Are you an automatic eater?  Are you eating food just because it is there?  Donuts brought in by a coworker, cookies at a meeting, or samples at the grocery store.  Remember there are two reasons to eat:

1. To fuel your body.

2. To appreciate flavors

When you grab food because it’s in front of you, you’re not trying to appreciate flavors.  In fact, most likely you already know how the food will taste, and often you don’t even pay much attention to it.  As far as fueling your body in these circumstances the food offered does not provide the right balance of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals to provide energy.  It may even make you hungrier which leads to grazing and overeating later in the day.  One way to look at this scenario is to have a policy that states “I don’t eat food just because it is there”, write it down and remind yourself of it often.  This will help you to slow down and be mindful of your decisions around food.

~ Melissa Merrick, RD, LD

Could you write an article for a gourmet magazine describing the meal you ate last night? Do you even remember the meal you ate last night?

In addition to focusing on WHAT we eat and WHY we eat, mindful eating includes paying attention to HOW we eat. Do you think you are a fast eater? Do you finish most meals in less than ten minutes? Try slowing down while eating. Put your fork or spoon down between bites, savor the flavor of each forkful and pay particular attention to the texture, taste and aroma of the foods you are eating.

Is your typical mealtime filled with distractions? Do you eat while watching television, reading emails or catching up on FaceBook? When distracted, our attention is not focused on the flavor of the foods we are eating, but instead we mindlessly stuff our mouths with food and might even be surprised when our plate is empty. Turn off the tv, put down the phone and eat at a table to help you practice mindful eating.

March is National Nutrition Month and the theme “Savor the Flavor” is a healthy reminder to slow down when eating and avoid distractions at mealtime. I bet you could write amazing articles about your meals if you did.

Test your Nutrition Knowledge! Complete the attached puzzle and return it to Danna or Melissa by March 31^st. Those with the correct answers will be entered into a drawing for great prizes!

~ Danna Woods

Download Nutrition Puzzle

This year’s theme for National Nutrition Month is “Savor the Flavor of Eating Right”. It encourages mindful eating which is something I enjoy talking to my patients about and helping them discover what that means for them. Mindful eating is a large topic and cannot be covered in this WOW tip, but I would like to focus on one aspect of mindful eating and that is this need to clean our plates.

For most of us this “rule” was ingrained into us as a child. You might have been scolded for “wasting food” and that leaving food on your plate was not fair to starving children in the world. This rule is one of the toughest habits to overcome when trying to eat right and lose weight now that we are older.

There are two reasons to eat:

    1.  To fuel your body.

2. To appreciate flavors.

When fueling your car, you would not keep pumping after the tank is full, spilling the fuel on the ground. That would be wasting gas! So why would you do that with your body? A new way to look at that old “rule” of cleaning your plate is that every time you eat food your body doesn’t need, you are wasting it! So now you have a choice. You can get rid of leftover food by throwing it away or by eating it. Either way, it’s wasted.

How I encourage my patients to stop cleaning their plates is to have them leave a bite or two on their plate and then throw it away or leave it for another meal. This trains your mind and your stomach to gradually need less and become mindful of how much you are eating and need.

~ Melissa Merrick

Mid-point weigh-in is almost here!

Mora:  weigh-in week of March 7th-11th.  Slips due by Monday March 14th to Deb, Melissa or Danna.

• *Location of scales during MID-POINT weigh-in:
• Cardiac Stress Testing room in the clinic
• WellnessFirst office (at the end of the HR hallway)
• Storage room across the hall from the dietitian’s office (#2758) or in the dietitian’s office

Pine City: all weigh-ins will occur one week later than Mora

• Weigh-in March 16th – Melissa Merrick will bring the scale.  Slips due by Monday March 21st to Deb, Melissa or Danna.

Hinckley:

• Weigh-in March 8th – Danna Woods will bring the scale.  Slips due by Monday March 14th to Deb, Melissa or Danna.

*We will try to have the scales available as much as possible but there will be times when they are moved for patient care so please be aware of that.  They will eventually make it back to their designated spot. Thanks for your understanding!  An example of this is Tuesday March 8^th – cardiac brings the scale to rehab in the a.m. and Danna will be taking their scale to Hinckley.

Fruit and Veggie Challenge ends Sunday March 6^th!  Turn in completed log sheets to Deb Wright by Tuesday March 8^th!