Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized

Following the success of the guest posts during the 31 Days to a Better Diet, I’m continuing the series. Every now and then, there will be a post from a guest writer on what they do to eat well. Today it’s Leanne from Forever Change talking about her DIY Food Panel.

Have you ever stared down at an empty packet or an empty plate/bowl of something, almost in disbelief and thought to yourself did I really eat that whole packet of chips or box of biscuits (cookies), or block of chocolate, or small farm animal, or whatever it was that is no longer there?

This type of scenario has happened to me and I’ll bet I am not alone. The thing for me though is that it seemed to be so contradictory to my overall attitude to food and health in general. You see, I considered myself reasonably knowledgeable about nutrition and liked exercising. I love reading and researching food and nutrition and through my “travels” on the internet, I have come across lots of informative sites, like Limes and Lycopene, that provide sensible advice and yummy recipe ideas etc.

With all of this information at my finger tips and more recipes than you can poke a stick at, how come I was making some pretty ordinary decisions about what and how much food and wine I was putting in my mouth?

Why wasn’t I putting my knowledge into practice? Well because some of the time I was eating almost on auto pilot and more often that not, the emotional side of me was making the decisions about what went into my mouth.

I want to share with you a technique that I made up myself and started using about 18 months ago that helped me to bring a balance to the emotional needs vs biological needs in relation to my food and drink choices.

DIY Food Panel

My technique was to instigate a self appointed food panel, that would discuss (in my head) issues in relation to food (and drink) and make informed decisions. The premise behind the self appointed food panel is that you have the expertise to make informed and sensible decisions that take into account your physical and emotional needs. In other words you are empowered to make a decision and be comfortable with the decision.

The main role of the food panel initially was to determine whether what I was about to put in my mouth was appropriate for my needs (including emotional needs) at that particular moment and for the longer term, whilst taking into account my overall dietary needs. If the food panel didn’t endorse it then it didn’t go in my mouth.

I decided to appoint 3 members to my panel. I figured that with 3 members, each member would have equal input and where a yes or no “vote” was required, the majority vote would determine the final decision. My panel consisted of a nutritional adviser focussing on the biological needs, a psychologist focussing on my emotional needs and a balance coach focussing on short term ie daily needs, as well medium term needs (eg the previous 3-4 week period as well as planning ahead, taking into account what was going to be happening in my life).

Your own panel could have any number of members, the main thing is you get the right mix that you feel comfortable with, which also allows you to make reasonably quick decisions. You don’t want to debate with yourself for 10 minutes whether or not you should eat a chocolate bar. Once you get used to the concept, the whole process should only take a minute, perhaps occasionally a little longer for example when at a café or restaurant deciding what to eat, and several minutes when planning meals ahead of time.

How the food panel works for me

I first started using the food panel specifically just for situations where I was contemplating tucking into a less healthy food or drink option. I would debate with myself whether I should or shouldn’t eat/drink something, however this decision was based primarily on my emotions. I came up with the food panel idea as a way to improve the choices I was making and to bring some balance into the decision making process.

So for example it is a Friday night I have already had dinner. I am at home watching a movie and I feel like a big bowl of chocolate ice cream. The 3 members of my food panel each take it in turn to “discuss” the issue in my mind. My nutritional adviser points out that there is an enormous amount of fat and sugar in the ice cream (it is gourmet full cream ice cream) and I have been relatively inactive that day so calorie wise it will put me way above what I should have for the day, so it is a no vote from the nutritional adviser.

The psychologist asks me if I am really hungry or whether there is some other need, would I be satisfied with an alternative snack of say yogurt, how bad am I craving the ice cream and so on? I answer the questions and in a nutshell it is that time of the month. My hormones are running wild; I am really badly craving something sweet and ice cream is all that is in the house that will meet that need; and if I don’t have some I will be unbearable (to myself let alone anyone else). So after careful consideration it is a yes vote from the psychologist. Finally the balance coach advises that it has been over 3 weeks since I have had ice cream, and over the last week or so my diet has been quite healthy, I am going to do a heavy workout at the gym the next day (Saturday) and 4km run and 8 km walk on Sunday. Taking everything into account, the treat food gets the yes vote from the balance coach.

The majority vote determines the action I will take. The panel members agree on the approximate amount and that’s it. It’s time to tuck into the bowl of chocolate ice cream!

I used the food panel in a reactive way initially and I quickly appreciated how useful it was for me in those situations, and from there I started to use the panel in a more proactive way such as when planning my meals and organising the grocery shopping list. Each panel member “discusses” from their perspective what they would like to see in terms of meals during the week, a consensus is generally reached, and thus a shopping list is written. (if lack of overall consensus on any items etc then majority vote rules).

These days I use the food panel approach for most of my food decisions. Of course like anyone I still get tempted by impulse buys when I go shopping and not so healthy options when eating out. I also enjoy a few glasses of wine over the weekend.

As is human nature, I don’t listen to my own panel 100% of the time. I figure as long as nearly all of my food decisions are via the panel my overall choices are going to be reasonably sound whilst still satisfying my need for treat food occasionally.

Advantages of the food panel

The food panel works for me because first and foremost, I have a greater awareness of what I am eating. I force myself to stop and think about what I am eating. This prevents me from just mindlessly shovelling food down. Slowing down has other benefits as it seems to increase my overall enjoyment of food and I am more mindful of when I am full.

The food panel also helped me to find a nice balance between satisfying my emotional food desires with fuelling my body with what it needed to function well. When I eat treat type food occasionally such as ice cream, I enjoy it more because I have essentially endorsed it as being appropriate to my overall wellbeing. This removes any guilt that is sometimes associated with eating the so called “bad” food.

The food panel gave me the opportunity to tailor my nutrition to my needs and achieve a better overall balance in my everyday food intake. For example I was generally eating healthy foods during the day at work but what I didn’t realize until the balance coach came into play was that I was eating a disproportionate amount of fruit and very little if any vegetables or salad. I tweaked my diet a little at work to include more vegetables and ate a little less fruit.

Sounds like too much work?

This food panel idea might sound over the top, cumbersome and time consuming, and yes I can honestly say it was for me initially. But it is like learning to drive a manual car. In the early days of learning to drive a car I recall it seemed a lot of effort had to be put into something as straight forward as turning into a side street. You had to check for traffic, whilst, indicating left or right, change down gears using the clutch smoothly so the car does not kangaroo hop, making sure you use the brake to slow down to a safe speed and then be able to adjust this if someone suddenly steps out to cross the road just as you are approaching. It seemed like a big deal then to some how coordinate all of these activities together. Within a few months it was so easy.

In the early days of my food panel, the process of referring to the food panel initially took several minutes. So yes it may seem a bit silly to spend a few minutes deciding whether a particular piece of food goes into my mouth. Within a very short space of time (about a week) though, in a similar way to how you assimilate the information, make decisions and take action when learning to drive a car, you are able to run through the process with the food panel in seconds rather than minutes.

Could it work for you?

If you would like to make improvements in your food and drink choices, think about initiating a food panel with your own self appointed “expert” panel members to guide you and help you make more balanced decisions. Even if you are generally eating well, but find that you sometimes eat on “auto pilot”, the food panel could be a useful tool to help you to slow down and be more mindful when eating.

Leanne Magraith is passionate about fitness, nutrition and weight loss and is currently undertaking study to become a fully qualified personal trainer. You can find Leanne over at her quirky personal development blog Forever Change or at her weight loss coaching site "Forever Change Weight Loss":http://foreverchangeweightloss.com/.

Photographs by Chagin-art, Rmarmion and mikdam.

03 February, 2009