Self-control is a struggle for many people, and when it come to food most people tend to overeat. If you’ve ever reached for another slice of pizza even though you feel full, then you’re in the overeaters camp.
Sometimes, we are fully aware that we’re overeating, but other times we don’t even realise, until we look down from the television and see an empty bag of “family-size” tortilla chips or an empty pack of biscuits. Since when did family-size become “all-for-me size”?
So why are we overeating? Interestingly, it’s a primal behaviour from when food was scarce and we needed to eat all the food we could when we found it. Chowing down as many calories we could – while not knowing when the next meal would be. Your brain has not evolved since those days, so when we see food, it’s goes against our nature to stop eating and leave food on the table. Trouble is that we have food readily available, so calorie intake is always abundant.
Over time, eating too much food leads to weight gain and increases the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Being more aware of our natural inclination and using the following strategies can break the cycle of overeating and start to instil some good eating habits.
1. Be Clear About Your Goals
Setting short- and long-term goals for your health and reasons why you need to stop overeating often helps to reduce your food urges.
Include some inspirational quotes or photos of your role models below your goals to provide extra motivation. Refer to your goals often by placing them on your fridge to help you stick to your plan.
2. Reduce Stress
Chronic stress can elevate levels of cortisol, the fight or flight hormone, which increases appetite and risk of overeating. Studies have shown stress can lead to increased hunger, binge eating and weight gain (1)
3. Avoid Distractions
Whether it’s grabbing a bagel on your morning commute, having a working lunch at your desk or inhaling popcorn while watching your favourite boxset, eating while distracted is a major cause of overeating.
Multiple studies have found that people who put away potential distractions like phones, computers and magazines so they can concentrate their meal, we’re less likely to over consume calories at that meal and throughout the rest of the day (2).
4. Practice Mindful Eating
The practice of mindful eating is one of the best ways to prevent overeating.
Mindful eating requires you to focus on the present moment and become aware of your senses, thoughts and emotions while consuming food.
Techniques such as eating more slowly, taking small bites, chewing thoroughly and appreciating your food have been shown to effectively reduce overeating, binge eating and emotional eating (3)
5. Think and Ask
Do you find yourself standing with the fridge door open, gazing into the fridge and not really knowing what you are doing there?
It’s often the case that you’re not even hungry, but a common issue of turning to overeating during times of depression or boredom (5, 6).
Consider replacing food, with a new activity you enjoy, to distract you from the urge to binge. If you feel you’re overeating is linked to depression, seek the help of your doctor or a mental health professional who will be able to provide support.
6. Keep a Food Diary
Studies have demonstrated that using self-monitoring techniques like tracking what you eat in a food diary may help reduce overeating (4).
Using a food diary can also make you more aware of situations where you are most likely to overeat, what your triggers are, your emotional state and the foods you tend to reach for (be honest!). Also jot down how you’re feeling before and after eating that meal. Are you stressed prior? Do you feel tired or more energised after that meal?
There are many mobile apps which allow you to log your food intake and other information including water intake and exercise activity.
7. Know Your Weaknesses
Identifying which foods you have a particularly hard time resisting can help limit your risk of overeating.
For example, if you have a habit of eating chocolate after your dinner, keep chocolate out of sight or not in your home at all so that you aren’t tempted.
Prepare alternative healthy options such as sliced apples with peanut butter, mixed nuts or frozen yoghurt.
8. Don’t Banish All Your Favourite Foods
Swearing that you will never have another chocolate bar, slice of pizza or scoop of ice cream again is not realistic for most people. Restrictive eating plans which cut out all your favourite foods can cause you to feel deprived and lead to self sabotage by binging on forbidden treats.
A better option is to concentrate on eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods the majority of the time, while still making room for the occasional treat to give you the freedom to maintainable lifestyle. However, this does require self ownership and honesty to yourself and is not a free pass to binging.
9. Avoid Eating From The Packet
Let’s assume by this point you’ve swapped out your pantry for some healthier options. You could still be overeating if you’re eating low-fat ice cream from the tub, baked crisps out of the bag or takeaway from the carton.
Try portioning out a single serving size into a bowl to help train your eye in measuring our serving sizes. This will help you control the number of calories you consume, as you’ll consciously be aware of the serving size and the number of times you go for an extra portion (hopefully none!)
10. Break Old Routines
Many people have bad habits, especially when it involves food. For example, eating dinner in front of the TV, always having to have biscuits with tea or having sugar on their cornflakes.
Pinpoint then unhealthy behaviours, that cause you to overeat and replace then with new healthier alternatives which, over time, will become positive behaviours.
11. Slow Down
Eating too quickly may cause you to overeat as you don’t give them stomach a chance to digest food and signal the brain when you are full.
Focusing on eating more slowly and taking the time to chew your food thoroughly is associated with reduced overall calorie intake and increases feeling of fullness (7, 8)
12. Be Prepared
It’s understandable not to feel like cooking after getting home from work, but you’re more likely to make poor food choices that can lead to overeating.
Likewise if you’ve not prepared what you are going to have for lunch in advance, you’re likely to be forced to purchase meals from restaurants or delis, which could be unhealthy for your diet and wallet.
Plan ahead for when hunger strikes by keeping healthy snacks on hand, take home-prepared lunches and stock your fridge with healthy dinner options ready to heat when you get home.
13. Don’t Skip Meals
Some people skip meals in order to lose weight in a hope that it will decrease the number of calories they consume. However, restricting meals may cause you to eat more later in the day as you don’t have a sustained release of energy from food.
Studies have shown that eating meals frequently throughout the day may decrease hunger and reduce the chances of overeating (9).
14. Eat Fibre-Rich Foods
Fibre has numerous benefits from supporting our gut, lowering blood sugar levels and promoting weight loss. It also keeps you feeling satisfied longer and reduces the urge to overeat.
The recommended daily intake of fibre is 25 grams for women, and 38 grams for men (10). However, most people are only eating around half of that, or 15-17 grams of fibre per day (11), which could account for people eating more.
Increasing fibre is relatively simple, by starting your day with oats, snacking on nuts, adding beans to your salad and incorporating vegetables with all your meals.
15. Eat Protein-Rich Foods
Protein also helps keep you fuller throughout the day and reduces the urge to overeat.
Starting the day with a high-protein breakfast like eggs and adding protein-rich snacks like Greek yoghurt throughout the day, are proven to lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger (12, 13, 14).
16. Eat Healthy Fats
You may think that in order to lose weight, you need to banish fats from your diet. However, you actually need healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut and olive oil to provide many health benefits which promote better body composition and help you feel more satisfied after a meal.
Several studies have shown that low-fat diets aren’t that effective or even that healthy. In fact, adults who consume high-fat, low-carb diets are less hungry three to four hours after a meal and lose more weight over time than people who consume high in carbs and low in fat diets (15, 16).
17. Keep Blood Sugar Levels Constant
Eating foods with a high glycemic index such as white bread, chocolates, refined and processed carbs will likely cause your blood sugar levels to spike, then fall quickly.
Rapid blood sugar fluctuation is known to promote hunger and your body may crave sugary foods to get blood sugar level top that spike again (17).
Choose options like brown rice, oats and beans which have a lower glycemic index and will help control your blood sugar level. The added bonus is these food are also high in fibre which also promotes fullness.
18. Eat With Like-Minded Friends
The people you choose to dine with can heavily impact the amount of calories you consume.
Studies concluded that if your dining companions tend to overeat or order unhealthy options then you are more likely to make similar choices too (18, 19).
Choosing to dine with friends and family who have similar goals and want to eat healthy meals in moderate portions can help reduce overeating.
19. Add Natural Appetite Suppressants
We are not advocating diet pills or potions here. Instead, real foods that naturally suppress appetite including high-fibre foods like beans and veggies or spices like cayenne, turmeric and black pepper.
These foods are easy to incorporate to your diet and promote additional benefits to health.
20. Acknowledge and Get Help
Many of us have had times when we might eat more than we’d like, during times an emotional period like a breakup. However, it’s important to recognise if you have symptoms of a binge eating disorder (BED), a serious disorder which affects millions of people worldwide.
BED has many symptoms which can include repeatedly binging on large quantities of food, experiencing a loss of control, shame, guilt and anger at yourself, followed by food deprivation and then repeating binging.
If you feel you might have BED, it is important to reach out for help. Additionally, if you find that your overeating is triggered by emotional issues or addictive behaviours, it’s important to work through these underlying issues. In all cases you may find it helpful to speak with your doctor or a mental health professional.
References
1 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026680/
2 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607652/
3 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4046117/
4 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3268700/
5 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4381486/
6 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150387/
7 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4212566/
8 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21775556/
9 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3070624/
10 – http://www.nap.edu/read/10490/chapter/9
11 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24135514
12 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23446906
13 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28146063
14 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4190484/
15 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25527677
16 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4204795/
17 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257742/
