Why Do We Gain Weight?

Why Do We Gain Weight?

It's not difficult!

This approach to looking after our bodies is starting to gain more limelight. Books like 'Why French Women Don't Get Fat' and more recently, 'The Japan Diet: Why Japanese Women don't get Fat,' are sending out the message that managing your weight (and your health) is not only something we should do all the time, but something that is easy to do all the time.

The difference between these approaches and the traditional 'crash diets' is that they focus on healthy eating as a lifestyle and not as a temporary change. They recognise that being able to enjoy your food is just as important as what you eat - hence so-called 'bad' foods are not banned. It is a more moderate approach and one that has been well tested in other countries! While it is naive to think that there are no overweight French or Japanese women (obesity is a growing problem everywhere), there is still plenty we can learn from alternative approaches to eating.

How much food?

One of the key differences between the Irish approach to food and the French or Japanese approach is portion sizes. In Ireland we like big portions - and we are so used to them that we don't think they are big. In France and Japan, food is generally served in much smaller amounts. Plates are not filled to capacity and serving dishes are used to allow people to select a little of each dish. Irish people like big plates, piled high, and we are often less concerned about what the food tastes like than we are about the amount. Especially when we eat out - we expect to get 'value for money' and for Irish people this means getting huge portions. Get into the habit of using a smaller plate. Go for a salad or breakfast plate instead of a dinner plate. Unless you are exercising for more than four hours a day, a salad plate really will be enough food. It's a simple, permanent change that will make a long-term difference to your weight.

When to stop eating

Another reason we are prone to gaining weight is that we are brought up to clear our plates. It is considered rude to leave food behind on a plate, especially if you are eating in someone else's house. 'You're not getting up from that table until that plate is cleared' is one saying that every Irish child has heard at some point when growing up. 'It's a mortal sin to waste food' is another popular one. Unfortunately if you dish up big portions and then force yourself to eat the whole lot, you are going to end up with bulges where you don't want them.

Not all countries follow this path. Many children are educated to eat until they are 80% full - always leaving some room. Next time you sit down to a meal, stop half-way through and check if you actually feel hungry. Remember: there is a big difference between the point where you stop feeling hungry and the point where you start to feel full. It helps if you realise that by the time you are full you have actually eaten twice the amount of food you need (this is really true). And this happens even if it is a healthy meal.

Snacking

Irish people never miss an opportunity to eat. We love nothing better than an excuse to put the kettle on and any reason will do. We eat because we're happy, we eat because we're sad, we eat for comfort, when someone calls to the house, when we watch TV, when we go to the cinema or simply because we can't think of anything else to do at that moment. How often are you actually hungry when you snack? French people never snack in between meals. Never. It is one of the biggest differences in habit between Irish people and French. Most Irish people eat reasonably good meals but we snack on a huge amount of high-fat and high-sugar foods in between. While some of us go for fruit in between meals, many go for bars of chocolate, packets of crisps or the old favourite: biscuits. Simply cutting out snacking, unless we are genuinely hungry, means that we automatically eat less and we will feel properly hungry for and enjoy our meals.