Night Eating Syndrome (NES)

People suffering from NES eat more than 25% of their calories after dinner. We aren't talking salads and fruit, usually it's chips, chocolates and ice cream.
Changing this habit is hard. Start with having no junk in the home. Then eat when hungry. Then choose the right foods to eat such as fruit, yogurt, 2 cups popcorn, a glass of milk or 2 Tbsp nuts.
Make this a new habit and you'll feel better when going to sleep.
This will also mean less heartburn and snoring.

Skipping Breakfast

Many of my clients are not hungry for breakfast. When I ask them about their night-time eating habits, they usually eat dinner late or snack late, so are certainly not hungry in the morning. When I limit their late night eating to a fruit, they change their eating habits and enjoy breakfasts again.
It's not easy to change that habit, but studies show that people who eat breakfast are brighter, slimmer, and eat better the rest of the day.

Delicious, Nutritious Breakfast

My favorite breakfast consists of numerous high fiber cereals, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries, mixed in a canister and shaken up. This lasts a week. With 1 cup of this mixture, plus 1% milk and 1/2 a banana, and it's like eating dessert for breakfast.
This is much more nutritious than other breakfast desserts such as muffins, croissants and donuts.

Trigger Foods

In my last message, I mentioned how important it is to avoid sweet foods. This is because sweet foods are "trigger" foods for me. Once I start, I cannot stop.
For many of my clients, salty foods are trigger foods. For example, chips or cheese. Some start on chips, then are surprised when they see the empty bag, and cannot believe they finished the lot! Others will eat cheese in chunks. Of course, there are still more that eat peanut butter in spoonfuls out of the jar!
My recommendation: keep trigger foods out of your home; do not buy them yourself; do not eat them on your own (closet eating); try to control when out, or avoid altogether.
There is just no easy way to stop the rush you get when you taste one of your trigger foods.
Over time, feeling healthy and slim will be more exciting than overeating.
Good luck.

Acid Reflux

At a meeting yesterday, a woman told me her doctor said she should eat alkali food. I told her alkali diets came and went 20 years ago. Why? She said she had acid reflux. I told her to eat smaller portions, less fatty foods and stop eating after 8 pm as most pain occurs at night. She said she made all these mistakes.

Other reasons for heartburn are smoking, alcohol, caffeine.

When my clients have acid reflux, their dietary records show why. Awareness keeps them focused.

Eating at a party

Last night, at my friend's birthday party, there were many plates of really tasty, really rich cheeses, crackers, bread, vegetables, humus, guacamole, nuts and dried apricots. That would be my dinner. To tempt me were chocolate covered nuts, fresh and crunchy cookies with nuts and chunks of chocolate, and a homemade chocolate cake. This is what I had to avoid. Once I start tasting, the flood gates open and I can't stop. This is like giving a taste of wine to an alcoholic, it is just too difficult to stop eating. To help maintain willpower, I did not touch any alcohol.

I still think I overate on the cheese, but had plenty of energy for the 20 min walk home, that's a good marker.

Yesterday I worked out a lot: 50 mins on the stationary bike; 30 mins weights, stretches and abs; and walked briskly for 60 mins. This doesn't mean I can overeat on cheese, but avoiding the really high calorie junk foods was the main achievement to maintain my weight.

Dining Out

Last night I was at a buffet dinner - way too much temptation. To maintain my weight, I avoided bread, macaroni and cheese, desserts and alcohol. Instead chose a small piece of beef, chicken and fish, plus an enormous amount of salad and vegetables. This is to keep me full without feeling deprived. For dessert I had decaf coffee with milk and sweetener. A doctor sitting near me asked how I stayed slim when going out to dinners as she is very overweight. I said I choose food carefully. She ate all the foods I was avoiding plus 2 desserts. No secret formula here. But willpower has to be strong. Afterwards I felt great. Hope you can do the same.

Daily nutrition tips

Today is my first entry on my nutrition blog. This is new to me. I am a grandmother of 7. Does that mean I set a record?
My first tip is - eat well and stay active. That's the only way to give you enough energy to play with grandkids.
More to come.....