Tips to Control Overeating

We have all done it at one time or another, and it happens for a range of different reasons: Boredom, too much good food, inability to clearly define and identify hunger, or just because the food was there.

Some do it occasionally, it's not such an issue. But for those of us who overeat regularly, and gain weight as a result, it may be time to take a closer look at why we're doing it.

Eating too much is easy because the body lets it happen. Hunger is a strong sensation. If fullness was anywhere near as strong perhaps fewer of us would have issues about regulating the volume of food that we eat. If it's been some time since you managed to stop eating at the right time, it may be time to get back in touch with your body's natural signals. Try serving yourself much smaller portions, even half of your regular meal if you have to, and eat as slowly as possible. Try ending the meal a mouthful or two before you usually would, to remind yourself what "comfortably full" feels like. This will take time (weeks, even months), but is an important process to work through to remind yourself of the body's natural hunger and satiety (fullness) signals.

 

Here are various methods to eat little.

1. First and foremost ‘Never skip meals’. If you go hungry for more than four hours, you leave a long gap which will in turn make any trick fail; so for all my patients out there who wish to control their appetite, my first and foremost advice is ‘never skip food’ especially ‘breakfast’.
2. Drink a glass of water. Water is the best thing you can use to fill yourself. It has an important quality of flushing out toxins. Try gulping a glass of water the next time you are hungry. You can add a slice of lemon or a sprig of fresh mint if you don’t like plain water.
3. Try a bowl of soup. Broth or vegetable soup will cool off your appetite. If you are not able to find ingredients to prepare soup, I suggest eating fresh vegetable or fruit salad and a little ice cream. A salad made up of lettuce, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, carrots, oranges, grapefruit and apples is claimed to suppress one’s appetite.
4. Snack up with low fat and protein foods. Snacking is useful, provided you find the right choice.  Nuts are my favorite. They are rich in protein and fats which should be sufficient to quench one’s appetite. Quarter cup of almonds or half a cup of ground nuts is sufficient to accommodate this requirement.
5. Include lots of fibre in the main course. Make sure you have lots of vegetables and greens as a part of your meal.
6. Eat slowly. Chemicals and hormones that lead to appetite suppression build slowly, as you eat. Eating quickly will lead to overeating before those hormones can suppress your appetite. Therefore, make sure you eat very slowly and gradually.
7. Divert your attention. Sometimes, eating happens out of boredom, when we're not in physiological need of food. Sleeping, exercise and sports are some activities that will divert your attention away from food.

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