Weigh to Health: Winter 2014

A newsletter from The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program Strategy, Support, Success, Weight Loss

Volume 1, Issue 2: Winter 2014/2015

Our Mission:

Eliminate Emotional Eating

To teach patients the skills necessary to make lifestyle changes and to empower patients to implement these changes in their everyday lives.

“I had a bad day. I deserve this brownie.” “I am bored. What is there to eat?” “I am really anxious about my presentation. I need to crunch on some chips.” How many of us have said these statements to ourselves?

Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is a response to emotions.

Each patient’s program is personalized based on his/ her current weight, medical conditions, lifestyle factors, and personal goals.

The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program provides comprehensive treatment programs designed specifically to treat various levels of overweight and obesity. Treatment staff include physicians, psychologists, physician assistants, nurses, nutritionists, and exercise physiologists.

Patients can enroll in a free orientation session by calling 401-444-4800.

The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program 146 West River Street Suite 11A, First Floor Providence, RI 02904 www.miriamhospital.org/ weight-management

Editors: Vincent Pera, MD Lucy Rathier, PhD Suzanne Moriarty, MSW

Why do we eat when we are upset? It may be that we feel that we have no choice but to eat. Perhaps we don’t know what else to do. We also may feel entitled to eat for getting through a difficult situation.

Food can be an effective distractor…. temporarily. How do we usually feel several minutes after we have eaten a food that we did not plan to eat? Most people say that they end up feeling discouraged because they did not follow their food plan. Instead of solving the first problem (e.g., stress, boredom, anxiety), a second problem was added (i.e., emotional eating).

Impact of weight loss on mood: Over 94% of TMH Weight Management Program patients show significant improvement in mood after 16 weeks in treatment with the greatest improvement seen in those with the greatest weight loss.

Researchers found that emotional eaters were less likely to lose weight and more likely to regain weight lost compared to people who did not engage in unplanned eating when upset. Individuals who do not have a weight problem as well as those who have successfully maintained a weight loss do not eat to comfort themselves. If they do, they notice what they are doing and immediately get back on track.

Emotional eating is a learned behavior that you can change! The more times that you can manage emotions without eating, the more able you will be able to refrain from overeating in the future. The key is learning to break the automatic connection between food and your mood. It involves finding ways to deal with emotions that don’t involve food.

The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program is excited to introduce a weight management group specifically targeting emotional eating. In this group, participants will learn to eat and live mindfully, to become more aware of when thoughts may sabotage diet plans and to break links between problematic thoughts and behavior, to tolerate negative emotions and cravings without eating, to communicate effectively with others regarding their emotional and dietary needs, to increase self-esteem, and to act in accordance with their health-related values.

Andrea Busby, Ph.D., Staff Psychologist Lucy Rathier, Ph.D., Director, Behavioral Medicine Clinical Services

A newsletter from The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program

Patient Success

An noun ceme nts

Anne-Marie Verardo lost 140 lbs. in The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program.

Coming in February 2015: Program for Emotional Eaters This is a specialized weight management group for emotional eaters. Participants will learn about contributors to emotional eating and how to manage them, and create healthy eating schedules and patterns. The group will be offered Wednesdays at 6:00 PM.

Watch for Dr Pera’s interview about obesity in the US and RI, and effective treatment options in Rhode Island Monthly’s Annual Guide to Health and Wellness that accompanies the January 2015 issue.

We’re on Twitter and Facebook!

Get specific tips on weight management from our experts. Follow us on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/Miriamhospital Twitter: twitter.com/Miriamhospital or @MiriamHospital Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/Miriamhospital

Amy’s Advice: Exercise is a great way to manage anxiety and depression. It reduces the levels of the body’s stress hormones and increases endorphins - the brain’s feel good chemicals. So next time you’re stressed, hop on a bike, take a Zumba class or simply go for a walk outside.

To learn more about The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program, register for a free orientation session.

Call 401-444-4800.

However, that is not the only way that she defines her success. She stated that from participating in the weight management program, “I learned that behavioral changes are more important than the number that I see on the scale.”

After

Anne-Marie had been an emotional eater who went to food when she did not want to feel a negative emotion like anxiety, sadness, or grief. She stated that food was an easy access method of soothing her feelings of distress. After an episode of overeating in an effort to manage her mood, Anne-Marie would say to herself, “What’s the point?”

This led to a cycle of unhealthy, unplanned eating for several months resulting in weight gain.

Through participation in weight management groups, Anne-Marie Before discovered other ways to deal with unpleasant emotions without eating. Now when faced with a stressful situation in which she would normally turn to food, she takes a few minutes to do deep, diaphragmatic breathing to create calmness within herself. In addition, she uses meditation, prayer, and exercise daily to be proactive in managing her mood. Anne-Marie found that she often could be sitting in front of the TV, but be distracted with worries. This would lead to mindless eating. Now she uses the negative emotion as a signal and Anne-Marie discovered finds something productive to do such other ways to deal with as putting together items to donate to charity. In the group meetings, unpleasant emotions she learned ways to change negative without eating. self-statements into more helpful selfstatements. When she gets derailed from her eating and exercise plan, she now tells herself “It was only one day.” Then, she immediately resumes her plan. Anne-Marie stated that using the behavioral strategies that she learned in the program also reduced her use of medication to deal with anxiety.

Anne-Marie takes what she has learned in the weight management groups further by making a focused effort to implement these strategies to change her behaviors related to managing emotions and eating habits. She states, “You need to find the program that works for you and then work it.”

The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program 146 West River Street, Suite 11A, First Floor, Providence, RI 02904 www.miriamhospital.org/weight-management