Week 3: Evaluate emotional eating

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The third week of the Extreme Family Makeover had the Reneau family working hard to stay on track and learning to recognize emotional triggers for eating.

An unexpected trip to Mark's mother's house made the family get creative to meet their goals.

"All four of us thought about how we can meet the exercise goals," Mark said.

Because they didn't have the YMCA for their exercise routine, the family thought of other ways to get active.

"We did yard work for my mom," Mark said. "About four hours worth, so that was good for me and Chloe helped."

Amie took the kids to the park.

"They played, ran around and went on the slide and while they were doing that, I was walking around the parking lot so I was getting in my laps," Amie said.

The Reneaus said finding active things to do wasn't that hard, but meal times were a little more difficult.

"We didn't do the greatest at every meal, but I felt good because we pulled together and were there for each other," Mark said.

The family found that when they weren't at home in their new routines, old habits can die hard.

" After going there for years and doing the same thing, we don't realize you do the same things every time and fall into the same patterns and roles," Amie said. "[The trip] took me out of my daily routine and that made me realize why I do some stuff."

Riley was proud he resisted the temptation of old habits.

"I didn't do it this time, but we usually get a big bowl of Fritos and watch The Discovery [Channel]," he said. "Finally I told myself, 'No,' instead of, 'Oh well. What will it hurt?'"

Chloe had to resist the desserts.

"She  has a lot of sweets, but it sort of helps because I have braces," she said.

The unplanned trip proved to be a good lesson for the family.

"Life is still going to happen and we're not going to have the resources day in and day out because life happens," Mark said. "You have to be intentional about what we're doing and purposefully make healthy choices even though life happened and will continue to happen."

Behavior Coach Meeting

This week was Behavior Coach Ann Reidenbach's turn to meet with the family. She brought them the support gift of the week: gym bags, water bottles, massages for Mark and Amie and bike helmets for the whole family from Parkview Health.

The first lesson Reidenbach had for the family was recognizing the sensations of hunger and fullness.

"The whole concept of hunger/fullness gives the power and control back to the person to make the decision when to eat, when they need nourishment, and when do I stop eating," Reidenbach said.

To help them gauge if they should be eating, Reidenbach gave the family scale cards.

"It's an abstract concept, this hunger/fullness thing, so we try to give it a numerical scale," Reidenbach said.

This is the hunger/fullness scale:

10: Absolutely, positively. lie-on-the-floor stuffed
9:   So full you are starting to hurt
8:   Very full and bloated
7:   Feel food in stomach, comfortably full
6:   Feel food in stomach, not yet comfortably full
5:   No sense of food in stomach, no hunger signals
4:   First, early signals that your body needs food
3:   Stronger signals to eat
2:   Very hungry, irritable
1:   Extreme hunger, dizziness

Reidenbach said people should eat when they feel the signs described as a number three and stop eating when they reach a seven on the fullness scale.

"I think it will help me to learn if I really am hungry," Chloe said.

Listening to the body is important, Reidenbach said.

"How many of us eat when we have no signs of physical hunger. It's important to have a good idea of why you're eating," she said.

Mark also liked the idea of a scale card.

"I think it's cool to see each level. Reading over it, I could recognize at some point in my life having those feelings, so I don't think it's too far-fetched," Mark said.

In addition to evaluating feelings of hunger, Reidenbach taught the Reneaus to recognize their emotions when they want to eat. They discussed how the concept of thoughts, feelings and actions all play into one another.

"We talked about one meal where I really overate, and I felt bad afterwards. We talked about what I was feeling during that meal and it was interesting to think back on that," Mark said. "I'm hoping I think about it and become more intentional and put my feelings away. I know what's happening and hopefully I'll choose to eat healthy."

But, when reflecting on situations, Reidenbach stressed it's important to not be too critical.

"We need to be more curious about ourselves and don't beat ourselves up because we did or didn't do something with exercise or with food. Just ponder it and say, 'What was that all about' because that will help identify what contributed to this behavior," she said.

Reidenbach gave the family a daily record chart to keep track of what they eat when and what they were feeling and doing at the time.

"If you don't have awareness, you have a shoot and miss situation for a solution," Reidenbach said.

Click on the links on the side of the story to print PDFs of the hunger/fullness scale card and the emotional eating chart.