Disclaimer:
This medical
information is designed as an aid only for the
patients of
Drs. Concannon & Vitale.
It is not a substitute for a medical
exam and direct
advice from your physician.
STAYING TRIM WITH EATING-BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
- Enlist the help of
your family in your weight loss attempt. It does not help to have
another family member pigging out if you are attempting to limit what
you eat.
- Try to change the
family food buying habits. Realize that the way your family eats
influences the way you eat. Read the nutrition labels on the food you
buy.
- Give the unopened
high calorie foods and snacks currently in your house to a food bank or
relatives living in another household.
- Keep an accurate
food diary of everything eaten for at least 2 weeks. You'll probably be
surprised at what and when you eat.
- Realize that
certain activities (watching TV) or times of day, (coming home from
school) are often the times when you eat junk food without even
thinking about it. Change these habits.
- Eating is to be
allowed only at a set dinner table, and without any diversions
such as TV, radio, etc. Resist food that is offered to you away from
the dinner table.
- Get to know your
family members again by striking up a conversation or two at the dinner
table. The sit-down family meal has proven to be the single best way of
keeping in touch with your family and passing on your values to them.
- Eat with a
smaller, blunted salad fork. This avoids the tendency to shovel the
food in faster than you should.
- Use smaller
breakfast dishes for each meal; smaller portions look bigger on a
smaller plate.
- Have food served
directly onto the plates. Do not use family-style service with bowls of
food. You should take a fair amount of food, but no seconds.
- Place the fork
down between bites. Do not pick up the fork again until the previous
bite has been fully chewed and swallowed. This gives your stomach
a chance to feel full.
- Do not become a
human garbage disposal. Excess food may either be placed back in the
refrigerator, given to pets, or put down the mechanical garbage
disposal.
- Pack a lunch to
school. Try to avoid the high calorie school lunches and desserts.
- Limit fast-food
restaurant meals to no more than one time per week.
- No eating while
watching TV, period. You may have only a diet soda or water if
watching TV.
- Limit TV and
videogames to 10 hours per week total. While we're at it, move
the TV out of the bedroom. TV commercials try to sell high
calorie food and snacks. Dance to a kick-ass stereo instead. A TV
in the bedroom is DIRECTLY connected to becoming overweight.
- Be active instead.
Join a sports team or health club. Take a family walk or a family bike
ride each night. Take the stairs rather than the elevator.
- Limit milk to 8
oz. per day, but fat-free dairy products are a better choice.
- Limit fried foods,
and instead, eat baked, boiled, or steamed foods. Raw vegetables and
fruits have fewer available calories than when they are completely
cooked.
- For the occasional
snack, try low-fat popcorn or low-fat frozen yogurt.
- Drink Crystal
Light, diet sodas, or water only. There are nine teaspoonfuls
of sugar in a 12 oz. can of Coke or Capri-Sun.
- Take vitamins if
your parents are concerned about inadequate nutrition.
- Let's face it,
it's politically incorrect for doctors to put kids on diets, so try
doing everything on this list. If you fall off the program, just
get back on it again.
- GOOD
LUCK!
Rev: 6/2006
EATINGMODIFICATION.htm