Saturday, April 11, 2020
DO FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS or loved ones ever try to sabotage your efforts to stick to a healthy eating regimen?
It doesn’t take a 007-type secret agent to derail a diet. People who like and even love us can undermine our efforts to stay away from sugary foods, baked goods and deep-fried offerings in favor of healthier options.
“Has anyone ever said to you, ‘Don’t you love me? You always eat my food!’ or “Won’t you try just one brownie? I made your favorite ones.’ If any of these sound familiar, things you’ve been hearing from friends, family or co-workers, then you may have diet saboteurs in your life,” says Lise Gloede, a registered dietitian based in Arlington, Virginia. “Just when you feel you’re on a good path to healthy eating, someone else gets nervous or feels threatened by your progress or success. This easily happens in close relationships, especially if one person knows he or she needs to lose weight but is not at the point of making that happen. When people feel threatened, they tend to fight back, sometimes in subtle ways. Emotions can get nasty and sabotages, whether conscious or unconscious, can occur.”
Dietary obstruction, intentional or not, can pose an additional challenge to the tens of millions of Americans trying to lose weight for health reasons, Gloede says. More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's particularly bad news because obesity is associated with diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, asthma, high blood pressure and colorectal, kidney, breast and prostate cancer.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a secret agent to foil a diet saboteur and stay on your eating plan. Communicating your need to follow your healthy eating regimen directly, calmly and honestly is generally a good approach, says Jennifer Pells, clinical director at Structure House, a weight-loss clinic in Durham, North Carolina. Here are some common types of diet saboteurs, plus strategies for foiling their attempts to disrupt your diet:
1. A Touch of Raspberry
Ever heard of a raspberry ketone? It is the compound in red raspberries that gives this sweet little fruit it’s aroma. Research has shown that ketones may help your body burn fat easier. (2) When paired with a healthy diet of whole foods and regular exercise, raspberries can help you lose weight by supporting the regulation of your metabolism. Get a raspberry ketone supplement here!
2. Portion Out of Control
Snack foods and carbs can find their way into your day in the afternoon, and may linger into the evening. Why? With foods like this, keeping track of how much you eat can be more than challenging. To avoid it, try to reduce hunger with something like a slow-digesting carb or non-digestible carbs (resistant carbs) so you feel more full. Get your resistance starches from natural food sources like seeds, legumes, corn, green banana, or corn for a snack that helps you feel full, so you eat less.
3. Junk Food
If sweets & salty foods are your favorite, get back on track to keep those inches off with this doctor recommended substitute. Trade your potato chips for turnip chips. Turnip chips have a great tangy taste you’ll love, and the same crunch so you don’t feel deprived. They have less carbohydrates so your body stores less, and you keep looking great!
4. Stress Eating
Comfort foods can be the end of all the hard work you put in staying away from tempting foods during the day. With the stress and emotions we all have at the end of the day, you can end up on the couch in front of the t.v. with a big bowl of something delicious (and fattening) because after all, you deserve it. But the thing is in those few moments of relaxation you are really just adding to your stress level and may be increasing food anxiety with that kind of habit. So don’t fuel your stress, fuel your body with some good-for-you foods like mashed sweet potatoes and parsley. It’s sweet and contains compounds that may help reduce stress, and reduce bloating for better feeling at the end of a long day.
5. A Dash of Pepper
A new study showed that a compound found in black pepper called Piperine may actually help reduce the development of new fat cells!
6. Food Combos
Did you know that eating certain foods together can help you lose weight, or maintain your ideal body weight? Toss a few oranges and avocados together to top a salad and lower cortisol levels (the body’s key stress hormone that contributes to belly fat), or low-fat cheese and black beans to promote fat breakdown and reduce estrogen (a key hormone associated with weight gain in the glutes) for a better butt.
Slimming down and staying there requires a commitment to healthy eating and regular exercise. Your body couldn’t do it without that effort, but sometimes there are dangers lurking within foods that can cause us to gain back, or halt our weight loss. Take these tips to heart to help keep yourself far from diet sabotage.