Hearing about a new seating section at a Major League baseball park where you can get all you can eat for a fixed price was the last straw. I had to write a blog post about the subject of overeating in America and the toll it takes on our health.
Some of the eating options today tells something about society:
- All you can eat buffets,
- Never-ending pasta dishes,
- Unlimited pop refills,
- All you can eat day pass at Universal Studios,
- And now, all you can eat baseball game tickets
On top of this, many restaurants today feel compelled to offer huger and huger portions trying to outdo the eatery down the road. All of this is destructive to our cardiovascular health for a multitude of reasons. But, let’s focus on the weight control part of the problem.
All of us are “prewired” to consume more food if made available to us. It goes back to our animal instincts that tell us that food is a scarce resource and might be unavailable tomorrow. Man’s ancestors learned that food availability went thru periods of feast and famine. So, it was necessary to consume more during the feast periods in order to ensure survival.
But, today, this instinct works against us. Food scarcity is NOT a problem. But, huge dishes of food and buffet lines trigger this instinct. On top of that, many of us were programmed from an early page by parents or guardians to “clean up your plate or else!” So, subc0nciously, when eating, we “need” to eat everything served to us.
Most of this “all you can eat” food is unhealthy too. So, not only are you eating way more calories than you need, but nutritionally, they are not good calories. Highly processed foods, highly fatty foods, sugary foods, and too much red meat can cause weight gain, drive up inflammation in our tissues, increase blood pressure, cause cholesterol to skyrocket, spike our blood sugar too much, and a host of other unpleasant side effects.
Here are some keys to help you cope with over abundant food choices:
1. Simply stay out of buffet or all you can eat restaurants. This will eliminate the temptations.
2. If you have to go to a buffet-style restaurant, take only “sampler” portions. And for God’s sake, only take one plate at a time!
3. Stop eating after only having 1/2 your meal and take the rest home with you -without fail or exception.
4. Drink a glass of water before starting to eat, and more with your food. This will help fill you up faster without the extra calories.
5. Stick with more fruits and vegetables first, and then if you have room left, a modest portion of other food.
6. Obviously, stay away from the fatty, highly processed food choices, as well as desserts.
7. Immediatly go out and walk for a while after eating. Be careful not to exert yourself too much, but walking will help bring more oxygen to your body while burning up some of the calories you consumed.
Have a heart healthy day!
