Comfort foods reduce stress.  It’s official.  What we emotional eaters have known for years.  Now if they could tell us how to reduce stress without eating, I’d be much happier — and thinner.

From TheAge newspaper in Melbourne, Australia November 27th, 2009.

Australian scientists have confirmed what many chocoholics already know, that “comfort food” can reduce stress.

Eating foods rich in fat and sugar can alter the chemical composition of the brain and reduce anxiety, says Professor of Pharmacology Margaret Morris.

Prof Morris, from the University of NSW School of Medical Sciences, conducted a study of rats which showed the effects of past trauma could be erased through “unlimited access to yummy food”.

“Implementing that diet reversed their anxiety … it took an animal back to the non-stressed state,” Prof Morris told AAP.

“We really don’t know why that happens but there seems to be a biochemical link.”

The research started with different groups of baby rats – one group grew up with normal contact with their mothers, while the other group had lengthy periods of separation.

Rats with a more traumatic early life were found to have higher levels of stress hormones and fewer steroid receptors in the part of the brain which controls behaviour.

The signals for “anxiety and depression” eventually disappeared among those rats who were later switched to the all-you-can-eat junk food diet.

“The control group had no effect from the diet really, but the stressed animals had a deficit … which was restored by the diet.”

“(The) food seems to affect neurogenesis similar to the way anti-depressants promote nerve growth in the brain.”

Prof Morris cautioned while the results were not immediately transferable to people, it did show support “the therapeutic value of comfort food” and hint at explanations for other patterns of human behaviour.

“If you ask people what they eat when they are stressed, they eat more chocolate, cakes and sweets, and less fish, vegetables and fruit,” she said.

And: “There is good evidence that if we look at people who have experienced trauma as a child tend to be heavier as adults”.

The study also should not be seen as an endorsement of eating junk food, Prof Morris said, noting this would set people on a path to other serious health problems.

Future research would aim to determine whether other rewarding activities – such as exercise – could have a similar stress-busting affect on rats’ brains.

The research was conducted jointly with PHD student Jayanthi Maniam, and it is published in the journal psychoneuroendrocrinology.

I was determined not to overeat on Thanksgiving.  Ok, I know I’m in New Zealand but while you can take the woman out of America, you can’t take the America out of the woman.  So I always have Thanksgiving dinner.  This year WAS different for me.

I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that every Thanksgiving you prepare all your favorite things that you’ve enjoyed year after year around the holidays.  Right?  This year I didn’t.  I didn’t make my grandmother’s stuffing because I know I can’t leave it alone.  I didn’t make ANY fancy desserts because again, I would sneak a bite here and there when I was feeling low.  I cooked enough for one nice dinner and I ate more protein than I usually do because we eat a lot of beef and I have a tough time getting it chewed well enough to slip through the lap band.

After dinner I felt terrific and didn’t have any “after Thanksgiving dinner remorse” that I remember so well for SO many years.  Did you overeat or did you trim the menu this year so you wouldn’t be so tempted?

For those of us who are trying mightily to lose weight, we often dread the holidays because we know from past experience how those old familiar smells will get to us.  Think about walking in to your family home and smelling the freshly baked bread and pumpkin pie just out of the oven.  It not only brings the sensation that you really want to eat some, it brings back memories of a happy time.  Researchers will tell us that smell is one of the biggest things that can recall memories.

I was on the phone today with my son in Atlanta and he’s having similar problems.  Maybe it’s genetic.  He told me that he loved being with all his family for the holiday but he is feeling guilty ahead of time that he’s eaten too much.  How sad is that?

Every year about this time I sit down and think to myself that this year will be different.  I won’t eat all my favorite foods because I know as soon as I swallow I’ll regret it.  I crave the feeling I get when I eat food that brings back happy memories.  Maybe I’m just nuts in addition to being overweight.

My lapband is still in place and although I talk about overeating like I eat 9 platesful at every meal, I don’t.  I haven’t gained any weight but I still haven’t lost the last 30 pounds.  I know I’ll feel better healthwise if I get it off and I know I’ll be more active if I do, so I’m committed to getting it off.

Maybe I should just stick to a New Year resolution and enjoy myself.

If you’re overweight and trying to reduce, does it sometimes feel that all you think about is food?  Not just food but everything around diet and exercise?  I do.  It seems that when I’m really concentrating on losing weight it’s like it’s a full time job.  Every waking moment is filled with anxiety if I eat too much or being hungry if I eat too little or wondering how much more exercise I’d need if I ate that muffin.

So I went to the nutritional psychologist today for the first time.  It was an hour and a half ($225) and it was great.  I loved every minute of it.  The first hour or so was going over why I was there and what I wanted to accomplish by seeing him.  I told him that I wanted to find joy in every day and stop putting it off until I’m thin.  What if I’m never thin..  I’ll never have joy in my life.

I have to learn to release the guilt I was raised with and start removing myself from the bottom rung on the importance ladder of my life.   My first exercise is to sit in a comfortable chair with my feet on the floor (difficult at only 5′ tall!).  I’m to close my eyes and think about my big toe… feel it.  Then think about my right elbow… feel it. Then imagine a circle around my chest where my heart is.  Then I’m to breathe into that circle slowly – in and out.  After 5 or 6 times I am to release a positive emotion as I exhale.  Today I thought about gratitude but I can choose any emotion.  Love, joy, happiness, forgiveness – anything positive.  I can aim that thought to the world or to someone I know.  I’m to do this exercise twice a day or any time I get filled with anxiety.

Next week we’ll build on that so that I can get to a place that doesn’t need food to feel OK.

I don’t know about you, but I know why I’m fat.  I eat too much.  I eat the wrong foods and I don’t get enough exercise.  That’s what all the experts tell us over and over again.  Why?  because they’re right.

In the past, and by past I mean before my lapband surgery, I found all sorts of excuses to eat more than I should.  I used that worn out line when I went to restaurants, “They wouldn’t put this much on the plate if they didn’t think this was a standard serving size,” so I’d eat what they put on there.  It tasted good and I was enjoying myself.

Then I’d go home and I’d plate up as much dinner as I got at the restaurant – obviously they knew the correct portion size or they wouldn’t be putting it on there.  Logic says they wouldn’t give you more than you should eat because that’s wasting food if people don’t eat it.

I could go on and on with examples of how I justified eating more than my body required but deep down, I always knew that I was simply eating too much for my small body’s frame.  I’m only 5′ tall.  I’ll never need more than about 1000 calories if I don’t start moving around and exercising.

Starting last week, I’m walking for an hour a day and I’m going back to my surgeon for another fill of my lapband so that it will restrict how much I can eat.   I’m seeing a nutritional psychologist on Thursday morning to help me get a handle on emotional eating.  I’m going to start listing all the things he suggests that I do so that maybe YOU can get your emotional eating under control too.

Wish me luck!

I was in a forum discussion the other day and we were all talking about how much food costs now and what foods we really should have in the house all the time.  We shared how much we were spending on our weekly food shop and comparing prices from area to area.

One young woman surprised us all when she told us she spent at least half what the rest of us were spending weekly.  Curious, I asked her what sorts of things she buys every week.  She buys a lot of rice, beans, and vegetables in season and that didn’t seem out of line at all, but then the rest of us had those things in our shopping basket too.

She asked what I buy and I gave a quick rundown on the types of food I buy every week.  Nuts, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, meat, etc.  In New Zealand we don’t have aisle after aisle of frozen food in our supermarkets so the temptation to eat highly processed foods isn’t as great as it is in the states.

“Oh,” the young woman said, “I don’t buy any nuts at all, maybe that’s why my cost is less.”

I probably spend $10 a week on nuts so that’s not a big issue I don’t think.

“How much do you spend on fresh fruit?” I asked.

She was quick to reply, “I don’t buy fruit because we don’t have kids yet.”

Huh??  It was like she’d stepped off the planet Uranus.  I couldn’t believe that in 2008, here was a woman who didn’t think she and her husband should eat any fruit.  Sure, I could understand not eating the high GI fruits if diabetes is a problem, but we all need fruit in our diet.  I’d be lost without it, to be honest.

Is fruit important to  you?

Now I just have to lose another kilo and I’m back on track.  Thanks to those who gave me encouragement.  It means a lot.  I started walking again and really trying to keep my food intake to one cup per meal.  I’m not quite there but obviously what I’m doing is working.

Whenever I am tempted to eat something just to feel good I try to remind myself that I’m not hungry and I should do something to make myself feel better rather than eat something to do it.  It’s really hard.  I’m determined to change my attitude toward food and keep losing the last 15 kilograms and finally get to my goal.

I can’t have a tummy tuck and boob job til I get all the weight off, and that’s what I really want to do.  I’m hoping to find someone who’s already had a breast reduction and abdominoplasty to give me advice.  I can’t wait.

I must have.  I’m not sure how but I’ve gained 1 1/2 kilograms over the past couple of weeks.  To say that I’m disappointed in myself is mild.  I’m angry that I can’t seem to sort out the health problems without gaining weight.  The surgeon says I can’t lose weight because my liver isn’t happy from losing so much weight so fast.  The other doctor says I must eat a full meal before taking the antibiotics for another little problem or my stomach will be irritated around the gastric band.  It’s so frustrating. So I eat to feel better.

Starting right this minute I’m going to really watch what and how much I eat.  No more than one cup of veggies and a very small portion of  protein.  I start the day out well.  I have a high fibre cereal with half a banana and some skim milk.  Then I go downhill.

With the gastric band I’m rarely physically hungry.  It’s always the emotional eating.  I know I’m not alone and lots of people eat because it feels good or we remember being given food as a reward when we were kids.  So if I eat treats, then subconsciously I know I must be good, right?

Wish me luck!

I was reading the news today about different ways people and organizations celebrate the 4th of July weekend and came across the most ridiculous and stupid meal at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.  It wasn’t bad enough that so many Americans are overweight that it’s turning into a huge national crisis that’s going to cost billions in unnecessary medical expenses, Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub has decided that people aren’t quite fat enough yet.

Yep, introducing the “Beer Barrel Belly Buster Burger.”  A full FIFTEEN POUNDS of burger, bun, salad and condiments!  I looked at the photo and then showed it to my husband who said, “who could eat that?”  At first I agreed with him but then after reflecting for a moment I realized that of course people are buying it and eating it.  If the restaurant sells it then obviously it’s not too much to eat, right?

I don’t know what it’s going to take to change peoples’ thinking about portion size but the Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub certainly isn’t helping vulnerable overeaters in any way at all!  That one burger would feed me for an entire week if I ate nothing else at all.

Happy 4th of July and I hope you’re eating smart.  If not eating smart, I hope you’re not being stupid. 

I was visiting Dying for Food blog today and found this post very interesting.  Here’s a snippet of it but you should really click The Big Breakfast Diet to get the whole story.  With a lapband on, this is not an option for me because I can only hold 1 cup of food at a time.  I couldn’t fit all that food in one sitting, but if you don’t have a band and are looking for ways to lose weight, why not try it?  Anything with chocolate or candy in it works for me!  Here’s the post:

We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but now a study has concluded that you can lose more weight if you have a big breakfast.

Women who were on the big breakfast diet lost almost 5 times the weight than did those who were on a low carb diet.

Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz has this explanation for the process. Upon awakening, your body looks for food. The metabolism is geared up for it and your levels of adrenaline and cortisol are at their peaks. The brain needs energy immediately and if you don’t eat or have too little, it has to look for that energy elsewhere. So it goes into a system that takes energy from muscle, which destroys the muscle tissue. When you do eat later in the day the body saves the energy from the food you just ate as fat.

To make it even worse, the levels of serotonin in your brain are at their highest in the morning. So your cravings are at their lowest. Later, when the serotonin levels start dropping you get cravings for cake and chocolate and things like that. When you give in and eat those treats the level of serotonin rise. This is not good because your body associates the treats with feeling good and that becomes addictive.

Check out the whole story at Dying for Food.