a new activity. Take your dog for a walk, call a friend, exercise, or go for a drive. Distract yourself from the urge to overeat. Accept that food may temporarily comfort you, but only temporarily. If you avoid giving in to your urge, you will feel empowered and in control. Changes, no matter how small, bring you closer to your goal of overall health.

If you have the tendency to emotionally eat, memorize this phrase:

DON’T comfort myself with food

If I’m upset, don’t eat to seek comfort!

It won’t solve the problem and

I’ll just feel worse.

No matter how you categorize your unhealthy relationship with food (friendships, substance use, shopping, etc.), destructive habits require lifestyle modifications to sustain changes long-term. Our thoughts shape our mood; therefore thoughts effect our behaviors and choices. This is wonderful news because we have a choice in how we feel! The realization that you are mostly responsible for how you feel is empowering. When we take responsibility for our own life, the choices we make, and our life experiences we make conscious decisions about how to respond rather than react to problems. Positive thinking produces a positive mood thereby decreasing the likelihood of emotional eating.Make a commitment to get back into the driver’s seat of your life and health. Who is driving the bus… you or your emotions? Begin taking small steps to modify your lifestyle in order to improve overall health and wellbeing. Don’t find yourself being “emotionally mugged” by overeating. Weight loss surgery and dieting change your relationship with your body. This does NOT change your relationship with food or your internal struggle to maintain weight loss. You will have the same brain in a different body. Surgery will not make you whole or fill the voids in your life. You must work through your feelings and past experiences in bite-sized pieces. This is by no means an easy process. Contemplate this – how much do I want my wholeness? Do I want to find peace and contentment in my relationship with food? If you are determined to find contentment and wholeness in yourself rather than food, it’s time to make thinking and lifestyle modifications to create lasting change. The REAL work begins AFTER surgery!

If you are at your wit’s end and continue to experience difficulty controlling your impulses to emotionally indulge, call our office to schedule a therapy session so we can work together to find solutions to these frustrating obstacles. Don’t be hesitant to let staff know how we can collaborate to improve your success with weight loss surgery.

Why am I not tolerating certain foods after my surgery?

Tolerating foods after weight loss surgery can be a very frustrating process.  Unfortunately, there is not one list of foods and recommended progression that will work for all patients across the board.  However, use this handout as a general guide to assist you when advancing your diet as recommended by the surgeon.  It may benefit you to meet with your nutritionist during this time if you struggle to come up with food ideas.  Keep in mind if a food doesn’t work, wait 2-4 weeks and try it again.  It does take time – but it does get better!

• Moisture
  • How is it prepared? 
    • Often cooking in a Crockpot, baking, and rotisserie are the most commonly tolerated cooking styles. 
    • You want to prepare food that maintains its moisture while cooking. 
  • Fat content? 
    • More Fat = Increased Food Tolerance.
    • Opposite of everything we have ever learned in our previous dieting history, in the early post-op stage, it might actually be beneficial to eat foods with a little higher fat content. 
    • Fat of food can be determined by the cut of a meat
      • For example, surprisingly choosing a ribeye might be more tolerable than choosing the sirloin.
    • Fat of a food can also be determined by white meat vs. dark meat
      • Dark meat is more likely to be tolerable due to the higher fat content.
  • Temperature of food?
    • Even though we should prepare our food in a safe manner, it helps to only cook food to the safe temperature.  Cooking it beyond this safe temperature can often result in dry foods that will be less tolerable.
    • Investing in an inexpensive meat thermometer (found at any grocery store/discount store) will help you to cook food safely while keeping moisture.
  • Sauce/Gravy?
    • Even though in our dieting history we have learned to not include sauces and gravies, a low-fat sauce or gravy might make a food more tolerable.
  • Is it a leftover?
    • Often re-heating food in the microwave dries it out.  Consider adding a low-sodium broth to foods while heating them to keep moisture.

• Emotion
  • Often certain emotions can lead to food intolerances.  Some emotions attributed to this include anger, anxiety, worry, feeling rushed, stress, etc.  The emotions cause the esophageal muscles to tighten thereby making food less tolerable.
  • In order to resolve this issue – it might help to relax prior to meal times.
    • Try 10 deep breathes to relieve the stress around eating
    • Try a hot, herbal, decaf tea 30 minutes prior to eating

• Behavior
  • Chewing
    • Not chewing your food to an applesauce consistency may cause you to vomit.
  • Eating too fast
    • Eating food too fast often results in eating too much (not allowing your brain time to realize the stomach is full) which can result in vomiting.

• Volume
  • Is it too much?
    • Obviously eating too much may cause you to vomit.  If your “baby pouch” is full and we are still putting more food in the stomach – it has no where to go but back up.

• Type
  • Maybe it just isn’t time for this food yet?
    • Everyone is different when it comes to what they can tolerate at what time.  So it’s important to try foods frequently, but also to follow the recommended progression. 
    • Start trying raw fruits and vegetables at 3 months post-op.
    • Start trying toasted bread around 4-6 months post-op.
    • Start trying pasta or rice around 9-12 months post-op.
    • Keep in mind not everyone follows this progression perfectly.  Some may take longer and some may be able to advance earlier.  Also some foods will work for most but won’t work for one individual. 
      • For example, most patients can’t tolerate eggs immediately following surgery.  However, hard boiled eggs are usually the first type of egg to be tolerated versus scrambled eggs.  However, I have known a few patients to be able to tolerate scrambled but not hard boiled.

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The Fall Season brings the Promise of Fruits and Veggies

By: Mara M. Davis, Registered Dietitian at Southeast Bariatrics

As we say farewell to the summer months and hello to the fall, some of the fruit and vegetable items we previously consumed may become more costly with the new season upon us.  As we transition into fall, what new seasonal fruits or veggies can we add to our nutrition routine? What about a hearty homemade vegetable soup, butternut squash, or a fresh salad with cranberries, pears and walnuts? Vegetables such as edamame, artichokes and arugula are greater in production this time of year, which fortunately makes our wallets greater in size, too.   

To be adventurous, experiment with different fruits or vegetables you never thought about eating before. Eat them fresh or use a creative recipe to prepare a new dish. Eating healthy is not equivalent to food that is boring in taste or flavor.  Putting in a little more effort could really pay off big and make food tasty and enjoyable!  Fruits and veggies can provide a wealth of nutrients and protective phytochemicals, such as fiber for good colon and cholesterol health and antioxidants to protect against damaging toxins. Consuming at least 4 servings a day of fruits or veggies is a gift you give to yourself to help nourish, replenish and improve your body. After all, remind yourself of that infamous saying, “you are what you eat!”  So start exploring this season’s great harvest of fruits and veggies at your local store, food share or farmers market.

Here are two recipes that can help you get started:

 Arugula Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette (20 minutes for preparation; Yields 4 servings)

 Ingredients

• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 6 ounces arugula – rinsed, dried and torn
• 1 pear, cored and sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine grapefruit juice, orange juice, olive oil, and salt. Shake vigorously.
2. In a salad bowl, combine arugula, pear, and red pepper. Drizzle dressing over salad, and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

*Add broiled or grilled white or dark meat chicken or baked salmon for extra protein*

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving (w/out added protein): Calories 229 | Total Fat 19.1g Cholesterol 0mg

Roasted Vegetable Risotto (20 minutes preparation time, 30 minutes cook time, ready in 50 minutes; Yields 8 servings)

**1/3 cup of risotto = 1 serving of carbohydrate**

 Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 2 cups whole baby carrots cut in lengthwise quarters
• 6 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 medium assorted peppers (yellow, red, green), cut into 1-inch strips
• 2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, cut into diagonal slices
• 1 cup halved fresh medium mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 1/2 cups Swanson® Vegetable Broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/3 cups uncooked Arborio rice (risotto)
• 1/2 cup grated low-fat Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray 17×11-inch roasting pan with cooking spray.
2. Mix asparagus, carrots, onions, peppers, squash, mushrooms, rosemary with 1/4 cup broth in prepared pan.
3. Roast 20 minutes or until done, stirring once. Prepare risotto while the vegetables are roasting.
4. Heat oil in saucepot. Add risotto. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth and cook until broth is absorbed. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until all broth is absorbed before adding more. (Total cooking time: 25 minutes)
5. Add vegetables and cheese. Heat through. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving: Calories 224 | Total Fat 3.5g | Cholesterol 4mg

Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database

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