Maria's Last Diet

by Maria's Last Diet

If you were asked why you snack on fattening foods, what reasons would you give?

Just respond with a quick YES or NO to the following statements.*

Because…

1. I’m watching TV

2. I’m with friends

3. I’m rewarding myself for working hard

4. I can’t refuse food that is offered to me

5. I'm at a party

6. I’m relaxing

7. I like pleasing someone else who wants me to eat

8. It’s my way of comforting myself

9. I really need to eat something or else I would faint

10. I can’t resist the temptation of the food

11. It’s my way of dealing with sad feelings

12. I’m drinking coffee or tea

13. I’m enjoying the moment

14. I need more energy

15. I deserve it

16. I don’t want to stand out and be different from others who are eating

17. I feel bored

18. I feel disappointed

19. I’m having a nice day

20. I crave tasty food

21. It’s a special or traditional part of some social occasion or celebration

22. I finished a project

23. I feel sad

24. I feel good and I’m in a great mood

25. I’m rewarding myself for having done something I feel proud of or feel good about

How many of these statements did you answer YES to? Did the YES answers form a pattern? 

     to enjoy a special occasion
     because of the opportunity
     to gain energy
     as a reward
     because of social influence
     to cope with distressing emotions

*Adapted from Reasons to Snack inventory by Aukje Verhoeven and others.

by Maria's Last Diet

Simple but effective. Imagine going to the grocery store and picking up one of the store’s recipe flyers. You look through it and then go shopping.

On the recipe flyer are some interesting recipes. They sound delicious and they are right on your diet.

Shopping goes smoothly, and it is not until you get home that you realize you didn’t pick up any of the usual fattening snack food. You wonder why, can’t figure it out, but you are overjoyed. Skipping fattening food is something you usually find too hard to do.

What you were unaware of was just how influential the store’s recipe flyer was. Not only did the flyer have delicious diet-acceptable recipes, it also had some key words that had an impact on your grocery buying habits. Tucked alongside the different recipes were persuasive words and phrases like “good for your figure”, “eating right”, “healthy”, “slimming”, etc.

Wouldn’t this be an easy way to avoid buying those diet-dangerous snack foods and keep to your weight loss regimen? Is there a way you can think of to really make this happen the next time you go grocery shopping?

by Maria's Last Diet

High in sugar, fat, and additives. Highly caloric, lacking in nutritional value, artificially made, unhealthy, and fattening.

In a word, junk food.

Just how addicted are you to your junk food snacks?

No one likes to feel bad. Junk food makes you feel good, at least for a little while. Then, if you had every intention of doing something about your unwanted weight, you will feel awful, guilty, self-critical, possibly even ashamed after you ate the old standby, your best junk food.

What gets you to go for the junk food? Maybe you think it’s watching TV. Yes, junk food and TV watching are probably highly associated, but watching TV is probably not the cause of you eating junk food. What gets you to go for junk food is probably something more personal, highly personal. Do you know what that is? If not, check yourself out the next time you go for that junk food snack and see what personal reason sent you to it.