15 Tips That Will Help You Stop Overeating

Most of us find to resist the urge to reach for a scoop of ice cream post dinner but then if we go for two scoops, then three, it’s definitely overeating. People often confuse overeating with binge disorder and use interchangeably; however, both are not the same. With the advent of food-ordering apps, there are endless food options available to us at our fingertips – from pizzas to noodles, to everything in between. You do not even have to venture out of the house to munch on a samosa, hence the chances of overeating are extremely high. Overeating may or may not have underlying medical condition, but then binge eating is considered a condition which needs addressing from a medical practitioner.

It’s a fact that it takes 20 minutes for the brain to send a proper signal to the tummy that it’s full. If you continue to eat beyond even after getting the signal, then it’s considered overeating. Also, when you overeat, the stomach expands beyond its normal size to accommodate all that extra food and it starts to push against other internal organs, it’s the point when you feel uncomfortable. It also leads to extra load on liver and other organs to process all that food. Both binge eating and overeating create calorie surplus in the body, when the calorie count in the body exceeds way higher than what you require per day, to run all bodily functions smoothly. Calorie surplus each day, leads to creation of fat deposits, which eventually leads to obesity – a major trigger for all morbid diseases like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, stroke. In this post, we have listed 15 strategies to stop overeating.

* No distractions while eating

When you eat on the couch watching your favorite series or while chatting on whatsapp with your friends, you are more likely to miss the signal from the brain that you are full and push away the plate from you. Distractions from phone, TV, and other gadgets can easily pave your way to overeat – eat your food in silence and enjoy that plateful.

* Portion Control is the Key

Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating result from a loss of portion control. It is often considered as the magic key to weight loss.

* Do not cut out entire food groups from your diet

A low-carb diet is a good option to lose weight and to keep it off rather than taking great pains to go zero carbs in an attempt to lose weight rapidly. When you deprive your body of an entire food group like “carbohydrate,” you tend to unknowingly overeat to makeup for the missing food group. Instead choose what kind of carbs you should be eating – whole grains should be a part of your daily diet and that’s why diet programs picks the right kind of carbs for the ir weight loss recipes.

* Stop going for second serving

When you sit down with a meal, make sure you are putting the fork/knife or spoon down when you are 80% full. As we have mentioned below, our brain is quite slow and 20 minutes behind schedule in sending a signal to the tummy that it’s full. It’s a zen habit that needs practice to perfect, but it’s an effective to reduce calories as well.

* Don’t feel guilty to have leftover food

Most people feel guilty about not finishing their plateful of food (rightfully they should), but practice portion control, and take just what you need. If you are worried about leftovers, don’t feel guilty because you can refrigerate them and use them as yummy “next day lunch.”

* Cut down on processed food

Highly processed food such as breakfast cereals, canned and readymade food not only supply a huge amount of calories, they also decrease the levels of appetite-suppressing hormones and increase hunger hormones. Cut down on processed food to prevent overeating. Also processed food taste yummy because of added sugar, transfat, and other taste enhancers which makes one overeat. You can easily go from a bag of potato chips to two bags because they taste just yummy!

* Detach food with comfort and emotion

Emotional eating is a situation where one eats to feel good and pleasant, to cope up with trauma, to relieve stress, rather than to satisfy hunger. The food that emotional eaters choose are usually high-fat, high sugar, calorie-rich food full of transfat and other toxic ingredients, extremely unhealthy for the human body. Detach food with comfort and you will hardly overeat.

* Eat Water-Dense Food

Water-dense food such as cucumber, watermelon, strawberries are not only low in calories, the high water content would make you full, without leading to the harmful effects of overeating. These 19 water-dense fruits can be added to your diet to begin the change.

* Drink water before and after meals

They call water as the elixir of life for nothing – it can help you lose weight, make your skin glow, and do so much more. Make it a habit to drink a glass of water before a meal and also after the meal to aid digestion.

* Eat Homecooked Meals

It’s hard to resist the temptation of eating out if you are a foodie particularly we get to try different food and most often we want to finish all the food that we have ordered, also likely ending the meal with an ice cream. Once a week of dining out is okay, but two to three regular days in a week might not be okay because you would be overeating for quite a few days in the week. Cook your own meals and see the change.

* Make it a habit to eat salad with lunch and dinner

A few slices of cucumber, tomato, some lettuce, and onion during lunch and dinner would not only help in cutting down calories, they will fill you up without taking it to the point of discomfort.

* Eat Protein-Rich Food

When you consume protein in a good amount daily, it increases the levels of the satiety hormone, helps to curb appetite, reducing the levels of hunger hormone. Consume more protein and less of carbohydrates and fats to prevent overeating. This way, you boost satiety hormones and keep the hunger hormones in check, which in turn means that you will be less likely to binge and eat calories. It is believed that what you eat is what you are. If you notice women who are in good shape, we bet they are on a healthy diet with high protein value in it.

* Eat Food Rich in Fiber

Fiber helps reduce appetite to a great extent by regulating the production of hunger hormone “ghrelin.” Fiber content also reduces one’s appetite by slowing the movement of food through the gut. Since fiber has low glycemic index, it also does not spike up insulin and thus reduces the chance of extra calories getting stored up as fat in the body.

* Never eat meals in a rush

As we have mentioned previously in the post, it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to send signal to the tummy that it should stop eating, so if you are eating in a rush, you will most likely overeat. Eat in peace and take your own time to finish the plate.

* Select Healthy Fat

Healthy fat such as almonds, nuts, ghee not only provide ample nutrition to the body, they also keep you full for longer.