Jim Gordon (JG): The addition of Rika Mansingh a registered dietitian, clinical consultant and best-selling author has proven to be popular with our viewers both in print and on video. Our readers love the fact that she offers information about the body, the mind and healthy eating while keeping it simple and easy to follow. It is a tough time for many people during the festive holiday season, so I want to talk about emotional eating, because it’s a serious thing. 

Rika Mansingh (RM): It is so important to recognize the difference between emotional eating and physical hunger. Emotional eating is the act of eating in response to an emotional trigger, so a person eating because they’re stressed, anxious, bored, or angry, tend to look for comfort food. 

To differentiate between the two, emotional eating happens rapidly, you’re triggered, and you want to eat immediately. True hunger develops over a longer period with a willingness to eat a variety of foods. Emotional eating is not just a question about what you’re eating but also what is eating you,

I always tell my patients before you eat pause and ask yourself “am I really hungry or am I eating because I’m stressed or bored?”. Drink a glass of water or do a different activity, wait for 15 minutes, and revisit those feelings. It’s important to eat only when you’re hungry. 

JG: One doesn’t want to overthink this but it’s almost like we need a strategy to get through the festive season. Some of the things I wanted to talk to you about was, the mindful eating strategies to get you through the holiday season without overindulging. 

RM: I think being mindful and having a heightened awareness is key, only when you’re aware of what you’re doing can you make a change. I like to refer to the festive season as the food festive season because our routine is interrupted and that’s when the inevitable overindulging occurs. 

Doing something like eating on the go, you’re rushing, your brain does not register that you have eaten and what happens is you eat more food and crave faster. You will actually miss your mind sensation of fullness, it takes your mind 20 minutes to recognize that you’re full. It’s much better to eat slowly, and savour each bite. 

Another strategy is being mindful of associations, for example going to the movies. Automatically we stand in line to get our sugary beverages an extra-large popcorn, because that’s what we do at the movies. A strategy would be to choose a small popcorn and drink and savour the flavour. 

JG: Rika in your book you write a section called ‘catch those tricky traitors’, what are some tips to cope with the emotions when triggered, without turning to food? 

RM: All habits are patterns and when you’re aware of a pattern you can change it. When it comes to emotions, it’s important to be aware, if you’re eating unhealthily—what did you see, think, hear, feel, before that triggered the habit to happen. Most people, either overthink the future or over-remember the past. What you have to do is to bring yourself to the present moment. Focus on being grateful in the present moment. 

There’s a science behind gratitude, the brain cannot think a negative thought if in a state of gratitude. If you’re feeling stressed and suddenly say what am I grateful for, eventually the stress will subside interrupting the pattern. Another good technique to bring a person to the present moment is, a neuroscience back technique. It’s called the five, four, three, two, one, technique. 

At the point you’re stressed pause, breathe, bring to your awareness, five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. That will send you to the present moment, where you’re not overthinking the future or over-remembering the past. You can only do those techniques if you catch yourself, if you’re aware and not on autopilot. 

JG: Let’s talk about your advice on the subject of the upcoming festive season. One needs to stay motivated and it’s tough because the season is long and there are lots of social gatherings. What can you advise in terms of staying motivated and on track during that period. 

RM: With a lot of my patients, I tell them to make realistic goals, don’t aim to achieve weight loss over the festive season, a realistic goal would be to maintain your weight. The second thing is to plan ahead, if you know you’re going to a buffet or social gathering, have a light snack beforehand to curve your appetite so you don’t over-indulge. 

Another thing is to exercise more, have a balance. It’s important to enjoy your favourite foods, and it’s very important to watch the negative self-talk after you’ve overindulged the night before. Guilt hinders progress, you want to have love and compassion for yourself and know that every day is a new day and it’s okay to have those days where you overindulge. 

JG: With a focus on food and over eating, whether you’re at a family or a social gathering, what recommendations could you give for food swaps? 

RM: There’s many food swaps a person can do, the first thing is to avoid foods that are deep fried, battered, crumbed, and overly sautéed, for those foods that are baked, boiled or steamed. An interesting swap is instead of using your oil based creamy dressings on a salad, use a vinaigrette because even if you use two tablespoons of a vinaigrette dressing on your salad, it actually delays the digestion of carbohydrates in your meal. 

You could swap fruit for dessert and with refined carbohydrates which we spoke about in previous segment like white bread, white rice, or white pasta, go with the wholegrain, multigrain, brown or wild rice and quinoa. A good idea is also when you place an order at a restaurant while dining out, ask for your sauces and gravy on the side so you can decide how much you’re going to use. If the portions are too large, take the rest of it home or share it with someone. 

JG: Do you have any final words of wisdom for our viewers this festive season? 

RM: I would like to say that we should all embrace the festive season with joy and nourishment. Choose wisely, remember it’s not a time for deprivation, enjoy your favourite foods and find a way to make it work for you. What’s very important is to savour each bite, as a celebration of your wellbeing. You are alive and breathing, and I wish you a very happy, healthy, festive season.

To watch the video interview, go to richmondsentine.ca/videos