Stop. Think. Chew. And, Stop Again.

We live in a world of multiple screens, multi-tasking, no time, and plenty of stress. Too often, we eat on the run, sometimes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, way too often, meals are fast food, as in eaten- fast food (even fast food is wolfed-down fast). Here’s the problem.

The whole process of digestion starts with chewing.  Chewing breaks food into manageable bites, making it easy to swallow. You can’t swallow much solid food whole. Chewing thoroughly releases saliva that coats your food with digestive enzymes—which actually begin to digest the food before you swallow it. At the same time, those same enzymes begin digesting the carbohydrates and fats, meaning less work for your stomach. If food is swallowed un-chewed, or not chewed thoroughly, important nutrients remain locked in the fragments. These fragments in turn, create an environment in the colon that can contribute to digestive distress—bacterial overgrowth, gas, and bloating.

The act of just seeing your food causes your brain to send signals to the pancreas and stomach to secrete digestive acids and enzymes that are essential to digestion. The longer your food has contact with your taste and smell receptors and the longer you chew each bite, the stronger those signals become. Strong signals mean more digestive molecules, less indigestion, and superior nutrient absorption. Enough Biology 101.

We enjoy food. We’re supposed to enjoy it. And, if we slow down and appreciate what we eat, we end up eating less. This is being mindful of what and how we eat. And, eating more slowly gives your body a chance to tell your mind that it’s full, so that you stop eating before you go overboard. Consider trying the following tips along with your next meal.

• Don’t eat in front of distractions such as the TV or computer, or while driving.
• Give yourself enough time to eat—at least 20-30 minutes to eat the meal.
• Be mindful while you eat. Notice the smell, temperature, texture, color, and subtle flavor differences of each food you consume.
• Take smaller portions and take a 5 minute a break before serving yourself seconds.
• Put your fork down after each bite.
• Eat slowly, chewing each bite as many times as necessary to pulverize any texture.
• If you’re eating in a group, challenge yourself to be the last to finish.

In addition to the physical benefits of eating mindfully, if you allow yourself to slow down and chew thoroughly, you’ll find yourself eating less and enjoying your food more.

Giving...and Getting. And, Food Signals?

With Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s fast-approaching, it’s probably natural that we occasionally think of giving and getting. It is, after all, that time of year. But, have you ever considered the “Giving and Getting” side of food signals? Now is a great time to give it some thought because those signals are all around us.

Let’s start with an obvious seasonal signal—that plate of cookies many of us leave out for Santa (who obviously doesn’t need cookies but we want Santa to be comfortable). We bake cookies for friends, and receive cookies and candies from friends. Face it, food is on our minds. (Make a mental note when you’re out shopping to notice the number of restaurants touting “All You Can Eat.”)

But, in real life, the holidays, and the rest of the year, are not about all you can eat. Where food is concerned, we think the focus should be on the why, what and how much you eat.

In a logical world, we should be eating for nutrition and to satisfy true hunger. Babies know this. When they’re hungry they cry. We feed them. When they’ve had enough, they stop eating. As we grow up, we get distracted by food signals, and those distractions lead us away from what we did naturally as babies.

Food is everywhere. It’s hard to escape it. And, because it’s all around us, many of us find we’re almost always eating—sometimes just a bite of something that looks good, sometimes a big meal, and often more than we need or really want. We tend to eat mindlessly, sitting at our desks, in front of the TV, in the car, and as a result, we don’t pay attention to how much we’re eating or whether we’re even hungry. Do you think the Cinnabon smell that permeates the food court at the mall is an accident?

We tend to eat too fast—even when we’re not in a hurry. This doesn’t allow time for our bodies to receive the “full” or satiety signal. Have you ever finished a meal, and realized you barely tasted what you just ate? Have you ever looked at your desk and wondered where those four little bite-size fun bars went?

And we tend to eat when we feel stressed—and at this time of the year we all feel a little, or a lot of stress. In your heart of hearts, you already know there are other, more productive ways to deal with stress. Ask yourself, why are you eating . . . does the food comfort you? Do you eat to celebrate? Are you eating because everyone else is eating? Are you really about to starve to death?  Probably not.

We also tend to eat too much. While this is not news, it’s also not all our fault. We’re served larger servings at restaurants—in fact we’d probably complain if we were served an actual recommended portion. And, did you know there’s science behind why we sometimes eat too much? A study by the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas finds that foods high in fat (such as a hamburger) actually tell your brain to “keep eating.” The study points out that your brain chemistry can change in a short period of time, meaning that when your brain gets “hit” with the fatty acids, you can become resistant to the hormones insulin and leptin. In other words, your brain isn’t being told to stop eating. In addition, those foods highest in fat are the foods that cause us to eat more—beef, butter, cheese and milk. Take a look at the ingredients in your favorite junk food—see anything there you might want to avoid?

Now, what happens if we decide to get back in touch with what we eat, and why we’re eating it? What if we’re on the lookout for what all those food signals really mean? Which of them are in our own best interests rather than adding to some fast food chain’s burger count? And while we’re at it, think what we could do for our collective health and well-being if along with becoming aware of the food signals we get, we all began to pay a little closer attention to the food signals we give others.

The food signals aren’t going to go away—the catch is learning to listen to them—and then paying attention to where they direct us. It’s not always where we want to, or should go. But, isn't that up to us?

You Can’t Outrun Your Fork!

Huh? Here’s the thing. To lose a pound of weight each week through physical activity is pretty much the equivalent of running a marathon. Actually, the calories burned running those 26 miles don’t quite erase a pound, and that also means, not eating what you probably should eat to fuel those miles. It’s a conundrum. (What a great word!)

To be clear, I’m not at all saying physical activity doesn’t count. Where your health is concerned, it’s at the top of the list. But you can’t outrun your fork, and the calories you take in (and don’t take in) are what will ultimately determine how much weight you lose.

This is part of the challenge (and conundrum) people face when starting, or continuing on their weight loss journey, the idea that joining the gym and faithfully attending or running, or walking 5 miles a day will result in weight loss. It won’t, and the downside is, it often discourages physical activity when the scales don’t respond. We tend to give up. We feel we’ve failed, yet again. This is not good.  It’s not good on many levels—personal, societal, and yes, wellness and well-being.

Now, if we take physical activity out of the weight loss equation ... Your diet, the food you choose to eat on a daily basis, is responsible for about 80 percent of your weight (or weight loss) and consequent health. If your goal is to lose weight, the kitchen (and all the other places you find food)  is a better solution than the gym. But, and this is a really big but, for HEALTH, you need both.

It doesn’t seem fair, but then, so many things aren’t. Health, wellness and weight loss are not synonyms, but they are connected. What do you think?

Independence Day? Shall We All Declare Our Independence? Yes!

This week we’ll celebrate Independence Day—but are we really—independent? Are we self-determining, self-regulating?  You know this is a wellness and well-being-oriented Blog, so you can guess where this is going.  But, read on... 

Food for thought:  Many of us are already focused on the traditional hot dog / hamburger cookout on the grill, accompanied by chips, soft drinks . . . the list goes on. But, what if we use this Independence Day as the time to shift our “food focus,” just a little bit at time? If we do, we can take a giant step in declaring our independence from chronic illness by Independence Day 2014... and, that’s a goal worth pursuing. 

Here’s why:  The foods we choose to eat on a daily basis contribute 80 percent to whether we will develop diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.  Already, almost one-half of all Americans report having a chronic illness—and those illnesses account for more than 75 percent of our national spending on healthcare (and we are all well-aware of those costs). Furthermore, almost 80 percent of all chronic disease is caused by three preventable health behaviors—obesity and overeating, physical inactivity, and smoking. The good news... weight loss, as modest as 5 to 15 percent of total body weight in a person who is overweight or obese, reduces the risk factors for some diseases, particularly heart disease, by as much as 50 percent! 

How about this? What if this Independence Day (even if it’s after the big feast) we declare our independence from overly-processed, junk and fast food?  What if we look for healthy substitutions? What if we find ways to work in a little more physical activity?  What if we make just one modest yet meaningful change in our nutritional behaviors each month? If we as a nation of individuals can each make the effort to independently create a positive change for ourselves, we will collectively do great things for our country—and  our own long-term health and wellness. “We the people” can take control of our wellness behaviors—and outcomes. “We the people” can become the solution rather than part of the problem. We are all stakeholders in this effort, and together we can begin to turn the epidemic of overweight, obesity, and inactivity around and reduce our risk factors for preventable chronic illnesses.

Isn’t this something well-worth chewing on?

Everything is Connected

From quantum mechanics theorem, quantum entanglement, wave function collapse, electromagnetic interaction of electrons, to ancient Buddhist scripts to social science research, by way of television, internet, newspapers, books—and yes, even in one-on-one conversation—we are all connected. In an absolutely mind-bending way everything and everyone is connected to everything and everyone else. It’s true.

John Muir said it more eloquently when he wrote:  "When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.”

So, exactly what does this have to do with wellness and well-being? It ties-in to our tag line: Spreading Viral Wellness ™.

  

More than likely, you’ve heard of Six Degrees of Separation—the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of a friend of a friend statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. (Personally, I haven’t tested this, but someday when I run out of things to do I plan to.)

Here’s where wellness and our collective well-being can come into play. How do these friends of friends feel about their own wellness and well-being? Yes, this is a loaded question. You may not know (and don’t actually have to know) the answer. It doesn’t matter. The point is six degrees, or steps, are only six steps—so what happens if each one us takes a healthy step we decide is important enough to move us in the direction we want to go with our own well-being.  

Think of six simple steps (reduced portion size, a walk around the block, less soda, a few more mindful choices). Now,  imagine what can happen if we share those steps, and the person we share them with shares them with someone else. At this point, wellness does indeed become viral—even contagious. 

Can’t you just imagine where this could lead? Why wouldn’t we all want to go there?