Handling Unexpected Desserts and How Your Perception of Food Affects Your Metabolism

Last night my client emailed me in a panic saying “I just ate dessert with a friend. I usually skip breakfast the next day to compensate, what should I do?!”

My answer: First, take a nice deep breath. Second, do NOTHING. Get right back on track at your next meal NO MATTER WHAT. When you skip a meal to “compensate” you risk overeating later on in the day which then starts the diet cycle all over again. Your body requires food every day. This isn’t optional.

More food for thought: Our ability to lose and gain weight is not determined solely by the food we eat. Other factors include stress, sleep, hormones and the stories we tell ourselves about food (think of the “good” and “bad” food mindset).

You read that last one right: How we PERCEIVE food (think “good” or “bad”) and the inner stories we tell ourselves (true or not) affect how efficient we are at metabolizing our food. You can be eating the most perfect diet in the world for your body, but if you’re an anxious mess while eating dessert because you categorize it as a “bad” food, you’re creating a stress that tells your body to store or stay put.

To take this a step further: When you are stressed, you are in “fight-or-flight” mode and all of the less important functions of the body are slowed down or shut off (think digestion and reproduction). Besides some discomfort and GI upset, eating while stressed can decrease nutrient absorption, increase insulin resistance and increase cortisol.

My advice? Eat dessert when it’s something you truly want or crave. This may take some practice, but choose what you want, plate it, and savor it. You might be done after a bite, or after a bowl (we aren’t robots and our needs change from day to day). Pay attention and welcome in the pleasure you get from that eating experience. When you can do that, you’re optimizing digestion, keeping your hormones happy and letting your metabolism do its thing.