Eat Without Guilt » Emotional Eating

Afraid of Overindulging in Candy this Halloween?

Dinneen — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:46:18 +0000

With Halloween approaching, I know this can be a difficult time for many people ~ especially emotional eaters. With all of the candy around, it’s tough to not overindulge in chocolate, feel ‘bad’ or guilty for eating so much of it — and then get into the spiral of eating MORE of the candy, or having it for breakfast on Nov 1st (okay, maybe that was me years ago). Though I have written about how to conquer your candy cravings at Halloween in the past, and the tips and advice I gave I still stand by today. But as I’m constantly learning, becoming more aware, and after working with and helping hundreds of women — my insight is deeper & more profound. As many of my readers are emotional eaters (and let’s face it — there’s a lot of emotion attached to food, so who hasn’t eaten for emotional reasons at some… Read more

What Is Your Food Legacy?

Dinneen — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:53:40 +0000

Though at first it might be hard to believe, but your thoughts, feelings and attitudes toward food began a long time ago. Probably when you were a child. “But wait,” you might be thinking. ”I ate normally as a child. I didn’t have any problems with food back then!” On that point, you may or may not be right. Maybe you were overweight as a child. Maybe you weren’t. But that’s not the (main) point here. You see, attitudes toward food begin at home. The environment in which you were raised has subtly but powerfully influenced your current attitudes toward food. They became part of you whether consciously, or unconsciously….but how your parents and your family viewed food is probably still with you today. For example: Did your parents ever tell you to finish your plate, even if you were full? Was your mother, father, or sibling ever on a… Read more

Is Snacking Really a Diet Trap?

Dinneen — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:34:34 +0000

I’ve been spending a few weeks visiting my brother outside of Dallas, Texas and to my surprise, my pants are feeling a bit looser (yay!). But when I say it’s a surprise, I really mean it. I’m one of those people that need to ‘schedule’ my eating, or I’ll get ravenous. Just ask anyone…when I’m hungry watch out! My blood sugar drops and I get a bit (or a lot) cranky. So I always have a snack with me, especially when I know I’m going to be out all day and may not be able to eat at my regularly scheduled time. So being away from home, my schedule is totally off, including my eating times. I like to eat three square-meals a day. I’m not a big fan of snacking, but I do so when I feel my tummy getting hungry so I’ll grab something (preferably healthy & with… Read more

The Latest Diet Victim

Dinneen — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:44:42 +0000

As I started my week on Monday morning, I sat down with my coffee (yes, cream and sugar) and put on the television to catch up on some news. So I tuned into Good Morning America. Now I do realize these morning shows don’t really give us much ‘news’, but as I have my coffee in the morning I like to catch the weather forcast and there’s not much else on besides these morning shows. But they often (excuse my French)…..piss me off. Why? Because it seems at least once a week (actually, it’s usually a few times a week) they have a story about weight-loss. And the “right” foods to eat. And the right diet. And how to be slim and happy. Yadda, yadda, yadda… “Lose 10 pounds by eating superfoods!” “Sugar is bad (no wait, good) for your heart!” “Lose belly fat for good!” ”How to walk off… Read more

Will Work For Food

Dinneen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:30:53 +0000

A few weeks ago I had a bit on an epiphany. It was after lunch. I had eaten a small lunch so a few hours later was hungry and decided to have some of the nuts my husband had bought. But these weren’t a can or container of nuts. These were “real” nuts. You know, the kind with the shell still on them? There were Brazil nuts, almonds, and walnuts. So I took a handful and started opening them one-by-one with a nutcracker (let me remind you I haven’t done this in years). As I was doing this I realized I was putting effort into eating. In other words, I had to WORK to get my food. And anyone who has opened nuts with a nutcracker knows that it takes time. With the time and effort it took, after about five minutes I had eaten about only 7 or 8… Read more

The Magic Answer to Your Weight Struggle is Closer Than You Think

Dinneen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:03:32 +0000

It seems every time I turn on the TV, there’s news of some celebrity, personality or public figure and their battle of the bulge and war on losing weight and KEEPING it off. Many of us can relate. Even Oprah. Yes, Oprah I wrote about Oprah’s weight gain (and losses) last year here in my blog. Many people in the spotlight, like Oprah — and even past winners of the reality show The Biggest Loser — can’t seem to keep the weight off. They lose, then gain, lose, and then gain again. And it’s the same for many of us! What the heck is going on? For one thing, we keep looking to external factors to determine what and how much to eat. We’ve spent years listening to others to tell us what to eat, so we’ve been disconnected from our bodies. If we listen to our bodies correctly, it tells… Read more

Do You Know How to Listen to Your Hunger?

Dinneen — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:25:13 +0000

You’ve probably heard over and over again “eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.” Good advice, but often people tell me that they don’t even know what hungry feels like. They either feel hungry all to time, or can’t decipher if their “hunger” is true hunger or emotional hunger. Many people on their weight-loss journey have lost their ability to even know what real (ie biological) hunger feels like. And it’s more common than you think. The Clock Strikes 12 For some people it’s simply because they’ve never allowed themselves to be hungry. They eat all the time. Or they eat simply because it’s meal-time. The clock say’s 12 noon so they just eat. They’re not really hungry, but they’ve been eating at this time for so long they actually think they’re hungry. But their body isn’t giving them the signals. They have just been on… Read more

A Powerful First Step to Ending Comfort Eating

Dinneen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:45:23 +0000

Many of us at one time or another have eaten for comfort. It’s common to reach for food when we are bored, stressed, unhappy with life, upset, or depressed. So we eat in an attempt to feel better, get rid of the boredom, de-stress, or cheer up. Yet while we reach to the food for comfort, in the end it does the exact opposite. When you eat for comfort you don’t eat for pleasure and savor the taste, smell and texture of the food. Instead, you eat mindlessly and afterwards are more likely to feel miserable and guilty about overeating. In fact, you probably end up feeling worse after the comfort eating than you did before! Most of the time, eating fails to provide you with the comfort you seek. If you have relied too much on comfort eating to get rid of stress or cheer you up, you… Read more

Are You On the Roller Coaster Ride of Eating?

Dinneen — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:49:28 +0000

As I get many questions from readers, I’ve decided to start answering some here on my blog. Here’s one from this week: Q: I feel like my day is a constant roller coaster ride of eating based on EMOTIONS, so I feel it’s hard for me to listen to my body like I so often hear we should do. A: Let me tell you, I used to be first in line on the roller coaster ride! I’ve had almost every emotion imaginable when it comes to food. It seemed my day would be a “good” day or “bad” day based upon what I ate. Think about it, basing your day solely what you eat should not be how we live our lives. But I did that. Even within a day I would have these highs & lows around food — so I get that. A few months… Read more

Are You a Food Victim?

Dinneen — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:59:52 +0000

This article was written by yours truly, Dinneen Diette, and previously posted as a guest post on Mizfitonline.com It received such amazing feedback that we decided to post it here. We hope it will help inspire you too: “Dinneen’s main focus is helping women make peace with food and, if they lose weight in the process, then it’s the full fat icing on the proverbial protein cake (get it? everything in moderation? treats are good? no? oh, ok.) As this week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week**, I asked Dinneen to stop by and tell us what that means to her.” –MizFit (**Note: Eating Disorders Awareness Week was last week, but the information & insight here is valuable any week of the year!) As a weight loss coach and mentor, I help many women lose weight, look better AND feel better, and I’m constantly meeting women who struggle with… Read more