How to Stop Overeating: A Guide to Healthy Eating

Overeating is something that we're all guilty of at one point or another but it can be dangerous as it can lead to weight gain, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and a whole range of other health problems. Read on to learn how you can stop overeating, and how water rich, low fat foods can help you to lose weight.

What is Overeating?

Overeating is the act of eating more than is necessary or desired. Stress, depression, peer pressure, and boredom often cause binge eaters to overeat. In addition to turning to the wrong food for comfort, their unhealthy eating habits lead to weight gain. Here are some of the symptoms of binge eating:

• Snacking on junk food that leads to extra calories
• Eating too quickly
• Skipping breakfast
• Eating on the go
• Clothes that used to fit are now too tight

People who skip breakfast tend not to eat for most of the day, which causes their bodies to take what it needs from wherever they can find it, including vital organs, muscles and bones — this causes deficiency in essential nutrients and eventually leads to fatigue.

The Dangers of Overeating

Overeating is a leading cause of obesity in about 67% of Australians. It causes your body to store fat around vital organs, which increases your body weight and puts your health at risk. The major detriments of overeating include: 

• People who overeat are more likely to get heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and even cancer
• Being overweight causes feelings of shame about one's physical appearance, which may lead to the development of mental health conditions like depression or anxiety
• The lack of control over one's appetite may lead to a sedentary lifestyle as one's level of mobility may be restricted
• Chronic diseases resulting from overeating reduce the quality of life if not the life expectancy of sufferers

Benefits of Reducing Your Food Intake

Improving your relationship with food will put less strain on your body. By reducing your daily calories, you will lose weight and appear slimmer, which is great for people with low self-esteem because they are able to live without the fear of being judged. As well as improving your physical health, you keep mental disorders at bay. Consuming healthy meals that provide essential nutrients also leads to the following benefits:

• You'll feel happier and more confident about yourself because you're consuming less sugars and fats which causes depression, anxiety and mood swings
• You can help friends and loved ones with health concerns as a result of eating too much
• You can live longer because you aren't at risk for developing serious diseases such as diabetes and some cancers
• It will help you fall asleep faster and sleep better, reducing the risk of stress and mental health problems
• You will have more energy to do the things you love

How to Stop Overeating

As babies, we instinctively know how much food to eat and when to stop eating. It is only as we grow older and are exposed to different food patterns, such as fad diets, advertising and so forth, that we forget how to balance the amount of food we eat and start to learn the habits of overeating. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to unlearn these habits.

• Eat slowly – it takes 12 minutes or more for food satisfaction signals to reach the brain of a person with healthy weight levels. In an obese person, it may take upwards of 20 minutes. Eating slowly allows the signals more time to reach the brain and stops you from overeating.
• Practise mindful eating – make eating an experience, don't do it while you're otherwise occupied. If you are distracted or rushed, food does not register well in your brain.
• Savour the first bites – the first bites of your food are the best as your taste buds are at their most sensitive. By taking the time to really enjoy the start of your meal, you are likely to take more notice of when you are feeling full.
• Choose satisfying foods – avoid foods that give you a lot of calories for very little volume such as chocolate, chips, and other junk foods. Meals that are high in fibre, water, or protein will satisfy your stomach without overloading you with calories.
• Look at appearances – take small portions at each meal so you don't get too full. A smaller plate and a well-presented meal increases your awareness of food and helps you stop eating when you reach a comfortable level of fullness. The brain looks at the plate and decides if the amount of food is adequate. It takes time but the smaller the plate, the smaller the portion of food you will eat.
• Decrease stress – stress is notorious for causing overeating as when you are stressed, you eat to stop yourself from feeling bad. One of the best ways to stop yourself from eating when you are feeling stressed is to take a short 10-minute walk instead. The walk will help your body produce endorphins, its feel-good chemical.
• Be careful when socialising – at restaurants or when eating with friends, you may be apt to eat more. This is because there is often an overabundance of food, making it difficult for you to limit your portions. You feel obliged to finish everything on your plate, and because you are busy chatting and having fun, you may not recognise when you are feeling full.
• Separate food from depression – certain types of food can make you feel low and, also, when you feel down, you are more likely to binge on high-carbohydrate foods as they increase the production of serotonin, a mood regulating chemical. You need to learn to stop before you eat and ask yourself why you are reaching for the food. If you are feeling down, reach out to people or write down your feelings instead of reaching for food.
• Counteract boredom – when you are bored, you are likely to overeat as you are looking for stimulation. Food provides stimulation in the form of colour, aroma, flavour, and its ability to raise blood sugar levels. To break the habit of eating when you're bored, you need to think of something other than food. Call a friend, find a hobby, whatever you enjoy.
• Avoid dehydration – sometimes we think that we are hungry when we are simply dehydrated. Dehydration is commonly mistaken for hunger. Before you reach for the food, have a glass of water and see if that satisfies your hunger.

Source: Quill

• Keep a food diary – keeping track of everything you eat and drink throughout the day will help keep you accountable to your healthy eating goals, and also give you a reference point when you notice weight gain or want to change certain habits.
• Understand physical hunger – using behavioural therapy can help you reduce unhealthy food intake and set goals for weight loss. A qualified therapist can assist you in identifying what causes the need to eat in excess and finding the best solution to resolve it
• Discuss healthy foods with your nutritionist or dietitian –  a qualified dietitian can help you plan healthy meals based on what your body needs. Moreover, they can help you deal with food addiction by suggesting activities to address episodes of binge eating

Water Rich, Low Fat Foods Encourage Weight Loss

Consuming water rich, low-fat foods can assist with weight loss as it controls feelings of hunger. Fruits, vegetables, soups, lean meat and low fat dairy products are all considered low-calorie-density foods. Aside from reducing your weight, you'll find eating these types of food even in small portions satisfying. This reduces your cravings, which in turn allows your body to drop more calories.

But what is calorie density? Simply put, calorie density is the amount of calories present in a gram of food. It is also known as energy density. The energy density of food has a rating system that goes from zero to nine. Water has a zero density, while fat, which has nine calories per gram, has a rating of nine. Fruit, vegetables, low fat foods, and water rich foods all have a low energy density.

However, reducing the calorie density of your diet also needs to be combined with portion control of some kind. This is because, even though there are less calories, if you ate twice as much food you would not lose weight.

Overeating can have a serious impact on your physical and psychological health. With the tips in this guide for controlling overeating, you will be able to understand hunger cues and determine whether you need food to nourish your body or whether you're simply being tempted into binge eating.