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It’s 3pm, you’re at work, the eye lids are getting heavy, only 2 hours to go.
So what next?, a hit of caffiene or maybe straight to the vending machine or the biscuit tin.
Are you really hungry or is your stomach in the habit of expecting a caffiene/choclate hit at 3pm.
A lot of our behaviours are driven by habits or emotions.
The tough part is changing the habit or our emotional state.

Quite often there is an association between a particular emotion and food, maybe your feeling a little lacklustre, a little down so a natural reaction may be to head for a choclate bar, over a long period of time this association becomes a habit.

A big part of weight management is controlling the energy intake.
For some people, eating becomes an activity that is fueled by emotion not hunger.

How many times do you find that boredom at works leads to hitting the vending machine or maybe munching on the secret stash of chocolate, mabe you’ve had a hard day at work, eating becomes a reward for getting through the day or a temporary escape.

Eating throughout the day may be the equivalent of having a smoko, a break from work, maybe it’s a little more serious, depression has set in and eating gives you comfort.

When you are eating for emotional reasons, unconsciously you are conditioning yourself to follow this behaviorial path.
And it’s hard to break this pattern which may have evolved over a period of time or is learnt from an early age from parents.
Was food used as a reward for achieving certain outcomes or to stop you from crying or misbehaving?

Ask yourself why am I eating!

There was an article recently in the paper suggesting ways we can obtain fibre, certain vitamins & minerals.

It was surprising that our food consumption is increasingly being biased towards processed foods to the extent that taking “health” related pills and potions is the answer for a diet lacking in the consumption of fresh vegetables & fruit.

Yes I hear you saying no time to shop at the market or the supermarket, busy, busy, busy!!
Take out modern communications, ie web surfing, emailing, texting, cable TV, free to air TV, mobile phones and you may find a spare couple of hours a week.

The whole concept in the article was based on consuming various supplements was the norm and another way of obtaining fibre for example was eating grains.

Wow, what a crazy idea, eating whole foods instead of highly processed foods & supplements.

The whole idea of nutrition has been turned upside down as eating grains is now seen to be the old equivalent of taking supplements to get your daily quota of fibre.

What will be next, eating fish is a better alternative to Omega III tablets. Crazy stuff.

Well like many people I like to occacasionally lash out and indulge the taste buds in a little decadence.
A nice B&B too help unwind, red wine and something sweet.

Well after a trip to the local shop, it is impossible to find one single desert without a chemical list as long as the actual food ingredients, emulsifiers, preservatives, flavouring, colours.
Every year the level of chemicals seem to be growing while the actual food content falling.
With so many food types available, our choices of real food with real ingredients is in constant freefall.

Products that actually resemble the raw ingredients are flattened by the modern food giants.

A new health scare erupted over soft drinks amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage.

Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Pepsi Max, Fanta, Sprite and childrens cordials. It is also added to pickles and sauces.

Research from a British university suggests that sodium benzoate has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem – more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse – can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance.

According to Foods Standards Australia’s website “In relation to other potential health consequences, there is currently no clinical evidence to suggest that high dietary intake of sulphites and benzoates can cause adverse effects in people.”