Keep diary to avoid holiday overeating

Does it bother anyone else that most stores have been displaying Christmas stuff since mid October? As if we don't have enough things to panic about without having to worry about holiday preparations before the Halloween candy is gone.

And speaking of seasonal eating materials, let's talk strategy against holiday weight gain. Because while there are still plenty of shopping days, now is a good time to examine eating habits (maybe even change a few), before we're faced with high calorie hors d'oeuvres and holiday sweets.

According to area dietitians, one of the easiest and most effective ways to scrutinize your eating habits, as well as recognize what triggers emotional eating (eating a brownie when you need a hug, for example), is to keep a food diary.

"It gets you to think about what you're doing," said Linda Ber, RD at Libertyville's Condell Medical Center, noting those of her clients who keep a food diary tend to be more successful with their weight loss efforts. "If you don't write it down, you might think you're being accountable, but you're really not," she added.

"A lot of people eat mindlessly," agreed Pam Milan, registered outpatient dietitian at St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, "a handful of nuts here, a little nosh there...also if you keep a food diary, you'll know the total fat grams or calories you're actually taking in for the day."

More than just a food log, though, the dietitians stressed the importance of recording how you're feeling (tired, bored, angry...) where you are, who you're with, and what you're doing. This information can help identify trends and habits such as overeating when you're sad, snacking too much while watching TV or always indulging with a certain person, Hillquist said.

"I also always tell people to rate how hungry they are on a scale of one to five," Ber said. "So you can see, are you eating a lot when you're not that hungry? Are you waiting until you're starving, and then you overeat?"

"The whole point is definitely not writing down a brownie and then feeling guilty," Hillquist stressed, "but a means of finding what triggers you to eat and identifying the feelings...so you can deal with these other things, not just the food.

"It's just a real nice helpful tool," she said, "and sometimes, when we're changing behavior, if you can participate and...recognize what your needs are, you tend to be able to follow the guidelines much better because you're participating in the solution."

While two weeks of record keeping will generally give most people a pretty good indication of any trends in their eating habits, Hillquist said keeping a diary when you're faced with temptations, such as holiday parties and special once-a-year treats, is helpful, too.

"If we can get [habits] in line at home," she said, "then the extra things we do at the holidays will metabolize very nicely because you'll be thinking ahead, you'll be in control and not overdo. It's what we do routinely that makes the biggest difference," she added."

� Copyright 1994 Paula Lauer