- With Mayo Clinic nutritionists
Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the Food & Nutrition Center, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she is certified by the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 50 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and answering nutrition questions posed to Ask a Specialist.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor for the Food & Nutrition Center, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She is active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in pediatrics at Mayo Clinic Rochester and nutrition education related to the physiology and recommended intakes for premature infants.
Other areas of interest include breast milk and formula safety, neonatal feeding, and nutrition for breast-feeding mothers.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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Dec. 2, 2008
Tools to lessen impulsive eating
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Thanks again for your response to this series on battling obesity. Be sure to check out the first two parts and the comments from dozens of readers like you.
In going through your responses, I've noted that many of you eat as a way to cope.
" ... when I am having a bad day or low day or happy day I want to comfort myself or celebrate (with food)." - Kim
"I am an emotional eater. When I am upset, stressed or feeling blue is when I eat and eat and eat." - Jan
"Eating is a way to nurture and calm myself down from daily stresses ... My life is already so overwhelming that addressing this issue seems to add more stress. I am already experiencing health issues due to my weight and I am concerned that it will only get worse if I don't make some drastic changes. Hard to know where and how to start." - Charlene
Emotional eaters — you especially do not benefit from being told to "eat less — exercise more."
For you, food is the way you cope. It's your closest buddy — it boosts you up, calms you down, keeps you company, and makes you happy. This is a very hard friend to dump. In fact, even if you are a firm believer in a healthy diet and committed to exercise, this bum will sidetrack even your best intentions.
How do you get a grip on this? Get to know your feelings and what triggers you to eat. Chances are you are not aware of important underpinnings of why you use eating to cope with life's ups and downs. It's also important to learn non-food methods for coping with situations that trigger eating. Ultimately developing skills that lower your overall stress level leaves you with more energy and strength to live positively — and not dependent upon your "food buddy." Here are some tips.
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Keep a journal that tracks everything you eat — and your feelings. Whenever you eat something write it down. Ask yourself why you are eating the food and what you are feeling. This is known as ABC journaling: Antecedents (why you are eating — including what you are feeling), Behavior (what you ate), and Consequences (how you feel after eating). You should begin to notice behavior chairs like:
Antecedent (argued with husband/feeling upset) =
Behavior (grabbed 3 cookies and ate them) =
Consequences (felt better, then depressed because I shouldn't have eaten the cookies!)As you continue to journal, you will notice repeated themes — situations or triggers for emotion-connected eating. Just by journaling, you also become more aware of what you are actually doing and will likely "catch yourself" before grabbing unwanted food.
- Think of non-food ways to break the chain and write them down. It has been shown that just the act of planning non-food interventions increases your chance of using non-food coping strategies than if you have no plan. Next time you're stressed — count to 60. Lonely? — call a friend. Angry? — vacuum the living room. It also helps to ride out the trigger to eat — this is hard. However, the trigger or emotion will fade and so will the urge to eat.
- Ultimately it helps to de-stress. Stress management techniques can be as simple as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. Look for yoga or tai chi classes. Pick up DVDs, and books on stress management. Exercise frequently. It has been shown that those who learn and practice any of these regularly cope with stress in a less destructive manner.
Now you have some tools that you can use to develop a better variety of healthy coping skills — ones that lessen your first impulse for food — and increase your success at weight control.
Try some of these out — let me know your thoughts.
- Jennifer
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