{"id":76159,"date":"2016-12-17T13:41:33","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T18:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=76159"},"modified":"2016-12-16T19:47:38","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T00:47:38","slug":"heart-association-avoid-mindless-eating-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=76159","title":{"rendered":"Heart Association: Avoid mindless eating this holiday season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"american<\/a>It\u2019s the holidays and for most Americans, that means eating \u2013 lots of eating \u2013 followed by weight gain and\u00a0a New Year\u2019s resolution to lose weight. But why not take a healthier approach to eating during this holiday\u00a0season and beyond?<\/p>\n

The American Heart Association recommends incorporating healthier food options into your routine and\u00a0avoiding mindless eating or eating when you\u2019re not hungry. Recognizing and planning to avoid these common eating habits can help you manage your weight.<\/p>\n

Some people eat healthy meals three times per day with healthy snacks in between. But for many, habits\u00a0like binge eating, emotional eating, nighttime eating and mindless eating can put people on a path to\u00a0weight gain and obesity.<\/p>\n

Binge eaters are able to control portions sometimes but lose control at other times. A binge is when you eat a lot of food in a short time and it&#39;s usually not healthy food. Binge eating is bad for you, especially if you have diabetes.<\/p>\n

Emotional eaters eat when they feel upset, angry, sad, lonely or fearful. Emotions such as these can be\u00a0powerful triggers to eat high fat, sugary or high calorie comfort foods. If you&#39;re an emotional eater, you\u00a0can learn healthier ways to react to your emotions. Emotions usually don&#39;t last long \u2014 often just 10\u00a0minutes to an hour \u2014 so you only need to distract yourself from eating for a short time, until the emotion\u00a0passes.<\/p>\n

For many people, dinner is only the start of their nighttime eating. There&#39;s nothing wrong with a healthy\u00a0snack such as fruit, plain popcorn or whole-wheat toast with a little jam a couple of hours after dinner; however, nighttime eating is a problem when you eat large amounts of food or foods high in fat, sodium\u00a0and calories like cookies, chips, full-fat ice cream, sandwiches or leftovers.<\/p>\n

Mindless Eating<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mindless eating is consuming food just because it\u2019s there. It\u2019s eating while distracted \u2013 watching TV,\u00a0working at a computer or texting on our smartphones. It\u2019s eating for emotional comfort instead of for\u00a0hunger. Simply put, it\u2019s not paying attention to what we eat which can lead to being overweight and even\u00a0obesity.<\/p>\n

Awareness<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When you pay attention to what you\u2019re eating, you can make small changes that make a big difference.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips toward a more mindful approach:<\/p>\n