Sofas aren't just for couch potatoes

++  One of the speakers at a conference I recently attended was Chris Wharton.  He made (or reviewed) several interesting points about our food supply.

"SoFAS" are solid fats and added sugars.  The more of these that are added to your food, the harder it is to control your weight.  Of course, the more you eat, the worse it gets.

There are several things that encourage a person to eat more, including:

• Variety - Have you noticed that at a buffet, you want a little of everything and pretty soon the plate isn't big enough?  Or, if there are assorted candies in a bowl, you want to try them all? 
• Portion size:  You'll eat more out of a big bowl (e g. of candy) than out of a small one, even if you don't eat all that is there. 
• Visibility:  The candy in that bowl is more enticing if you can see it (clear glass or plastic instead of opaque).
• Proximity:  If you can reach the candy bowl, you'll eat more than if you have to get up and walk across the room. 
• Cultural variables:  Messages from advertisers and from science and government sources both influence your eating habits.  The advertisers put a lot more money and creativity into attracting your attention - and have a lot more influence than you may want to admit. 

Some of our current food-related habits are not sustainable over the long-run.

• About 1/3 of all the garbage we send to landfills is packaging, and 2/3 of the packaging is from food - it averages 600 lb./person/year. 
• Add up all the food wasted in processing, packaging, and distribution, and average it out over the number of people living in the USA.  Add in what you waste at home - you didn't like it, you cooked too much and didn't use the left-overs, you had it so long it spoiled, etc.  It averages out to 1400 calories per person every day. If you buy locally-grown foods you can help reduce some of this waste.  If you are more mindful of food use in your home, you'll reduce more of the waste - and save money. 
• Meat is a very resource-intensive food.  Grain-fed livestock use a lot more resources than ones that graze on land not suited to cultivation.  Then, they are shipped to a processing plant.  The finished product is then shipped to your store - often in several stages.  It all adds up.  (This isn't saying we should all become vegetarians, only that we would be wise to be more mindful of how we eat, and more supportive of local food-production efforts.) 

Dr. Wharton also talked about the "food hub" he helped establish. This is a cooperative venture that functions as a distribution center for small producers.  As a group, they can provide vegetables, fruit, eggs, etc. to institutions like schools and restaurants, when individually they can't handle the volume the institution requires.  Many of these small producers would also sell at a farmers' market, but in that venue, they are taking the risk that they won't sell everything they brought that day, increasing waste and decreasing their profit margin. 

So, bottom line:  Move that candy dish farther from the sofa.  Take stock of your food on hand before grocery shopping.  Check out your local farmers' market or other locally produced food (which will also help reduce SoFAS).  Bon Apetit!

Emotional Eating

++  Many people eat when they aren't really hungry.  Are you one of those?  Or, you have the urge to eat, even when you shouldn't be hungry (because it hasn't been that long since the last meal)?   There are many triggers to this kind of over-indulging, and some of them are less obvious than others.  Here are some things to watch for, and some factors to consider about them: 

+ You eat because it's there.  It's out in plain sight where you can see it.  It smells good.  You just saw an advertisement for it.  External triggers like this are appealing, and some people find them very hard to resist.

+ You are thirsty.  You body needs something, but sends a confusing signal.  With summer coming, be watchful for this trigger in children, especially.

+ You didn't eat breakfast.  Skipping breakfast makes it harder for your body to get out of resting mode and into activity mode for the day.  In the end, this makes it much harder to control your weight.  It doesn't have to be a big, filling meal to make a difference.

+ You are tired.  Sleep-deprivation is epidemic in our society.  There are as many reasons as there are people complaining of this, but they fall into a few categories: 

•  use of TV and other lit-up screens near bedtime makes it hard to sleep (another trap that also affects children)
• other aspects of poor "sleep hygiene" that can make you too "wired" to fall asleep 
•  too much to worry about (and poor coping skills for the problems)  
•  too much to do - often, this really means poor prioritizing - most people don't really have to check email or social media 10 times a day, for example. 

The more often a person is short on sleep, the more likely that person is to become obese.  Those who average 5-6 hours/night are 50% more likely to be obese than those who get 7-9 hours, according to one study.  This is due to disruption in hormone levels. 

+ You are bored or restless.  Try keeping your hands and mind busy with something else - read, knit or pursue another hobby, call a friend, visit a shut-in, take a walk . . .

 + You are on emotional overload.  We eat to celebrate.  We eat because chewing is an activity when any activity can help us ignore feeling lonely, angry, anxious, etc., which makes us feel guilty, so we eat some more.   You feel the opposite of bored, but you can try to cope with it in the same way.

Well, I should wrap this up - all this talk about food can make a person hungry!

Moving

++  When you are moving, your whole world can feel like it's been turned upside-down.  I know from recent experience!  But, your good intentions about diet don't have to fall apart in the process.  You can have on hand foods that are quick to eat and don't need refrigeration:  fresh or canned (light) fruit, granola, whole grain crackers, fresh vegetables (splurge and get the washed and cut ones from the deli this time), etc.  Tell the kids you're going to have a picnic at home and let them make sandwiches from (wholesome) ingredients.  Make it an adventure instead of a chore - actually, this can apply to other aspects of the move, too.