There is no real secret to losing weight despite the complex diets that are thrust upon us by the media and the weight loss industry. Moderate your eating and exercise more – that’s it, simplicity is key! With this in mind here are some top tips to stop overeating.
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How to Stop Overeating
Overeating is a problem many people share. The inability to stop putting food into their mouths is one of the main reasons such a lot of people are overweight or obese.
Although many people who are overweight have nobody to blame but themselves, there can be other contributory factors as well and some of them can come from outside.”
Whether you have noticed it or not there can often be a lot of social pressure to eat more. How many times have you heard people saying, “Go on! Have another piece, you’ll soon burn it off.”
It’s not just friends and family that apply this type of pressure though. Fast food establishments can be equally bad.
Have you ever placed an order at McDonald’s and then been asked if you “want to go large”?
The problem with overeating is, it can quickly become a habit.
Those large portions and second helping can very easily become the norm and, once you become accustomed to eating more, it becomes very hard to stick to a diet that involves eating less.
Overeating doesn’t just make us “fat”, it can present a multitude of health issues as well. Joint pain, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, snoring… the list goes on and on. The problem with overeating is, it can quickly become a habit.
So, how do you stop overeating? Is there anything you can do? Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take. However, don’t try fooling yourself that there are any easy routes to take.
Many roads lead to Babylon but all of them involve varying levels of sacrifice and hard work.
Ready to make a change for the better? This article provides some of the best strategies you can use to get your overeating “habit” under control.
Top Tips to Prevent Overeating
Although overeating involves putting too much food in your mouth, many things can cause you to do it.
When you don’t pay attention to the quantity of food you put into our mouth, it’s very easy to go over the top.
Some people begin “comfort eating” as a coping mechanism for stress, others overeat because of a busy lifestyle or a failure to devote sufficient quality time for their meals.
When people are so busy they get into the habit of eating on the go or multitasking during meals, they can become so distracted they fail to notice how much they eat.
When you don’t pay attention to the quantity of food you put into our mouth, it’s very easy to go over the top.
Try to eat foods that actually help to suppress your appetite and curb the feelings of hunger.
This observation brings us neatly to the first step you can take to try and get your (over) eating habits under control.
1. Schedule Three Regular Meals Per Day
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That’s all you need. Sure, you could throw in a few snacks as well but, if you are trying to lose weight, it may be counterproductive.
Of course, you will need to choose healthy food options that are low in sugar and fat – and low in calories. Any weight-loss coach or nutritionist will tell you that.
You will also need to avoid the temptation to cram too much food on your plate. Portion control is the name of the game. You need to maintain focus if your playing to win.
However, if you fail to allow yourself the luxury of a set mealtimes and keep them distraction-free, it will make it easier to overeat.
When you are watching TV, doing paperwork, talking on the phone, or do other tasks, it’s easy to become so distracted you barely notice the food going into your mouth. You might hardly be aware of the taste and may not enjoy it all.
Allowing yourself to become distracted may also make you feel you have not eaten at all. This can cause you to want to have second helpings or reach for a snack.
2. Take Your Time — It’s a Meal, Not a Race
Rapid eating is also something that can lead to overeating. There’s a lot to be said for taking your time and savoring your food.
When you eat too fast, the stomach does not have sufficient time to signal the brain to say it is full. So, another good way to stop overeating is to eat slowly and make the most of your meals.
If this sounds like nonsense, you may be interested to hear the results of an eating study published in Physiology & Behavior in December 2015. It was conducted on adults eating 400 ml portions of tomato soup.
The adults who ate their soup slowly felt fuller after the meal than the ones who ate their soup fast.
3. Use a Smaller Plate
The size of your plate can have a psychological impact on your hunger. If you normally eat from a large plate and then reduce your portion size, the extra space on the plate only affirms the fact you are eating less.
If you eat your smaller portion from a smaller plate, the plate will still look full. On a subliminal level, this may help you feel you have eaten more than you actually have.
4. Make Fiber Your Friend
High-fiber foods increase satiety. To put it another way, they have a good stomach-filling effect.
Due to the fact they take longer to digest, high-fiber foods can also keep your stomach feeling full for longer. This will make it easier to avoid the temptation to snack between meals.
A few good sources of fiber include:
- Whole grains
- Oats
- Apples
- Broccoli
- Leafy green vegetables
- Lentils, beans, and peas
- Nuts and seeds
High-fiber foods also promote good intestinal health and certain types of fiber offer additional benefits by feeding the probiotic bacteria that lives in the gut.
There are many reasons to eat more fiber. Avoiding the desire to overeat is only one of them so take action. Do it today.
5. Pump Up On Protein
Most people are aware protein is the nutrient that builds muscle. However, it’s not just good for pumping up your pecs and biceps. Protein can pump up your satiety levels as well.
Like fiber, protein takes some time to digest; so be a fickle food-lover and enjoy a lasting friendship with fiber while making protein your pal.
Foods that are rich in protein can keep your stomach feeling full better than any other type of food.
Eating plenty of protein at breakfast can be particularly good because doing so appears to lower ghrelin (hunger hormone).
If you are trying to lose weight foods that are high protein and low carb are best to target.
6. Don’t Skip Meals – How to Stop Overeating
Some people skip meals because they believe it will help them to lose weight. Don’t fall into that trap. People who skip meals often compensate by overeating during their other meals of the day.
7. Avoid Stressful People and Situations
Yep! It’s easier said than done but there’s a lot to be said for avoiding stress if you can.
Apart from doing a lot of other bad things to the body, which we don’t need to go into here, stress can cause you to overeat.
Furthermore, the results of a clinical review of several studies evaluating the relationship between stress and obesity confirm this is true.
If you can’t avoid stress try to control it. Don’t let it control you.
Things that may help include:
- Meditation
- Yoga, Tai Chi, and similar pursuits
- Getting regular exercise
- Listening to relaxing music
- Keeping a gratitude journal to help you focus on all the good points of your day
8. Keeping a Food Journal – How to Stop Overeating
Food journals are a simple tool anyone can use to try and keep their eating habits under control.
A good food journal allows you to keep track of what you eat and when you eat.
Many allow you to log other factors as well, such as who you were with when you ate and your state of mind.
You need to log things honestly, but a food journal is a good way to reveal the things you are getting right in our diet. And, of course, the things you are getting wrong.
9. Clean Out Your Cupboards
There’s a lot to be said for making a fresh start. If your refrigerator and cupboards still contain unhealthy items such as potato chips and ice cream, it’s not going to help you to “be good.”
When you know such items are still in your home, it’s only going to encourage you to snack. Especially at times when you are feeling down or your hunger level is a little higher than normal.
How to Stop Overeating – The Bottom Line
There are lots of things you can do to stop overeating. This article provides a few ideas you can try. However, when you are trying to eat less and lose weight, determination and focus will be your two greatest assets, with honesty following close behind.
Giving in to temptation is very easy. Making excuses for yourself and finding ways to justify your overeating are easy as well but the only person you will be cheating is yourself.
Dieting always involves a certain amount of hunger. If the situation becomes unbearable, instead of giving in, try a different tactic or a change or perspective. There are also many good appetite suppressing supplements that can help.
Never give up hope. If you want to stop overeating, you can and, as your body adjusts to less food, the temptation to overeat will gradually disappear.
