The psychology of dieting
Psychological dieting has two different dimensions.
The first is slow weight loss by learning to eat healthily and the aim is to change one's eating habits. The aim is not only to lose weight during the diet, but to adopt a lifestyle. Our life is also shaped according to our eating habits. If it takes us a long time to eat, we adjust our work accordingly. If we think we can eat quickly in a short period of time, we go on with our work and choose meals that we can snack on. Therefore, changing eating habits affects other areas of our lives. Eating is not just about being full. It is one of the parts of our lives that can assume different functions in life. Changes in this part also affect other parts.
The second is weight gain caused by stress. Stress is a part of our lives. It is a situation we face every moment. The factors that create stress are external factors such as separation, divorce, illness. Internal stress factors are the strict rules we set for ourselves, the way we perceive ourselves, and the all-or-nothing way of thinking. It is common to have a certain weight expectation and to quit the diet with disappointment when this does not happen. When setting expectations, we need to take into account the circumstances, our daily routines and our individual characteristics. For this reason, it is very important to create realistic expectations and not to stop the diet with the idea of "all or nothing" when there are no limits.
When stressful stimuli become uncomfortable for a person, the body tends to protect itself. When faced with stress, stress hormones are secreted and reactions such as increased blood pressure occur. When the problem is solved, stress symptoms disappear. When we cannot cope with stress, the body's adaptation becomes difficult and symptoms of chronic stress appear. Apart from palpitations, headaches and fatigue, some of the most important stress symptoms are gastrointestinal disorders and digestive difficulties.
Emotional symptoms include restlessness, anxiety and unhappiness. There is also a reduced social life. The decrease in social life leads to an increase in time spent at home and the person tends to spend time at home and eat.
In particular, they tend to reduce tension by eating. After a while, when the weight starts to increase, this time food becomes a source of stress and the situation becomes inextricable. In this sense, the 'Psychological Diet' is extremely important.
Coping with stress and knowing how to enjoy our lives instead of enjoying food are important factors in overcoming weight problems.
In psychotherapy, psychological tests (personality traits and eating behavior scales) are applied and coping with stress and negative self-perception are worked on.
"In a psychological diet program, the ideal solution is achieved with the cooperation of an internist, psychologist and dietician, as well as a psychiatrist if necessary."
GOLDEN RECOMMENDATIONS IN NUTRITION
- Vegetables and fruits are a group that must be consumed throughout the day. Consumption of tomatoes, cucumbers and various greens at breakfast and low-fat or fat-free salads at lunch and dinner is important for fiber support, feeling of satiety and support of various vitamins and minerals.
- Vegetable dishes with meat cooked without oil or with only a little olive oil also provide support in weight control with low calories and high satiety.
- Consume legumes at least 2 times a week. The pulp in the structure of legumes delays gastric emptying. Thus, it provides long-term satiety.
- Every meal should include milk and meat group. Cheese at breakfast, or if you do not like cheese, a bowl of cereal and milk will meet the needs of this group for breakfast.
- It is very important to start the day with breakfast. People often say that they feel more hungry when they eat breakfast. This is because the body's digestion and expenditure capacity increases as you eat, in other words, your metabolism speeds up.
- The main issue is to maintain the accelerated metabolism after breakfast. Dried or fresh fruit consumed 2-3 hours after breakfast helps the metabolism to work and the digestion rate to increase.
- When we come to lunch, the stomach will have accelerated the digestion process. The more fatty or heavy you eat, the more you tire the stomach and the slower it digests. The body will feel heavy, weakness will set in, and when the food is fatty, the fatty part will come out of the stomach late, so even though the stomach is emptied by other foods, the person will feel full for a long time and will not feel the need to snack and slow down the metabolism. After lunch, digestion should continue with a snack to keep digestion fast again.
- By dinner time you are hungry but there is still time until dinner. Add another small snack right away, there is no harm in this. You will keep the metabolism going, you will not slow down the digestion rate and you will sit down to dinner fuller than usual. Sitting down to dinner hungry will increase your eating speed, which will suddenly load the stomach and again strain digestion.
- If you prefer easily digestible vegetable dishes for your evening meals, you will not tire your metabolism. Evening meals should be light, especially for a quality sleep.
- Always consume bread in your meals. Bread is a food that soothes our stomach when we consume a fatty food and is the best source of carbohydrate, which is the body's primary need. The type of bread should be rich in fiber such as rye, whole wheat and whole grain.
- In snacks, dried or fresh fruit, crackers, diet biscuits and grissini will also keep the metabolism going.
- Sugary and fatty foods are fun to eat, but dangerous when consumed in excess. If you do not have a weight problem or a nutritional disorder, there is no harm in consuming a milky dessert 1 or 2 times a week.
- Avoid cooking techniques that increase the use of fat in meals. Instead of frying or roasting, try methods such as grilling or baking in the oven with greaseproof paper.
- Try to buy half-fat milk and dairy products when shopping. Although there is no difference in taste, you will reduce your fat intake.
- For your cardiovascular health, limit the consumption of processed meats such as offal, fatty meat, chicken skin, salami, sausage and sausage.
- Use rye, oat or whole wheat flour instead of white flour. White flour raises your blood sugar fast and is digestible.
- Use spices instead of salt in your meals.
"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food" HYPOCHRAT