I’ve been reading this Dr. Phil book…some interesting stuff I wanted to share
He has categorizes food into two categories, low response cost and high response cost
Low response cost is food that are easily eaten, very convenient and require little preparation. Kind of like crackers, chips, cookies, ice cream ect or junk food. We don’t need to cook it and we really don’t need to chew it all that much either
A high response cost food is food we might need to prepare and might require more chewing. Like an apple or broccoli that requires alot of chewing, or a piece of fish that needs cooked ect. It is real food. More colorful…like alot of processed stuff is white or brown ect wheras fruits and veggies are bright and colorful
I found this quote interesting:
“If a low response cost food is crispy with sharp edges–such as taco or tortilla chips–you can literally lacerate your throat. I’m not kidding! According to one study I read, the chief cause of throat tears in this country is eating taco chips too fast, without chewing them. It’s like swallowing a buzz saw. There’s more: The number one mouth wound seen by doctors is burn, caused by gulping down hot food too fast”
I just find that interesting…I did notice that when I eat chips I sometimes get “scratches” on the inside of my mouth. Now I rarely eat chips and so don’t really have that problem.
Another interesting idea he has is to watch portions based on your plate-he wants us to imagine our plate with a cross in it and then eat 1 square of the cross meat, 2 vegetables and 1 a healthy grain. He doesn’t stress calorie counting or serious portioning but just the imagining of a regular sized plate and that X or cross and focus on high-response cost foods
Why?
He had a client who obsessed over his food all day long and measuring and counting everything. He was fixated on food. Dr. Phil points out that “Let me ask you this: You know that for recovery, alcoholics must abstain from liquor. But what if an alcoholic, fresh out of a substance abuse program, were places in circumstances in which he was required to handle booze all day?” If you are trying to control your intake of a substance, even food, you have to get your focus off it or you’ll only be fueling your obsession.
This kind of makes sense to me…when I lost weight I never measured my food and just estimated the calories. I think it might work for some but not all…
His thoughts on will power. He says should not focus on will power because that doesn’t help. We should focus on planning, strategy ect not will power. He wants you to plan, not react.
Another interesting thing…
He had one client who went to him believing she could never again eat certain foods. She saw herself as an alcoholic, but only with food. If she had a “forbidden” food she would binge on it…as part of her program he had her eat a piece of cake or pie once a week. Of course, this was just 1 piece and not the entire baked good! But his intention was to desensitize her in some way…from these foods. He said she began to have a better attitude towards food and seeing it not as good or bad but just foods to be eaten in different quantities (more healthier food, less unhealthier foods) and instead of having the guilt of all of that, she ate to give her body the required nutrients and without feeling deprived.
There was another good thing he said about willpower, maybe in another chapter…as I can’t find it right now. Something about we don’t have to resist tempting foods 24 hours, 7 days a week. But it only takes a few seconds to accept or reject a food in the “battle”. It makes sense to me…in your life when food is offered is really only a few seconds of the day. Or when you choose lunch, or what to eat for breakfast-only a few seconds maybe a minute of thought time before you follow through with the action and not a 24/7 battle we might think it is…
oh wait I did find it. ok he calls it “impulse moments” brief periods of time, lasting no more than two or three minutes, in which you forget your resolve, you react without thinking, and you break your momentum by caving in to the urgent to overeat or binge”
So our eating isn’t out of control all of the day, we don’t have to control it 24/7. We just have to control it in those few minutes!!
He suggests that we identify our own impulse moments in our personal lives, and come up with ways to avoid them by a change of routine, schedule or environment
Some things to think about and maybe something you can use!