A newsletter from The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program
Strategy, Support, Success, Weight Loss
Volume 1, Issue 2: Winter 2014/2015
Our Mission:
Eliminate Emotional Eating
To teach patients the skills
necessary to make lifestyle
changes and to empower
patients to implement these
changes in their everyday lives. “I had a bad day. I deserve this
brownie.” “I am bored. What is there
to eat?” “I am really anxious about
my presentation. I need to crunch on
some chips.” How many of us have
said these statements to ourselves?
Experts estimate that 75% of
overeating is a response to emotions.
Each patient’s program is
personalized based on his/
her current weight, medical
conditions, lifestyle factors,
and personal goals.
The Miriam Hospital
Weight Management Program
provides comprehensive treatment
programs designed specifically to
treat various levels of overweight
and obesity. Treatment staff
include physicians, psychologists,
physician assistants, nurses,
nutritionists, and exercise
physiologists.
Patients can enroll in a free
orientation session by calling
401-444-4800.
The Miriam Hospital
Weight Management Program
146 West River Street
Suite 11A, First Floor
Providence, RI 02904
www.miriamhospital.org/
weight-management
Editors:
Vincent Pera, MD
Lucy Rathier, PhD
Suzanne Moriarty, MSW
Why do we eat when we are upset? It may
be that we feel that we have no choice but
to eat. Perhaps we don’t know what else
to do. We also may feel entitled to eat
for getting through a difficult situation.
Food can be an effective distractor….
temporarily. How do we usually feel
several minutes after we have eaten a
food that we did not plan to eat? Most
people say that they end up feeling
discouraged because they did not follow
their food plan. Instead of solving the
first problem (e.g., stress, boredom,
anxiety), a second problem was added
(i.e., emotional eating).
Impact of weight loss on mood:
Over 94% of TMH Weight
Management Program patients
show significant improvement
in mood after 16 weeks in
treatment with the greatest
improvement seen in those with
the greatest weight loss.
Researchers found that emotional eaters
were less likely to lose weight and more likely to regain weight lost compared to
people who did not engage in unplanned eating when upset. Individuals who do not
have a weight problem as well as those who have successfully maintained a weight
loss do not eat to comfort themselves. If they do, they notice what they are doing and
immediately get back on track.
Emotional eating is a learned behavior that you can change! The more times that
you can manage emotions without eating, the more able you will be able to refrain
from overeating in the future. The key is learning to break the automatic connection
between food and your mood. It involves finding ways to deal with emotions that
don’t involve food.
The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program is excited to introduce a weight
management group specifically targeting emotional eating. In this group, participants
will learn to eat and live mindfully, to become more aware of when thoughts may
sabotage diet plans and to break links between problematic thoughts and behavior, to
tolerate negative emotions and cravings without eating, to communicate effectively
with others regarding their emotional and dietary needs, to increase self-esteem, and
to act in accordance with their health-related values.
Andrea Busby, Ph.D., Staff Psychologist
Lucy Rathier, Ph.D., Director, Behavioral Medicine Clinical Services
A newsletter from The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program
Patient Success
An noun ceme nts
Anne-Marie Verardo lost 140 lbs.
in The Miriam Hospital Weight
Management Program.
Coming in February 2015:
Program for Emotional Eaters
This is a specialized weight management
group for emotional eaters. Participants
will learn about contributors to
emotional eating and how to manage
them, and create healthy eating
schedules and patterns. The group will
be offered Wednesdays at 6:00 PM.
Watch for Dr Pera’s interview
about obesity in the US and RI,
and effective treatment options
in Rhode Island Monthly’s
Annual Guide to Health and
Wellness that accompanies the
January 2015 issue.
We’re on Twitter and Facebook!
Get specific tips on weight management
from our experts. Follow us on:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Miriamhospital
Twitter:
twitter.com/Miriamhospital
or @MiriamHospital
Pinterest:
www.pinterest.com/Miriamhospital
Amy’s Advice:
Exercise is a great way
to manage anxiety and
depression. It reduces the
levels of the body’s stress
hormones and increases
endorphins - the brain’s
feel good chemicals. So
next time you’re stressed,
hop on a bike, take a Zumba class
or simply go for a walk outside.
To learn more about The Miriam Hospital
Weight Management Program, register
for a free orientation session.
Call 401-444-4800.
However, that is not the only way that she
defines her success. She stated that from
participating in the weight management
program, “I learned that behavioral changes
are more important than the number that I
see on the scale.”
After
Anne-Marie had been an emotional eater
who went to food when she did not want
to feel a negative emotion like anxiety,
sadness, or grief. She stated that food was an
easy access method of soothing her feelings
of distress. After an episode of overeating in
an effort to manage her mood, Anne-Marie
would say to herself, “What’s the point?”
This led to a cycle of unhealthy, unplanned
eating for several months resulting in
weight gain.
Through participation in weight
management groups, Anne-Marie
Before
discovered other ways to deal with
unpleasant emotions without eating. Now when faced with a stressful
situation in which she would normally turn to food, she takes a few
minutes to do deep, diaphragmatic breathing to create calmness within
herself. In addition, she uses meditation, prayer, and exercise daily to be
proactive in managing her mood. Anne-Marie found that she often could
be sitting in front of the TV, but be distracted with worries. This would
lead to mindless eating. Now she uses
the negative emotion as a signal and
Anne-Marie discovered
finds something productive to do such
other ways to deal with
as putting together items to donate
to charity. In the group meetings,
unpleasant emotions
she learned ways to change negative
without eating.
self-statements into more helpful selfstatements. When she gets derailed
from her eating and exercise plan, she now tells herself “It was only one
day.” Then, she immediately resumes her plan. Anne-Marie stated that
using the behavioral strategies that she learned in the program also
reduced her use of medication to deal with anxiety.
Anne-Marie takes what she has learned in the weight management
groups further by making a focused effort to implement these strategies to
change her behaviors related to managing emotions and eating habits. She
states, “You need to find the program that works for you and then work it.”
The Miriam Hospital Weight Management Program
146 West River Street, Suite 11A, First Floor, Providence, RI 02904
www.miriamhospital.org/weight-management