How to stop yourself from eating
How to Stop Overeating: A Dietitian's 10 Tips
TIPS TO LIVE BY Jan. 26, 2022 - Katie McCallum
Sometimes eating too much is simply an instance of your eyeballs growing bigger than your stomach at a buffet, potluck, party or holiday meal.
Other times, overeating is a pattern rather than the exception.
How much is truly too much? And if you are indeed at that point, how do you cut back?
"Overeating is eating beyond what's needed to fuel your body," says Kylie Arrindell, a wellness dietitian at Houston Methodist. "Whether intentional or not, we all do it at some point. The short-term symptoms of overeating are often just related to stomach discomfort, but there are long-term consequences of overeating which, over time, can negatively impact your health."
This means it's important to recognize whether you're overeating and, if you're doing so frequently, take steps to reduce the behavior.
Am I overeating?
That seems like it should be something fairly easy to answer. Perhaps by counting calories?
But Arrindell points out it's not that easy.
"The amount of calories you should be eating per meal is a very individualized number," says Arrindell. "People have different health goals, needs and conditions, so it can be difficult for you to determine your optimal calorie intake on your own. Additionally, counting calories might not resonate with you in a positive way."
Plus, calories aren't a great measure of whether you're eating mindfully and whether you're stopping when you're satisfied, two of the most important components of properly nourishing your body that can also help you understand if you're overeating.
With that in mind, the actual signs of overeating may include:
- Eating beyond the point of being full
- Finding yourself mindlessly eating because you're bored or distracted
- Experiencing physical symptoms after eating, including nausea, abdominal discomfort, gas, bloating or heartburn
- Eating for reasons other than to fuel your body
"Those are the short-term signs and symptoms of overeating, but there are long-term indications, too, including unwanted weight gain, difficulty losing weight and prolonged digestive discomfort," Arrindell adds.
Fortunately, these particularly noticeable signs can be powerful reminders that it's time to take action. But Arrindell points out that there are also detrimental health impacts you may not notice yourself — although they will likely show up in your blood work.
"Over the course of weeks to months to years, overeating can affect your cholesterol and could potentially impact your blood sugar management, which can put you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease," warns Arrindell.
How to stop overeating: A dietitian's top 10 tipsIf you recognize the signs and are ready to take action, here's what Arrindell recommends to help you avoid overeating:
1. Familiarize yourself with recommended portion sizes
Portion size is critical.
To keep your eyeballs in check, take advantage of nutrition food labels and reputable sources' recommended amounts of foods. These guidelines aren't perfect, but they can help set the baseline for what a realistic serving size looks like — usually hard to guess on your own.
Knowing the recommended amount also helps you stay accountable for how much you should be eating.
And — speaking of accountability — you might also try eating off of a smaller plate.
"The plates we serve our food on are usually pretty large, so even just something as simple as decreasing your plate size can really help you stick to more appropriate portion sizes and avoid overeating, especially for those who have been taught to finish everything on their plate," says Arrindell. (She notes you don't actually have to eat everything on your plate.)
2. Include a fiber source with meals and snacks
"Fiber is helpful for satiety, the feeling of fullness after eating," says Arrindell.
For instance, let's compare a plate of roasted vegetables versus several pieces of cheese. Both may contain the same amount of calories, but the roasted veggies are more likely to fill you up because they contain fiber — whose feeling of fullness can help reduce overeating tendencies.
Since cheese is less filling, you may have to eat more than your body actually needs before you physically feel full and your brain realizes you're not hungry anymore.
3. Avoid skipping meals
Intermittent fasting — the foundation of which is skipping meals — is a trendy diet right now, but for some people, it may lead to a feast-or-famine mentality that inadvertently leads to overeating.
"Skipping meals can cause intense hunger, which, for many people, tends to result in episodes of overeating once you do finally eat," warns Arrindell. "Instead, I recommend eating healthy snacks between meals or eating smaller meals more regularly throughout the day."
4. Know and limit the foods that are easiest to overeat
We've all wondered if there are foods we should write off completely. Just give us the list!
But here again, Arrindell says it's not that simple.
"Everyone has their own individual preference on the foods and drinks they enjoy most, so advice on which foods to keep your eye on will vary from person to person," says Arrindell.
"Keeping a food journal can provide you with insight into your own eating habits, a helpful tool for identifying which foods you struggle with the most."
That said, Arrindell says that most people tend to overeat calorie-dense foods or processed foods they view as treats, including those high in:
- Salt
- Added sugar
- Saturated and trans fats
- Empty calories
And while Arrindell says there's no food you should overeat — since even too much of something healthy, like fiber-rich veggies, may cause unwanted digestive distress — she adds that she doesn't often hear of someone who regularly overeats broccoli or asparagus. Wink, wink.
5. Stay hydrated
"Cues for thirst can often be mistaken as hunger cues," says Arrindell.
Especially when you're feeling hungry or craving a snack at a time you shouldn't, just taking a few sips of water can help you determine whether you're actually hungry or just thirsty. And keeping up with your water intake throughout the day may help you completely sidestep those tricky hunger pangs that aren't actually due to hunger after all.
6. Be mindful about why you're eating and pay attention to hunger cues
There are a lot of reasons you might want to eat, but there's only one you need to: nourishing and energizing your body.
From "I think I need a snack" to "It's dinner time," be sure you're not falling into the trap of eating mindlessly just to eat.
"If you aren't paying attention to the actual snack or meal you're eating and why you're eating it, chances are you're not really paying attention to your body's cues for appetite and hunger either," says Arrindell.
When you're not in tune with when it's time to stop eating, you're more likely to overeat.
"Being mindful about your meals and what you're eating is important since paying attention to your body's cues can help you connect to the process of enjoying food as a way of nourishing your body," explains Arrindell.
7. Slow down
Crucially, not overeating also means actually stopping when you're approaching feeling full.
Portion sizing can help, but, ultimately, slowing down your meal and paying attention to how you actually feel is one of the best ways to avoid overeating.
The goal is to give your food-filled stomach and hungry brain time to re-sync with one another. In fact, it can take as long as 20 minutes for your stomach to let you brain know it's full.
"A lot of us scarf down meals in half that time or less!" says Arrindell. "If you find yourself overeating at meals, try to find ways to slow down the process. For instance, you might try eating with your non-dominant hand or putting your fork down between bites."
8. Rethink that second serving
Speaking of slowing down ... it can also help you decide whether you truly need to be refilling your plate or not.
"Maybe you really are hungry and need that second helping, which is okay," says Arrindell. "But my advice is to wait 5 to 10 minutes before you get another serving and to make sure your additional serving is mostly the good stuff — more vegetables, for instance.
"
9. Turn off your TV
A great way to help encourage paying attention to how you feel after eating is to make snack time and mealtime a distraction-free experience.
"Turning off your TV and sitting down at the table is a great place to start," says Arrindell. "Eating without distractions brings us back to the concept of connecting to the process of nourishing your body, which is what your food is actually meant to do."
10. Give yourself some grace
Whether you hit a roadblock as you're getting started or when the holidays come around, know that fighting back against overeating takes patience and compromise.
"Allowing yourself to have foods that you really enjoy in moderation is helpful because then you're not tempted to overindulge on them later," says Arrindell. "Giving yourself grace not only provides a little bit of wiggle room in your diet, it's also sometimes the missing piece for people when it comes to maintaining healthy eating patterns that can help reduce the chances of overeating.
"
Sometimes overeating just happens on occasion. This is especially common on occasions where you have access to more food than usual (*cough* Thanksgiving).
Other times, it becomes a pleasurable yet unhealthy habit that reinforces itself over and over — as habits do. The steps above, given time, might be all it takes to break the habit.
In some cases, however, there could be a more complicated reason you're overeating.
"When it's happening habitually, that's when it's time to take a look into why you're overindulging more often than usual," explains Arrindell. "There could be some underlying reasoning behind why it's become a habit."
For instance, you could be using a food solution to fight an emotional issue — sometimes referred to as emotional eating. Recognizing this behavior and better processing your emotions are important steps in your journey to reduce overeating.
Lastly, in the most extreme cases, overeating might also be a sign of something more complicated: binge eating disorder.
"If you find yourself overeating often, talk to your dietitian or doctor," recommends Arrindell. "Overeating can be closely associated with binge eating tendencies, which is not something you have to navigate on your own and it is treatable with the right help."
23 Ways to Stop Overeating
Eating too much in one sitting or taking in too many calories throughout the day are common habits that can be hard to break.
And while some people see these behaviors as habits that can be broken, they may indicate an eating disorder in others.
Over time, eating too much food can lead to weight gain and increase the risk of developing a chronic condition, such as diabetes or heart disease.
Regardless of whether you have an eating disorder, breaking the cycle of overeating can be challenging. However, some techniques can help.
The 23 tips below provide a starting point to reduce overeating.
1. Get rid of distractions
Whether it’s working through lunch in front of the computer or noshing on chips while catching up on your favorite TV show, eating while distracted is a common occurrence for most people.
While this habit might seem harmless, it can contribute to overeating.
A review of 24 studies found that being distracted during a meal led people to consume more calories at that meal. It also caused them to eat more food later in the day, compared with people who paid attention to their food while eating (1).
Summary Make an effort to turn off
or put away potential distractions like phones, computers, and magazines. Concentrating
on your meal during mealtime can help prevent overeating.
2. Know your trigger foods
Pinpointing which foods can trigger overeating and avoiding them can help decrease the chances of overeating.
For example, if ice cream is likely to trigger a binge or episode of overeating, it’s a good idea to stop storing it in the freezer. The harder it is to access something, the less likely you might be to overeat that food.
Preparing healthy options like a sliced apple with peanut butter, hummus and veggies, or homemade trail mix can encourage better choices when snacking.
Another helpful tip is to keep unhealthy snack foods like chips, candy, and cookies out of sight so there’s no temptation to grab a handful when walking past them.
Summary Identify the unhealthy foods
that trigger overeating. Keep them out of the home or far out of sight, and
make healthy options easily accessible instead.
3. Don’t ban all favorite foods
Restrictive eating patterns that eliminate many of your favorite foods may cause you to feel deprived, potentially leading you to binge on forbidden treats.
Diets that concentrate on whole, unprocessed foods are always best, but making room for an occasional treat is perfectly healthy.
Swearing to never have a scoop of ice cream, slice of pizza, or piece of chocolate again is not realistic for most people.
That said, in the case of food addiction, a person may need to permanently abstain from trigger foods. In this case, it’s a good idea to find healthy substitutes that are satisfying.
Focus on providing your body with mostly healthy, nutritious food while giving yourself the freedom to truly enjoy a treat here and there.
Summary Eating patterns that are too
restrictive may drive binges. The key to a sustainable, healthy diet is to
concentrate on eating whole, unprocessed foods most of the time while allowing for
a treat here and there.
4. Give volumetrics a try
Volumetrics is a way to eat that focuses on filling up on low calorie, high fiber foods like non-starchy vegetables.
Consuming foods that are low in calories and high in fiber and water before meals can help you feel full, which might decrease overeating.
Examples of volumetrics-friendly foods include grapefruit, salad greens, broccoli, beans, tomatoes, and low-sodium broth.
Eating a large salad or bowl of low-sodium, broth-based soup before lunch and dinner may be an effective way to prevent overeating.
Summary Use the volumetrics method
of eating — fill up on healthy, low-calorie, high-fiber foods to help promote feeling
full.
5. Avoid eating from containers
Eating chips out of the bag, ice cream out of the carton, or takeout straight from the box can lead to consuming more food than is recommended as a serving size.
Instead, portion out a single serving size on a plate or in a bowl to help control the number of calories you consume in one sitting.
Use measuring tools to train your eye on what a normal portion should look like for different types of foods.
Summary Instead of eating food
straight from the package, portion it into a dish. Try measuring out
appropriate serving sizes to help train your eye to identify how much food is recommended
as an average portion.
6. Reduce stress
Stress can lead to overeating, so it’s important to find ways to reduce the amount of stress in your daily life.
Chronic stress drives up levels of cortisol, a hormone that increases appetite. Studies have shown that being stressed can lead to overeating, increased hunger, binge eating, and weight gain (2).
There are many simple ways to reduce your everyday stress levels. Consider listening to music, gardening, exercising, or practicing yoga, meditation, or breathing techniques.
Summary Stress can lead to
overeating, so reducing the stress in your everyday life is one important step
to reduce overeating.
7. Eat fiber-rich foods
Choosing foods that are rich in fiber, such as beans, vegetables, oats, and fruit, can help keep your body feeling satisfied longer and reduce the urge to overeat.
For example, one study found that people who ate fiber-rich oatmeal for breakfast felt fuller and ate less at lunch than those who consumed cornflakes for breakfast (4).
Snacking on nuts, adding beans to your salad, and eating vegetables at every meal may help reduce the amount of food you consume.
Summary Add fiber-rich foods to your
diet to keep your body feeling satisfied longer. Studies show this may help
reduce the urge to overeat.
8. Eat regular meals
When attempting to lose weight, many people cut out meals in hopes that it will decrease the number of calories they take in.
While this may work in some instances, such as intermittent fasting, restricting meals may cause you to eat more later in the day.
Studies have demonstrated that eating more frequently throughout the day may decrease hunger and overall food intake (5).
For example, some people may skip lunch to restrict calories, only to find themselves overeating at dinner. However, eating a balanced lunch may help reduce the chances of eating too much later in the day (6).
Summary Skipping meals may cause you
to eat more later in the day. Instead, focus on keeping your body feeling
satisfied by eating balanced meals made with whole foods.
9. Keep a food journal
Keeping track of what you eat in a food diary or mobile app may help reduce overeating.
Many studies have shown that using self-monitoring techniques like keeping a food diary may aid weight loss (7).
Plus, using a food journal can help identify situations and emotional triggers that contribute to overeating, as well as foods that are likely to provoke binge eating.
Summary Studies have shown that
tracking your food intake may help you lose weight. It will also help you become
more aware of your habits.
10. Dine with like-minded friends
The food choices of your dining companions may have a greater effect on your food intake than you realize.
Numerous studies have found that people’s food choices are heavily influenced by the people they eat with.
People may tend to eat portions similar to those of their dining companions, so dining out with friends who overeat may cause them to overeat as well (8).
Plus, studies have shown that a person is more inclined to order unhealthy options if their dining partner does (9).
Choosing to eat with family and friends who have similar health goals can help you stay on track and reduce your chances of overeating.
Summary With whom you choose to eat
may majorly impact your food choices. Try to dine with people who also want to
eat healthy meals in moderate portions.
11. Fill up on protein
Protein helps keep your body full throughout the day and can decrease the desire to overeat.
For example, eating a high protein breakfast has been shown to reduce hunger and snacking later in the day (10).
Choosing a protein-rich breakfast like eggs tends to lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger (11).
Adding higher protein snacks like Greek yogurt to your routine can also help you eat less throughout the day and keep hunger under control (12).
Summary Eating protein-rich foods
may help stave off hunger and cravings. Starting the day with a high protein
breakfast can also help fight hunger later in the day.
12. Stabilize your blood sugar levels
Eating white bread, cookies, candy, and other carbs with high glycemic indexes will likely cause blood sugar levels to spike, then fall quickly.
This rapid blood sugar fluctuation has been shown to promote hunger and can lead to overeating (13).
Choosing foods with lower glycemic indexes will help prevent blood sugar spikes and may reduce overeating. Beans, oats, and brown rice are all great options.
Summary Eat foods that help keep blood
sugar levels constant. High-glycemic foods like candy and white bread can make
blood sugar spike then drop, which may lead to overeating. Instead, choose
foods like beans, oats, and brown rice.
13.
Slow down
Eating too quickly may cause overeating and lead to weight gain over time.
Slower-paced eating is associated with increased fullness and decreased hunger and can serve as a useful tool for controlling overeating (14).
Taking the time to thoroughly chew food has also been shown to reduce overall food intake and increase feelings of fullness (15).
Summary Focusing on eating more
slowly and chewing food thoroughly may help you recognize signs of fullness and
reduce overeating.
14. Watch your alcohol intake
Drinking alcohol may cause overeating by lowering your inhibitions and stimulating appetite (16, 17).
While having a drink or two with a meal generally won’t have a huge effect, having several drinks in one sitting may lead to increased levels of hunger.
One study found that college students who drank four to five drinks at a time more than once per week were more likely to overeat after drinking, compared with students who drank one to two drinks at a time (18).
Cutting back on drinking alcohol may be a good way to minimize overeating.
Summary Studies show that drinking
several drinks in one sitting may lead to overeating. Instead, stick to just
one or two drinks, or forgo drinking alcohol entirely.
15. Plan ahead
Being unprepared when hunger strikes can make it more likely that you’ll make poor food choices that can lead to overeating.
Purchasing meals and snacks at the last minute from restaurants or delis increases the likelihood of making unhealthy choices and eating more.
Instead, keep healthy snacks on hand, pack home-cooked lunches, and stock the fridge with healthy options to prepare dinner at home.
These strategies can help decrease overeating. Plus, making more meals at home can save money and time.
Summary The more prepared you are to
eat healthily, the less likely you are to overeat. Keep the fridge and pantry
stocked with healthy, filling foods.
16. Replace sugary beverages with water
Drinking sugary beverages like soda and juice could lead to weight gain and increase the risk of certain diseases like diabetes (19).
Studies have shown that consuming sweetened drinks with meals may be linked to overeating as well.
A review of 17 studies found that adults who drank sugar-sweetened beverages with meals consumed 7.8% more food than adults who consumed water with meals (20).
Choosing water or unsweetened seltzer over sweetened beverages may help reduce overeating.
Summary Avoid sugary beverages.
They’ve been linked to an increased risk of diabetes and other diseases and may
be linked to overeating. Drink water instead.
17. Check in with yourself
Overeating in the absence of hunger could be a sign that something deeper is going on.
Depression and boredom are two common issues that have been linked to the urge to overeat (21, 22).
Fortunately, taking certain actions can help. For example, try taking on a new activity that’s enjoyable. It may help prevent boredom and distract from the urge to nibble.
Also, spending some time thinking about what triggers overeating can help determine the type of help to seek. If depression and anxiety are contributors, getting proper treatment from a mental health professional might assist with reducing overeating.
Every person is different, so it’s important to find the right treatment plan for your needs.
Summary Think about the feelings
during episodes of overeating and seek help to address the issues behind the
behavior. Depression and boredom are two common reasons. A mental health
professional can provide guidance.
18. Ditch the diet mentality
Fad diets probably won’t help you stop overeating in the long run. Short-term, restrictive diets may lead to rapid weight loss, but they are often unsustainable and can set you up for failure.
Instead, make long-term lifestyle changes that promote health and wellness. It’s the best way to create a balanced relationship with food and prevent habits like overeating.
Summary Instead of going on fad
diets to curb overeating, find a sustainable way of eating that nourishes your
body and helps it reach optimal health.
19. Break old habits
Habits can be hard to break, especially when they involve food.
Many people get into comfortable routines, like eating dinner in front of the TV or having a bowl of ice cream every night.
It may take time to identify unhealthy behaviors that lead to overeating and replace them with new, healthy habits, but it’s well worth the effort.
For example, make it a point to eat at the dinner table instead of in front of the TV, or replace a nightly bowl of ice cream with a hot cup of tea. These replacements will become healthy habits over time.
Summary Identify unhealthy habits
and gradually replace them with new, more positive behaviors.
20. Eat healthy fats
Although high fat foods are often associated with weight gain and overeating, choosing foods rich in healthy fats can help you eat less.
Several studies have shown that adults who consume high fat, low carb diets are less hungry 3–4 hours after meals and lose more weight over time, compared with people who consume diets high in carbs and low in fat (23, 24).
Adding healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butters, and olive oil to your diet may help you feel more satisfied after meals and reduce overeating.
Summary Try adding more healthy fats
to your diet. Studies have shown doing so may help you feel fuller after meals
and lose weight over time.
21. Keep your goals in mind
Setting short- and long-term goals and referring to them often may help you stay on track and reduce the urge to overeat.
Knowing the reason for overcoming overeating and how overeating is preventing you from reaching your health and wellness goals can motivate you to work toward establishing new eating patterns.
Jotting down motivational quotes and hanging them in prominent places around your living space can help inspire you to stick to a plan throughout the day.
Summary Identify specific short- and
long-term eating goals and refer to them often. It can even be helpful to place
motivational quotes around your home.
22. Get help if needed
It’s important to distinguish overeating from binge eating disorder (BED).
Binge eating disorder (BED) is recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-5) as a psychiatric disorder. This means someone who has BED will likely need treatment from a team of medical professionals to overcome it.
BED is characterized by ongoing episodes of eating a large amount of food very quickly to the point of discomfort, despite not being hungry. After a binge, a person might feel shame or guilt surrounding the behavior.
It affects millions of people worldwide and is the most common eating disorder in the United States (25).
If you feel that you might have BED, it’s important to get help. Speak with your healthcare provider about treatment options.
Summary If you regularly binge on
large quantities of food, lack control, and experience feelings of guilt, you
may have binge eating disorder and should seek professional help.
23. Practice mindful eating
Adopting mindful eating techniques is one of the best ways to prevent overeating.
The practice of mindful eating stresses the importance of focusing on the moment and being aware of thoughts, emotions, and senses while consuming food.
Many studies have shown that mindful eating is an effective way to reduce binge eating behaviors, overeating, and emotional eating (3).
Eating more slowly, taking small bites, chewing thoroughly, being aware of your senses, and appreciating food are all simple mindfulness practices to incorporate into a daily routine.
Summary The practice of mindful
eating has been shown to help reduce binge eating behaviors.Mindful eating
focuses on being aware of your thoughts and senses while eating.
The bottom line
Many people struggle with overeating.
Fortunately, there are ways to improve eating habits and overcome eating disorders.
Healthcare professionals like psychologists, doctors, or registered dietitians can also provide counseling and guidance to help you get back on track.
Overeating can be a hard habit to break, but you can do it. Use these tips as a starting point to help establish a new, healthy routine, and make sure to seek professional help if you need it.
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on April 16, 2018. Its current publication date reflects an update, which includes a medical review by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD.
How to make yourself eat less: 13 steps to slimness
When you look at the snow outside the window, it's hard to believe that spring has come. But she came. A month and a half will pass, and the jubilant sunny April will remove coats and fur coats from the girls.
Miniskirts, slender legs and waists will appear to the world. To feel beautiful, light and athletic, you need to prepare for this wonderful moment now.
Surprisingly, almost all overweight people know how to lose 2 to 6 kilograms in a short time. Still, it is clear: eat less, drink more and exercise intensively. The only question is how to force yourself to do all this and how to start eating less?
Especially for you, we have prepared a selection of life hacks that will help you curb your appetite. The main rule - do not neglect the little things. Try all these tricks and you will definitely find the ones that work for you.
Drink when you feel hungry. It is known that compliance with the correct drinking regime reduces appetite, normalizes digestion, promotes weight loss. But you need water, not tea or juices. During the day, you should drink at least two liters of plain non-carbonated water, not counting other drinks.
Place a bottle of water on your desk and drink a glass every hour.
If you forget, set reminders on your smartphone. Drink a full glass half an hour before meals and immediately after meals. Drink at any location change: go to the printer - drink a glass of water.
To make water seem more attractive and not boring, you can add pre-frozen slices of lemon, lime and orange to it at home.
Find out what temperature you prefer to drink water. Perhaps you like hot water more than cold water.
Only delicious food. Diet food is often associated with deprivation. It is tasteless to eat, which is why it is so easy to have a food breakdown and eat up delicacies to satiety. Avoid bad food! If you don't like oatmeal or cottage cheese, don't eat it! Among low-calorie foods, you can always find what you like. Use a little spices, vinegar, mustard, Pan-Asian low-calorie sauces - make your food tastier. It should bring pleasure!
Eat often. This simple technique prevents you from feeling completely hungry and sweeping everything off the table at dinner that you can reach.
You need to eat five or six times a day, but in very small portions - 150-200 grams per reception. Then you remember what you ate most recently, and you feel less deprivation. In addition, you spoil yourself with taste more often, which means you feel less sad.
The last meal is best done 3-3.5 hours before bedtime. If you ate at six and go to bed at one, then at eleven you are so hungry that night raids on the refrigerator are inevitable.
Nutritionists say that for successful weight loss, you need 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. And not at random, but in the dark, when the hormones necessary for this are produced.
Small plate. Psychologists have found that after eating a full plate, people feel more satisfied. In this case, the size of the plate is not critical. Use this trick! Eat a full plate, but use the smallest one. It is also better to take a teaspoon or at least a dessert spoon. Then your brain will note that the number of spoons eaten was significant, and broadcast a feeling of satiety!
Blue color.
Scientists have found that the color environment of a person while eating affects his appetite. So, warm tones cause a desire to eat, and cold tones reduce appetite. The blue color gives the strongest effect. Do not neglect this knowledge! If you can’t paint the walls and furniture blue, then at least lay an ultramarine tablecloth, put cornflower blue dishes, hang bright blue curtains.
Eat slowly. Eat thoughtfully, savoring every bite. This is how we inform the satiety centers that we ate for a long time and with pleasure, which means that we ate enough. Try to see and smell the food before putting it in your mouth. This increases the awareness of the process.
American scientists have found out that there are odors that, other things being equal, speed up weight loss by a third. Everything is simple and affordable: it turned out to be the smells of mint, apple and banana. You should carefully listen to them before you start any meal.
Walk before dinner.
It is believed that a walk in the fresh air helps to increase appetite. There is even an expression "work up an appetite." However, scientists have found that if you walk intensively, at a fast pace, then the body is saturated with oxygen and appetite, on the contrary, decreases. So you can deceive the body: after a walk, even a small portion will seem quite sufficient.
Remove temptations. Rid the refrigerator and the whole house of those products at the sight of which you lose your will. Do not keep in sight cookies, sweets, raisins, chips, salted nuts and other foods that are malicious enemies of the waist. Let air bran or carrots cut into strips lie in plain sight.
If you come to visit and participate in a feast, then temptations cannot be avoided. Tactics should be like this. First, try not to come to visit completely hungry. Secondly, immediately put everything you are going to eat on a small plate and move away from the table. Make a promise to yourself not to refill your plate or drag anything off the table.
Thirdly, in order to deceive yourself, you can put a bowl of ice cubes in front of you during a long feast and gradually eat them. You can do the same with frozen unsweetened berries or fruits. Frozen fruits cannot be eaten quickly, and you will inevitably stretch this pleasure for a long time. Let your friends consider this an extravagant feature of yours and prepare in advance for you not cakes with tea, but a small bag of frozen berries.
Eat right. For snacks in the middle of the day, dried apricots or prunes, carrots, celery stalks, tomato, cucumber or unsweetened apple are suitable. Whenever you want to eat, but it's not yet time, you can throw airy crunchy bran into yourself. They are pleasant to the taste and, with a minimum calorie content, tend to quickly absorb liquid and increase in volume, providing a feeling of satiety.
Good healthy snacks also include low-fat fermented milk drinks, protein shakes or protein bars sold in sports shops.
It's important to have healthy snacks on hand at all times.
This minimizes the risk of breaking loose and buying a bun or a pie in a stall.
Wonderful supplements. Very often, when we feel hungry, the body thus signals a lack of some trace elements and vitamins. But we don’t understand and we load anything into ourselves. Therefore, nutritionists recommend not starting any diet without the support of a vitamin-mineral complex.
For example, an increased need for sweets may indicate a lack of chromium in the body. The drug reglucol helps to solve this problem, which makes up for the lack of this substance, helps to break down the fats accumulated by the body and speeds up metabolism.
An obsessive craving for chocolate can be a sign of magnesium deficiency. It is easy to replenish it, for this it is enough to pick up and drink a vitamin-mineral complex with magnesium.
Bouts of uncontrolled appetite are often associated with low levels of serotonin. To cope with its shortage, special dietary supplements containing tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), which are the basis for the production of serotonin, will help.
Another natural supplement recommended by doctors for weight loss is ground spirulina algae. It successfully compensates for the lack of most vitamins, amino acids, minerals, as well as essential polyunsaturated fatty enzymes. Spirulina normalizes metabolism and successfully fights extra pounds.
Do not rush from one extreme to another: do not brush aside hunger pains, but do not eat them with anything - fill in what your body really lacks, and increased appetite will disappear by itself.
Spend money on a nutritionist. Of course, losing weight is easier with a nutritionist. And even if you know perfectly well what you need to do, go to him anyway! This is surprising, but it is the money spent on specialists that often prevents us from giving up everything halfway and abandoning their recommendations. The inner toad is a great thing! In addition, nutritionists say that you cannot enter the same diet twice. Every time you gain weight again, you need to adjust your weight loss recommendations.
Make your own top hacks . In the process of losing weight, the determination to adhere to a certain diet and exercise may gradually weaken. Help yourself! Read motivating articles regularly, communicate with those who support you, go to a psychologist, finally. And be sure to make your own list of tricks that are right for you and give the best effect.
Great results for you! May you succeed!
How not to eat and lose weight?
In the title - a popular query in search engines. But in this article there will be no advice like "count to 10 and drink a glass of water." Let's talk about something else: why forcing yourself not to eat for the sake of losing weight is a bad idea and how to deal with your attitude to food.
Our experts:
- Yuliya Karacheva , psychiatrist, psychotherapist of the network of Atlas clinics
- Yuliya Tabakar
- consultant psychologist0107 Ekaterina Krivtsova , professor, endocrinologist GEN87
- Zhenya Donova , practicing psychologist
What's wrong with not eating to lose weight?
Zhenya Donova : If you have a healthy attitude to nutrition, then you are in contact with your body - you hear its signals and know how to negotiate with it.
If the body signals hunger, you satisfy it, and if you are full, stop eating. The message "do not eat to lose weight" implies a break in this contact, a confrontation with oneself and the manifestation of auto-aggression. It turns out that in order to achieve the goal (losing weight), you are taking action against yourself. This is not zd o rovo and unhealthy o vo.
Julia Karacheva : Most people who lose weight as a result of a restrictive diet regain it within 1-2 years. Moreover, 2/3 of them gain more than they dropped.
Ekaterina Krivtsova: The idea to force yourself not to eat in order to lose weight is irrational. It is important to understand: what happens to the body? Perhaps it's not a malnutrition, but hormonal features.
What is a healthy attitude to food?
Julia Karacheva : This is when regular meals and snacks are not accompanied by anxiety, shame and guilt. No "forbidden foods", diets and calorie counting. And when you allow yourself to enjoy food.
Ekaterina Krivtsova: This is an attitude to food as a condition for a full happy life. And not as a substitute for joy and pleasure.
Zhenya Donova: This is when you eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full, do not focus on the shortcomings of your body that need to be “corrected” by eating or refusing it, when you do not overeat, do not eat emotions.
Can you be more specific? How and why do we eat emotions?
Zhenya Donova : For the psyche there are no bad and good emotions, it can cope with any. She does not need food, alcohol, gadgets and TV for this. But there are situations when a person drowned out his emotions with food. I got upset, ate a bowl of ice cream - it became easier. His behavior received positive reinforcement, and the person began to resort to this strategy over and over again.
Julia Tabakar: Often people overeat because they don't get enough rest. I'll give you an example. A young woman came with a problem: she eats a lot in the evenings and cannot stop herself. It turned out that she works for three, because she does not know how to refuse colleagues. No time to eat: all the time business. And in the evening she can not eat. That is, a person exhausts himself, recycles, is under stress all the time. How to replenish lost energy? Burger, fries, chocolate.
It turns out that if a person eats when he is bored, anxious, angry, tired or sad, is that wrong?
Yuliya Tabakar: This in itself is neither good nor bad: food is unconsciously associated with safety. For a newborn, food is not just food, but closeness to mom, comfort, confidence, acceptance, love, communication. Adults also sometimes eat to calm down. It is bad when it becomes the only way to cope with anxiety or fear.
Julia Karacheva : With the help of food we satisfy various psychological needs. For example, dinner with family is closeness. Going to a restaurant with friends closes the need for social interaction. The problem arises when food becomes a crutch for our negative experiences. And here we come to the topic of eating disorders (EDD) or eating disorders. Psychiatry deals with these issues.
Wait, wait! It turns out that if I ate an extracurricular chocolate bar and feel guilty, is this already a disorder? Should I see a psychiatrist straight away?
A shot from the film "Bridget Jones's Diary" Zhenya Donova: A difficult question. There are situations when a person eats on the run, chaotically, does not pay attention to what he eats. Or he eats when he's not really hungry, either out of boredom or for company. Perhaps this is just an eating disorder that can be corrected with a nutritionist. But, at the same time, eating outside of hunger is one of the symptoms of eating disorders. The edge is very thin. And only a doctor can determine it. In Russia, this is done by a psychiatrist.
Ekaterina Krivtsova: It happens that a person is constantly sad, anxious, tired - and sticks to these problems. Perhaps this is the result of constant stress. But these are also symptoms of endogenous depression and anxiety neurosis. A psychiatrist is also involved in diagnosing such conditions.
But isn't eating disorder bulimia and anorexia? Symptoms are difficult to confuse
Yuliya Karacheva : This is not only bulimia and anorexia. Eating disorders also include psychogenic binge eating (also called binge eating or compulsive eating), inedible eating (Pick's disease), and psychogenic loss of appetite. These are disorders included in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). However, there are disorders that are not included in this list, but also attract the attention of psychiatry: selective eating disorder, orthorexia (when the desire for a healthy lifestyle goes beyond all limits) and pregorexia (the most restrictive diet in pregnant women).
Zhenya Donova: Psychology also highlights the syndrome of night overeating (NBS): when a person eats almost nothing all day long, cannot fall asleep for a long time, or often wakes up and, upon waking up, goes to the refrigerator.
Is obesity also an eating disorder?
Julia Karacheva : Not always. There can be many reasons - these are genetics, a sedentary lifestyle, and hormonal disruptions. It is impossible to put an equal sign between RPP and obesity.
Zhenya Donova : Yes, I agree. There are people with absolutely healthy eating behavior who are obese. And it happens the other way around - for example, patients with anorexia nervosa.
Have you heard that the problem of eating disorders mainly affects women, teenagers and models? This is true?
A shot from the movie Legally Blonde Yuliya Karacheva No, of course not. The disorder can develop at any age in both men and women. For example, selective eating disorder most often occurs in children - the child eats only certain foods.
Zhenya Donova : Anorexia and bulimia are more common in women. But compulsive overeating - equally in men and women. So to say that eating disorder is a purely women's problem is impossible. And yes, at risk are teenagers, models, athletes who are engaged in aesthetic sports (rhythmic gymnastics, figure skating, sports dancing), TV presenters, bloggers, actresses - everyone who is in sight and whose work depends on appearance. But the problem can overtake any person, including those who are far from the modeling business or beauty blogging.
There is an opinion that any problems with nutrition are an attempt to attract attention. This is true?
Zhenya Donova : There is such an opinion, but it is not scientifically substantiated. Yes, during therapy it may turn out that the eating disorder started when the person was not accepted by peers. For example, for a girl of 13-15 years old, it is important that the boys look at her and that her girlfriends approve, and so she went on a strict diet. It also happens that problems with food are an attempt by a child to attract the attention of parents, often unconsciously. But these are rather special cases. Considering the need for attention as the main cause of eating disorders is incorrect.
So what's the reason?
Zhenya Donova : There are three groups of reasons: biological, psychological and social. Biological ones - for example, a genetic predisposition to eating disorders - unfortunately, can be inherited. Psychological - domestic violence, a ban on the expression of negative emotions, violation of parent-child attachment (for example, if the child has cold, distant parents). Social - the cult of the ideals of beauty, thinness, bullying.
Yulia Karacheva : There are certain personality traits that can contribute to the development of an eating disorder, such as perfectionism or hyper-responsibility. Also affect the features of eating behavior in the family, attitude to weight and figure. A child could be rewarded with sweets for good behavior and study, and this stuck: since I'm good, you can take a candy. Very good? I'll take ten.
Julia Tabacar: Many patients with ED have experienced physical or sexual abuse. Also, for many, food helps to get a secondary benefit from the situation. For example, one of my clients needed weight to protect herself from men. In the course of therapy, we found out that at school age the girl got into an unpleasant situation with an adult man. The client was surprised that she remembered this: this story seemed “forgotten”, but continued to influence the behavior of the girl in adulthood. They also revealed the belief that men love only slender ones. If so, being overweight helped her “be safe”, that is, without men.
How common are eating disorders in society?
A still from the film "To the Bone" Yulia Karacheva : It is believed that the prevalence of eating disorders in the world is about 9%. In risk groups, the prevalence is higher. There are studies among adolescent girls that report that by the age of 20, about 13% have symptoms of eating disorders. Anorexia is one of the deadly mental disorders, which is only surpassed by chemical addictions.
Zhenya Donova : It is difficult to give exact numbers, because people with eating disorders often do not understand at all that they need help. There are figures for the United States, as it is a center for research on eating disorders and collection of statistics: there are approximately 30 million people living with eating disorders. There are twice as many women as men (20 million versus 10 million). And every hour in the world, at least 1 person dies from the consequences of eating disorders.
What are the symptoms of eating disorders? Can you diagnose it yourself?
Yuliya Karacheva : Generally speaking, the main symptoms are as follows:
- A person makes himself vomit after eating or compensates for what he has eaten in other ways, for example, excessive physical exertion (physical tyranny), laxatives and diuretics.
- Strong fixation on weight and figure (you can't add/lose a gram or a centimeter!).
- Numerous attempts to reduce weight and swing body weight.
- Numerous dietary rules (I eat only proteins, only vegetables, only red).
- Persistent thoughts, fears, and feelings of guilt and shame associated with meals and weight. When thoughts and behaviors associated with food bring a lot of suffering.
- Loss of control over the amount eaten.
But many people may have such symptoms to varying degrees. Is there a more accurate diagnosis?
Ekaterina Krivtsova: ED is a systemic chronic disease. It causes metabolic changes in systems and organs, the neurohumoral regulation of a person changes. This is a complex problem that can manifest itself in neuroses, organic pathologies of the brain, organic lesions and depressive disorders.
But first you need to determine the cause of the symptoms. For example, if a person runs to the refrigerator at night, you need to find out the level of glycogen in order to rule out insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
What should you do if you realize that you or someone close to you has an eating disorder?
Zhenya Donova: If you have - contact a psychiatrist for diagnosis. If you suspect an eating disorder in a loved one, it is more difficult: he often refuses, does not want to admit that something is wrong with him. And too much pressure can break trust. Let your loved one know that you are on their side, ready to help and support.
Who treats RPP? Only a psychiatrist?
Julia Karacheva : None. Diagnosed by a psychiatrist. And treats, depending on the disease, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist (as prescribed by a psychotherapist). Why is it important to visit a psychiatrist in the first place? Because it can detect comorbidities: depression or anxiety disorder, which occurs in about 80% of cases in people with eating disorders. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease. This may be drug therapy in combination with psychotherapy (group, cognitive-behavioral, dialectical behavioral). Family therapy is also recommended.
Julia Tabakar: Anorexia and bulimia are treated primarily by a psychiatrist. Emotional overeating - psychologist, psychologist-consultant. Obesity - a nutritionist-endocrinologist (hormones need to be checked, whether metabolism is disturbed) together with a psychologist or psychotherapists.
Our experts:
Yulia Karacheva
Psychiatrist, psychotherapist
Psychotherapist of the Atlas clinic network. He specializes in anxiety, depression, psychosomatic disorders, and eating disorders. Member of the Association for Cognitive Behavioral Therapists and the Association for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Helped us figure out what the impostor syndrome is.
Maria Dubrovina
Psychologist, coach, hypnotherapist
Lives in Switzerland, works with a Russian-speaking audience. Studied with psychologist-hypnotherapist Jean Becchio, has a degree in psychology from the University of Geneva, a practicing hypnotherapist.
