Ways to stop overeating according to Leslie Landis, Author, "The Art of Overeating: A Bellyful of Laughs About Our Food Phobic Culture:"
- "Leave no leftovers in restaurant."
Opposite advice: Ask the waiter to divide whatever you have ordered in half and put one of those halves in a doggie bag before you are served. That way there will be leftovers for dinner the next day. Most people think they will take home whatever is left over, but then usually finish everything. People don't have to worry about not having enough to eat because most restaurants provide humongous portions.
- "Never share."
Opposite advice:Always share. Whenever possible, split a meal with your dinner companion. It is worth the "split" charge and will save your waist and money.
- "Order from every category on a menu."
Opposite advice: Keep in mind that restaurants have all those categories (and have added even more) - the bread, the starter, the appetizer, the 1st course, the 2nd course, etc. - to get you to order (and eat) more. Keep it to 3 dishes - an appetizer or salad, a main course (with no sides) and a dessert where you can ask to leave off the extra scoop or whipped cream. Another good tactic is order an appetizer for your main course. Again, most restaurants serve large appetizer portions.
- "Save the environment and eat everything you order."
Opposite advice: You will help save the environment if you order and eat just what you need. All the excess food has a carbon footprint.
- "Always clean your plate."
Opposite advice: In spite of what you were told when you growing up, you don't have to clean your plate. That's where a dog comes in handy.
- "Anytime is a good time to eat."
Opposite advice:Have 3 set times to eat during the day. This will train your stomach to feel hunger at those times. Eating only when you are hungry and eating just enough to feel satisfied is the goal. It is okay to have small snacks in between.
- "Food is love." "Emotional eating." "Reward yourself."
Opposite advice: All these topics use the idea of food as a substitute for love, as a salve for unhappiness and as a reward for difficulties. Instead, make a list of other things that give you joy and pleasure. Then do those things instead. The list is endless and personal - going to a movie, getting together with friends or family, helping others, playing with your children, petting your cat, throwing the ball for your dog.
- "Avoid the produce department in the supermarket."
Opposite advice: The first place you want to go in the supermarket is the produce area. That is where to spend a lot of time and a large share of your budget. Then you will have less time and money for the less healthy and more fattening foods. And always make a list of what you need to buy so you don't end up going through every aisle where temptation might get you.
- "Hide food for future nibbles."
Opposite advice: This idea applies more to women. Men don't seem to mind eating gargantuan amounts of food in front of others, but women are more likely to overeat when no one is looking. So it is best to eat with others as much as possible. When that is not possible, create an imaginary friend - even out of cardboard - to sit opposite you. Who would want George Clooney to see them pig out!
- "You can't be addicted to food."
Opposite advice: Actually, you can. Don't be a victim of the food industry's air brushed food ads and the restaurants with their huge portions. Keep in mind that we need to eat and it is great to enjoy eating - in the amounts your body needs.
- "In case there is no tomorrow, eat everything you can today."
Opposite advice: If you eat everything you can today, there may be no tomorrow for you!
Leslie Landis has been a practicing clinical psychologist since 1999. In that capacity she has helped individuals who eat, spend, avoid, deny, and defy, and has gained many insights about overeating through their experiences. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Martin.
As a clinical psychologist who has worked with overeaters and who lives with an overeater - her husband - she knows that most people want to eat less and healthy, but it is a struggle for them. They need and want good advice and creative tips. Really, "The Art of Overeating" is a diet book, but a different kind of diet book.
It doesn't brow beat people or makes them feel guilty. Leslie likes to say that if you want to lose weight, do the opposite of everything in my book. With that in mind, Leslie's first advice is not to change what you eat, but rather to change how you eat.
Leslie is actually a small person - 5'3" and 107 pounds. So the first thing that people ask is why she wrote this book. Her answer is that she was inspired by her husband, Martin, who is a world class overeater.
She has great stories to share about his overeating exploits:
- Once, they went on a cruise with her parents. Every night, Martin ordered and ate all five of the available entrees. Finally, her dad - who worried about how Martin's overeating would affect his health - asked him to please just have one dish. Martin agreed. Unbeknownst to the, he spoke to the waiter before dinner that evening. When we sat down to eat, the waiter brought Martin all five entrees - on one very large dish.
- Martin once asked Leslie to help him lose weight by telling him when I thought he was eating too much. The next time we went out to eat, he ordered - as usual- two dinners. She pointed this out to him, but he argued that it was okay because he was not going to eat all the vegetables.
- Martin looks in the refrigerator every 5 minutes. Leslie asked him why he does that since there is no more food in there than 5 minutes before. He said he just likes to look!
- The supermarket is Martin's favorite store. He loves to go grocery shopping. He piles his cart high with food. No paper towels or laundry detergent for him. When he is finished, he always tells me that he has enough food to last for the whole week. By the next day, he has eaten everything.
- She is forced to put my name on certain foods or they won't be there when I want to eat them. Living with Martin is like living with an office staff.
- She constantly gives Martin articles about the right way to eat and how doing so will increase his life span. She is always reading food labels to him. Sometimes she throws out the unhealthy food he bought and tell him it went bad. Nothing she does deters him. One time, she put scary words - death, insanity, sugarshock - on candy bars he'd just gotten. She found a pile of candy wrappers, with the words till stuck on them, all around his TV chair.
"The Art of Overeating" is a humorous take on America's calorie-obsessed culture. It is meant to be fun and funny. The book takes overeating to an exaggerated and absurd level that allows everyone, including those with weight concerns, to have a laugh.
However, humor is nothing if not looking inward. Leslie uses humor to get people to take a look at themselves.
>> Buy this book on Amazon: The Art of Overeating: A Bellyful of Laughs About Our Food-phobic Culture