November/December 2006 Alternative Health
Overcoming Holiday Food Static

by Donald Altman, M.A.

 

Donald Altman

Have you ever had a well-intentioned plan to eat moderately and healthy during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year season - only to find your eating got hijacked by events, people or food cravings that seemed out of your control?

You may have unknowingly encountered food static, which are food-related messages that trigger unbalanced and compulsive eating, negative feelings, overwhelming emotions and stress.

A typical recipe for holiday food static begins with those tempting taste tests in grocery and specialty stores. It continues with a barrage of TV advertisements pitching weight-loss for the New Year. Then there are the holiday parties, the overabundance of food and goodies in the workplace. And what about the family holiday meals where you are held emotional hostage to all those homemade food gifts? Top it all off with memories of how food and weight may have caused emotional pain in the past -- it's enough to make you give up and plead, "Please, pass me another helping of cheesecake."

You can overcome food static during the holidays by using mindfulness - a powerful and proven antidote to mindless eating and medicating emotions with food.

Mindfulness is a practice of paying attention and observing things at a very deep level - and doing so without adding layers of opinion, blame or judgment. This is a gentle and compassionate way of putting yourself in charge so you can act, rather than react to food static and other difficult situations in your life. With greater awareness comes greater freedom of choice.

How does mindfulness work with holiday food static? Suppose that just before lunch you encounter a batch of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and you are really hungry. By force of habit, you might respond and eat more than you want. Or if you practice mindfulness, you could use your awareness to lead you in a very different direction.

With mindfulness, you first observe how your mouth is watering and how strongly you desire this cookie. You place your attention on the strength of your hunger. Next, you pay close attention to what your body is hungry for - noticing that cookies are not what would satisfy your body's hunger at this time. You would not necessarily react to the watering of your mouth and your thoughts because you would be watching and observing just as you would watch a good movie. Most importantly, you would have the skill to consciously decide how the movie ends - because after all, you are its writer, actor and director.

Food is not the problem, but the solution. So this holiday season, why not serve yourself up a gracious helping of mindfulness? Pay attention to your surroundings. Notice the difference between true physical hunger and other kinds of emotional hunger. Get ready for those times that you will face food static by embracing the mindful attitude of just watching and observing, but not reacting.

And if you forget to do this from time to time, that's okay too. Just begin again, starting with kind hospitality toward yourself.

Donald Altman, M.A., is a counselor, former Buddhist monk and EMMY-Award winning writer. His new group program, 12-Weeks to Mindful Eating, is offered at locations around Portland and the country. Donald is author of several books on mindful living and eating, including Meal By Meal: 365 Daily Meditations for Finding Balance Through Mindful Eating, Living Kindness and Art of the Inner Meal. Donald works as a counselor at his private clinic, West Linn Counseling, as well as at Providence St. Vincent's Eating Disorder Clinic. For more information, call 503-650-2208 x1 or visit www.mindfulpractices.com.

5 Tips for Healthier, Happier Holiday Eating

  1. Make a shopping list
    Before going to the grocery store, make a detailed list of what you need. Do this to help avoid impulse purchases. Also, look over your list one last time before entering the store. This reduces your anxiety and lets you leave the store feeing good about your purchases.
  2. Give yourself permission to eat in moderation
    Giving yourself permission to eat in moderation-that cookie or other food you want-is better than eating and then blaming yourself. Giving permission also reduces the temptation to binge eat because feelings of guilt won't drive you to eat more.
  3. Slow down while you eat
    When you slow down your eating, you body has more time to send a signal to the brain that it is no longer hungry. Try chewing 10 to 15 times with each bite. Enzymes in your saliva also help you to digest your food better. Another idea? Take two breaths between bites.
  4. Savor each bite
    Pay attention to each bite. Where on your tongue is the flavor most intense? Imagine that you are eating this particular food for the first time. This helps you get more fulfillment out of each bite, instead of just getting filled. Discover that quality really can be better than quantity.
  5. Put away the scale
    If you notice that you weigh yourself frequently or that you constantly think about calories and losing weight, then it makes sense to put your scale away. You might decide to weigh yourself only once a week during the holiday season. You might find evidence that obsessing on the scale is only helping you put on more anxiety.

--Donald Altman