Just a few weeks ago, I was having breakfast with my family. It was a rare opportunity to be together with both of my siblings, their spouses, and my parents – all of whom live out of state.
As we got to talking, it turned out that both my sister Priscilla and my sister-in-law Susan had been among our Power of Three participants this past August.
You might recall our Power of Three program, over 3,800 practitioners signed up because:
- three small changes can make a big overall difference in our health at the end of a month – and especially a year.
- you can choose which three changes you want to make
- try it for 10 days
This gives us a chance to “practice what we practice with our patients.” Our thought was that if practitioners tried making some positive changes in their eating habits themselves, they might find a tool they could share with their patients.
So you might understand my surprise at hearing that my family members had joined in the challenge – neither one of them is a practitioner or even in the medical field – and I didn’t think they were paying much attention to our programs.
But both Priscilla and Susan talked about needing a little refresher, especially with the holidays coming. Neither of them could quite remember all 3 of the changes they had made for the challenge.
So I got to thinking, some ideas are definitely worth a second helping!
We invite you to try it this November for 10 days.
With the holidays just around the corner, the opportunities for celebrations, gatherings and gifting are plentiful.
But many patients tell us how vulnerable they feel around this season: family stress, financial stress, and the sheer magnitude of exposure to food and social events involving food really can be challenging for people in these normally joyful holiday months.
Whether or not you took on the challenge, revisiting it or starting it for the first time could give you fresh perspective to help your patients… and yourself!
I invite you to check out this three minute video we made on the Power of 3 below.
So join us this holiday season by giving the Power of 3 a try for 10 days in November – again, or for the first time.
Choose your options from the list below, and let us know on the comment board which 3 you’ll be using for the challenge.
Please help us spread the word by asking your friends, your coworkers or your family to take the Power of 3 challenge with you.
Pick 3 to take the Challenge
- Instead of snacking on chips from the bag, divide foods into smaller individual servings. You won’t be so tempted to overindulge by eating the whole bag accidentally.
- Eat in a well-lit room. You eat less when you can see what you’re eating.
- Keep the bones. We have a better sense of how much we’ve eaten when we can see the evidence. This could mean keeping empty beer bottles lined up on the table or hot wing bones on a side plate.
- Use the 1/2 rule. Aim for 1/2 as much protein and carbohydrates while doubling your servings of vegetables and fruit.
- Fill your plate, but keep it small. When you use a smaller plate or bowl, this will naturally reduce portion size.
- Come up for air. Try and slow down your pace at the table so you can rely on your body’s internal cues. Then follow them – stop eating when you start to feel full rather than when your plate is clean or when you’re over-stuffed.
- Downsize rather than Supersize. Try ordering a size down from what you would normally order.
- Pre-plate your food instead of serving it family style. It’s easier to make more healthful serving choices when you make decisions before you start.
- Pass on second helpings.
- Use taller, narrower glasses rather than shorter, wider ones. You’ll end up pouring less, but you probably won’t notice the difference.
- Prepare healthy snacks for when you’re on-the-go (try carrying along an apple or a small bag of carrots).
- Minimize variety in your snacks. You’ll be surprised to find yourself getting bored with the same old cheese curls, and you’ll end up eating less.
- Put your apples on display. Show-off healthy foods in a prominent, well-lit area of your eating space, and banish unhealthy foods to the back corner of your cabinets.
- Keep the chips out of reach. When you have to consciously seek out junk food, it gives you a chance to think twice before indulging.
- Turn off the TV. When distracted, we tend to consume more calories inadvertently.
- Eat meals with people who eat more healthfully than you do. Studies have shown that we’re influenced by the food choices the people around us are making.
- If you eat out a lot, embrace Wansink’s “Restaurant Rule of 2” – enjoy a salad and a glass of wine with your entree, or a piece of bread and an appetizer – but stick to only 2 extras.
- Keep unhealthy but tempting food in aluminum foil or opaque containers – out of sight really is out of mind.
- Use smaller eating utensils and serving spoons. It’s an easy way to slow down how fast we eat and get back in-synch with internal cues.
- Here’s one for the whole family: rename healthy foods to make them sound more appealing. You might turn down a carrot-beet smoothie, but would you refuse a rainforest cocktail?
Here are some favorite healthy eating ideas from our staff:
- Drink a tall glass of water before you eat – it’s easy to mistake thirst for hunger.
- Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
- Try Michelle May’s “speed bump” plan. Divide your food in half before beginning a meal. Then pause for a minute between halves to assess your hunger.
Want more great ideas for easy, healthy changes? Check out Brian Wansink’s book: Mindless Eating.
Thank you for the useful suggestions.
1. I will fill my plate but use a smaller one.
2. I will pass one 2nd servings
3. I will drink a glass of water before eating
I’m going to Mexico in 25 days and losing even a few pounds
of the 20 I need to lose would be great
Starting tomorrow for 10 days
I will eat dinner from a luncheon size plate – smaller portions
I will put tempting snack foods out of reach and out of sight
I will not prepare any baked goods or purchase any baked products
1. Water
2. Rainforest cocktail in a fancy margarita glass
3. Create awareness of food consumed and what it provides for my body
My plans:
Pass on second helpings.
Divide foods into individual servings.
Finish chewing each bite.
My selections:
9. Pass on second helpings
1. Divide foods into smaller individual servings
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
I lost 10 lbs about a year and a half ago. I’ve gained at last 2/3 of this back. I’d like to get back on track.
My 3 choices are:
1. Drink a tall glass of water before I eat.
2. Divide foods into smaller individula portions.
3. Finish chewing each bite.
My selections:
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
1. Divide foods into smaller individual servings
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
Thanks so much for continuing to bring us high production value messages! And Kudos to John Stockton for adding more mindful suggestions, like get moving and get outdoors.
My selections:
4. Use the 1/2 rule
9. Pass on second helpings
Build a pause into your meal by dividing your food in half before you begin.
The hardest one is turning off the TV, and if it is off then I will be moving.
My selections:
15. Turn off the TV
5. Fill your plate, but keep it small
9. Pass on second helpings
I like the three ideas from the staff and will try them for 10 days.
1. Drink a glass of water before eating.
2. Finish chewing one bite before reloading the fork.
3. Pause halfway through the meal.
I always prepare a container of raw veggies and fruits to take with me to work: carrot sticks, cucumber slices, cauliflower, fennel, red or yellow pepper chunks, snow peas, sliced apple, persimmons, orange segments ie, anything I have available goes! This gives lots of fiber and abundant energy and prevents me from impulse eating at the coffee shop in my office building.
My selections:
9. Pass on second helpings
11. Prepare healthy snacks
6. Come up for air
My selections:
9. Pass on second helpings
14. Keep the chips out of reach
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
My selections:
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
Build a pause into your meal by dividing your food in half before you begin.
5. Fill your plate, but keep it small
Thanks for this. I guess I missed it before. Will try this. We write books on Fitness (Seven Biblical Principles of Fitness and my husband is writing A Hundred Pounds Ago.
Anything that a person will DO is helpful. The simpler, the better, as (Iknow I am) you are more likely to DO IT!
I am interested in getting together with another Life Coach to go to schools or the Hospitals to conduct “Tapping Sessions” or the “Healing Codes” with disabled/ill children. Do you know of anyone else who might enjoy doing this work for no fee?
Love & Blessings
Charline Sprouse PhD
My selections:
5. Fill your plate, but keep it small
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
4. Use the 1/2 rule
MY choices are:
1. drink raw milk (including kefir and yogourt)
2. eat grass fed beef, free range chicken, and lots of sea food (salmon, mackeral, oysters, etc.)
3. get outside everyday, to the ocean and/or the forest!
My selections:
Select Your Choice
Select Your Choice
Select Your Choice
My selections:
6. Come up for air
9. Pass on second helpings
11. Prepare healthy snacks
I don’t need to lose weight, but would like to eat less sugar/refined carbs, and more vegetables and fruits.
My selections:
6. Come up for air
11. Prepare healthy snacks
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
I did sign up for the glass of water, the slowing down and smaller plates/utensils, but an attitude of abundance and self-care is my golden rule.
During my 30s and 40s, I carried extra pounds, but for the past 20 years (just turned 60) have maintained an ideal weight with surprising ease. My secret is that I am kind to my body. I eat plenty of good food. (No pop. No chips. A minimum of refined flour and sugar and empty-calorie processed foods.) I also exercise (and sweat — 45 minutes 3 times a week) which is a generous gift of time to myself, an essential mental health enhancer.
My body is astonishingly satisfied with fresh greens and vegetables, lots of healthy fats and lean protein (nuts, oils, dairy, non-CAFO/feedlot meats) and whole grains. I don’t skip meals and snack when I’m hungry, trying always to listen to what my appetite calls for (intuitive eating).
I have a sister who lost about 50 lbs with Atkins. Watching her, I learned ways to replace carbs with roasted or stir-fried vegetables, entree salads, plus snacking on cheeses and nuts. As a result, white pasta and white rice, white bread, cakes and cookies just don’t interest me much. Having said that, I do still enjoy dessert with every meal — a chunk of dark chocolate, fresh or cooked fruit with non-rBGH whipped cream, custards and bars made with nuts, coconut, rolled oats, brown rice, farm eggs, pumpkin, squash, apples, honey, spices, etc. – satisfying treats with real nutritional content.
Not operating out of a mindset of deprivation is key for me. And the exercise metabolizes the good food, so it’s available to my body, at the same time it lifts my outlook. I feel so lucky NOT to have to fight with my body (it always wins). And lucky that my two daughters, who are around 30 and have stressful and demanding lifestyles, have developed similar eating and exercise attitudes that work for them.
By trading poor foods for better foods, adding exercise, we really can eat well (maybe even MORE), and enjoy a healthier body and mind.
My selections:
Select Your Choice
Select Your Choice
Select Your Choice
Just in time for the holidays………..I need to loose weight, this will be helpful.
My selections:
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
5. Fill your plate, but keep it small
9. Pass on second helpings
When I realize that it is an act of self-compassion to be mindful and to prioritize what I eat – it helps me to make that time to prepare healthy snacks and meals, to cut out the carbs, to exercise and to be mindful of what I am eating.
My selections:
11. Prepare healthy snacks
15. Turn off the TV
2. Eat in a well-lit room
My selections:
8. Pre-plate your food
13. Put your apples on display
18. Keep tempting food out of sight
My selections:
7. Downsize rather than Supersize
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
Last night I came home after a long day and a late Anger Management class. I was tired; but not REAL hungry. My son had ordered pizza and wings for his dinner and told me the leftovers were waiting for me in front of the TV. I knew better and my rational self screamed at me to avoid. It lost! I find this to be an issue for me. Coming home and doing tired/stressed eating. Even if I have eaten dinner before evening work, I will still come home and eat. I am reading Steven Wansink’s book and have found it helpful. The power of 3 exercise has helped in many ways. I could use some ideas for this particualar pattern of tired/stressed eating!
My selections:
7. Downsize rather than Supersize
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
6. Come up for air
It’s all about attention. I’ve taken a mindfulness eating course and read a lot of Geneen Roth’s books. But if you don’t plan your foods, and are distracted (non-mindful eating) when you eat, guess what –you’ll eat more and not check in to see if you are actually still hungry. It is challenging to talk and eat mindfully at the same time. It’s challenging to eat mindfully!:) Paying attention is the key.
My selections:
5. Fill your plate, but keep it small
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
Build a pause into your meal by dividing your food in half before you begin.
With the bases loaded you struck us out with that anserw!
I don’t need to lose weight and yet I do want to be more present with my meals. Slowing down to enjoy the experience the way the French do:-)
My selections:
5. Fill your plate, but keep it small
11. Prepare healthy snacks
Build a pause into your meal by dividing your food in half before you begin.
I will choose:
no seconds
smaller plates/bowls
keeping junk food out of the house
My selections:
Select Your Choice
Select Your Choice
Select Your Choice
Sounds practical & fun….i’m off to buy a lovely fruit bowl for the table.
My selections:
13. Put your apples on display
6. Come up for air
11. Prepare healthy snacks
We can all do “anything” for 10 days!
My selections:
18. Keep tempting food out of sight
8. Pre-plate your food
2. Eat in a well-lit room
I will give it a try. I too need to loose 10 lbs.
My selections:
9. Pass on second helpings
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
Finish chewing each bite before reloading your fork.
Wonderful ideas… for me and my family is just a matter of when to start 🙂
My selections:
15. Turn off the TV
1. Divide foods into smaller individual servings
20. Rename healthy foods
Am excited to try this! Need to lose about 10 lbs
My selections:
Drink a tall glass of water before you eat.
4. Use the 1/2 rule
20. Rename healthy foods