Central Standard
2:27 pm
Mon February 20, 2012

The Psychology Of Eating

Credit celeste343 / flickr

On this Central Standard, we explore what happens to our brains on food. Have you ever wondered what goes on when you lie in bed, thinking about that late night snack?

Our regular guest Dr. Bruce Liese joins us for a look at the psychology behind eating, and how it is intricately tied to cognitive and emotional processes. We’ll discuss how to bring an end to what Bruce calls "magical thinking" when it comes to food.

Some advice from Bruce's notebook

1. Normal eating involves eating to live, not living to eat (or starving oneself in the case of anorexia).

2. Normal eating requires a balance of energy consumed and energy expended, or calories consumed and calories expended.

3. Normal eating is not self-medicating.

4. Pathological eating may involve binge eating or restricting.

5. Those who eat pathologically had difficulty reading satiety cues.

6. Normal eating requires discipline. Unhealthy eating involves a departure from discipline.

Some advice from Bruce's notebook

1. Lifestyle change - exercise climb stairs, avoid sedentary activities, avoid processed foods.

2. Cognitive change - beliefs, values, automatic thoughts. Get rid of magical thinking (aka. when you pretend your actions don't have consequences.)

3. Social support - seek others who promote a healthy lifestyle

5. Monitoring your weight - check your weight daily, or weekly, and track your food intake

6. Health Education - read a book, see a nutritionist, take a class

7. Avoid High Energy Dense Foods - these include chips and other deep friend foods, candy etc. Maximize Low Energy Dense foods, for example, by eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

Kansas City what did you do to transition from an unhealthy relationship with food to a healthy one? What make it stick? E-mail us at centralstandard@kcur.org.

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