‘Overeating’ is a vague description – how much is too much? It’s easy to understand you’ve eaten too much when the portion was too big and you can hardly breathe now. But what if you had your usual dinner after a day of snacking on chips and cookies – you might not feel overloaded but still far exceed your daily calorie intake. Susan Albers, Psy.D., psychologist and author of Hanger Management defines overeating as ‘being “regretfull” — a combo of regret and full’. Sound familiar? Our tips will help you break those overeating habits!
Get rid of the food you’re obsessed with. We all have those weak points. Be it chocolate, ice cream or pasta – if it’s something you can never get enough of, it must go! It’s harder to overeat when eating things you’re not really crazy about.
And replace it with healthy snacks. Cheese sticks, hummus, baby carrots, nuts and Greek yoghurt will help to satiate hunger and prevent overeating. Love cooking? Make these cacao & apricot muesli bars.
Drink more water. This is probably the most important advice! The thing is, we often confuse hunger for thirst and eat when all we really need is a glass of water. So before indulging in muesli bars, have a drink – you might realise you don’t want any snacks after all!
Eat mindfully. We eat on the go, in front of our computers and while scrolling our Instagram feed – we do so many things while we eat when all we should be doing is eating and enjoying the flavours and textures of our meal. Take a break and just be in the moment, notice what and how much you eat, what you like and don’t like. Eat your food with no distractions and you’ll leave the table feeling more satisfied!
Eat slowly. This doesn’t only mean you should be chewing your food thoroughly to start the digestive process (we all know this rule!) but that it’s also good to slow down and even take a short pause after you’ve eaten half your portion. Give your food time to digest and your brain time to analyse how much you’ve already eaten. Talk to a friend or just take a few deep breaths if you’re lunching alone. You might realise you don’t actually want to finish the rest!
Sleep more. Studies show that when we don’t sleep enough, we tend to crave carbohydrate-rich foods and overall eat more than we normally do. The recommended 8 hours per night can fix a lot of things, so download these great apps to help you sleep well and enjoy your healthier lifestyle!
Images: pressfoto / Freepik, Freepik
