Nutrition Diva

Dangers of Unplanned Eating (Reissue)

Episode Summary

There are (at least) four ways that “calories of opportunity” can sabotage your diet.

Episode Notes

Do you ever suspect that something is derailing your diet? In this episode we'll go over a significant yet often overlooked area of nutrition: unplanned eating. We also answer a listener question about mushrooms and FODMAPS.

RELATED EPISODES

What is the FODMAP diet?
Beyond FODMAPs with Beth Rosen RD

Nutrition Diva is hosted by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN. Transcripts are available at Simplecast.

Have a nutrition question? Send an email to nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com or leave a voicemail at 443-961-6206.

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Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

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Episode Transcription

Hello, I’m Monica Reinagel and you are listening to the Nutrition Diva podcast. Welcome!

Today I want to share with you a few thoughts about unplanned eating, a habit which, if left unchecked, can really wreak havoc on your healthy diet. But first, a quick detour to respond to a listener question that came in after my recent episode on mushrooms.

Beth writes:

“Do you know why so many common mushrooms are considered bad for people who require a FODMAP diet? Sources I have read say that some types are okay.”

People who suffer from IBS often get relief from following a low FODMAP diet. The word FODMAP is an acronym; each letter stands for a different group of carbohydrates that can create digestive difficulties. Eliminating foods that are high in these compounds can often alleviate symptoms.

Monash University in Australia is the leader in FODMAP research and they provide guides that identify which foods are high or low in each of the various FODMAPs.

Mushrooms end up on FODMAP lists because they contain polyols (the “p” in FODMAP). But the polyol content varies among the many different types of mushrooms. For example, oyster mushrooms are low in polyols and OK for a low FODMAP diet. Button mushrooms, on the other hand, are higher in polyols and are off-limits for low FODMAP diets.

However, the portion size matters at least as much as the type of mushroom. Some mushrooms can safely be consumed in smaller quantities. And even oyster mushrooms could potentially be problematic if eaten in very large quantities.

You’ll find lots of FODMAP apps in the app stores, and these can be a great way to look up and manage the FODMAP content of your diet, but I would look for the one published by Monash as the most authoritative source.

One last thing about low FODMAP diets. Very few people are sensitive to all 6 classes of FODMAPs. Which is fortunate because trying to minimize all the FODMAPs would result in a pretty restrictive diet. The whole point of this approach is to identify which of the FODMAP constituents are your particular trigger(s) so that you can focus on limiting those, without unnecessarily restricting or limiting your diet. And if polyols aren’t your gut gremlins, then all kinds of mushrooms can go back on the menu!

I’ll include links in the shownotes to some previous episodes on the FODMAP diet.

What is the FODMAP diet?
Beyond FODMAPs with Beth Rosen RD

And now, let’s move on to today’s discussion on the dangers and drawbacks of unplanned eating.

What do I mean by unplanned eating? Well, it’s 2pm right now and I have no idea what I’m having for dinner tonight. But I am planning to eat dinner. And I know that I’ll be making something using some of the vegetables I picked up at the farmer’s market this weekend. That’s not unplanned eating.

On the other hand, before sitting down to write this episode, I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. While I was waiting for the water to boil, I noticed the apple pie left over from last night’s dinner on the counter and nibbled half a piece. I didn’t go into the kitchen in order to get something to eat. But when I saw the pie, I grabbed a fork and dug in. That was unplanned eating.

Here are some more examples of unplanned eating. Do any of these sound familiar?

You go to the mall to shop for shoes and walk by the food court. Before you know it, you’ve got a giant cinnamon bun in your hand.
You go into a co-workers office to talk with her and without even thinking about it, reach for a piece of Halloween candy from the ceramic pumpkin that’s sitting at the corner of her desk.
You’re cleaning up from dinner and find yourself eating the extra mashed potatoes instead of putting them away.

This sort of eating is problematic for a number of reasons:

Unplanned eating is rarely motivated by hunger. After all, how hungry can you be when cleaning up from dinner? You just ate!
You’re not choosing a particular food because it’s nutritious – or even because you particularly enjoy that food -- but because it happens to be in front of you. In one study of snacking behavior, slightly over half of all snacks were consumed because of external cues. In my experience, the food that just happens to be in front of you is rarely as nutritious—or delicious—as meals or snacks that happen on purpose.
More often than not, you’re focused on other things when you fall for these “calories of opportunity” and not paying attention to what you’re eating. You barely taste it. What’s the point of eating foods that you don’t particularly want and aren’t even conscious of consuming?
You’re unlikely to adjust what you eat later in the day based on any unplanned eating. When it’s time for a piece of pie after dinner tonight, for example, I’m probably not going to think to myself, “Hang on, I already had some pie today. I’d better skip it.” Because it usually doesn’t affect subsequent food choices, unplanned eating can add a lot of calories to our day.

Here’s another interesting thing about unplanned eating: When recalling what you’ve eaten over the course of the day, you’re much more likely to forget or overlook things you ate without planning to. It’s as if they never happened.

People who do a lot of unplanned eating are often totally deluded about what and how much they actually eat. When I hear people complaining that they can’t lose weight no matter how little they eat, I always wonder how much unplanned (and unremembered) eating is happening.

Those unplanned calories may barely register in terms of your attention, taste buds, or memory. But they do register in (and on) your body. I may forget that half piece of apple pie I ate this afternoon, but my hips will remember every crumb.

Paying attention to--and cutting back on--unplanned eating is really an extension of the principles of mindful eating: paying attention to our level of hunger, our surroundings, our enjoyment of food (or lack thereof), and how we feel after we eat.

And here’s a simple practice that you can try to get a little bit more in touch with what and why you are eating. Every time you eat, pause just long enough to mentally ask and answer three questions.

Why am I eating this right now?
How hungry am I right now?
How much am I enjoying this?

You don’t necessarily have to change what you’re eating. In fact, you may find that you’re more willing to do this exercise if you frame it simply as an information-gathering exercise, as opposed to one designed to change your behavior. But don’t blame me if this little exercise does result in some positive behavior changes.

Sometimes, when we start paying attention, we realize how often we’re eating not out of hunger or pleasure but out of boredom, loneliness, frustration, or simply habit. That realization can empower us to deal more constructively or appropriately with those emotions. When we try to eat more mindfully and consciously, we often discover that we choose foods that are better for us and get much more enjoyment out of what we eat.

If you’re looking for more support for healthy weight management, please check out the tools and resources that are at weighless.life. Mindful eating is just one of many strategies and tools that we use to create habits, mindset, and lifestyle that lead to weighing less without dieting. That’s at weighless.life

If you have a question you'd like me to answer on the podcast, you can email me at nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com You can also leave me a message at 443-961-6206

Nutrition Diva is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast and is supported by a fantastic team, which includes our new Director of podcasts, Brannan Goetschius, my audio engineer Nathan Semmes, Davina Tomlin runs our marketing and publicity, Holly Hutchings is our Digital Operations Specialist and Morgan Christianson is our Podcast Operations and Advertising Specialist as well as Kamryn Lacy.

Thanks for listening!