When Others Pressure You To Eat

One can be faced with many challenges when trying to lose weight. Food plays a vital role in our lives. We eat not only to nourish ourselves, but also to provide for our emotional and social needs. We are also constantly bombarded with messages to eat. The smell of the aroma from a bakery may stimulate the desire to eat something sumptuous. Even when visiting family, it can be very difficult to avoid overeating.

The daily temptations to resist eating high calorie foods can be overwhelming when trying to lose weight. Many people are able to tune out these temptations while appearing to have enormous will power. However, these people are able to eat in response to the sensation of hunger instead of responding to urges by others to eat. These people are said to be "internally cued" eaters. They respond to the internal cue of hunger, caused by signals released by the brain.

Other people are "externally cued" eaters, eating in response to cues outside the body such as the aroma of freshly baked cookies. Externally cued eaters often have difficulty maintaining weight because they eat for many reasons other than when hungry.

When trying to lose weight, the goal of weight loss is a personal responsibility.

To avoid caving in to the constant invitations to eat, the following tips may help:

• respond by saying "No thanks, I am not hungry.", "I would love to have more, but I really am full." or "It was delicious but I have already had plenty."

• ask for smaller portions when at someone else's house

• offer to share a small portion of an appetizer or dessert with someone when it looks particularly inviting

• share your desire to follow a healthy diet with your friends to reduce guilt feelings while trying to avoid overeating at social events

For more strategies on how to avoid overeating with others when trying to lose weight, contact a registered dietitian or your healthcare provider.

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