Are YOU an Over-Eater?

Are YOU an Over-Eater?

Overeating presents its self in many forms.. emotional or comfort eating, overeating and then starving, using food as reward, grazing, eating large portions, binge eating “out of control eating”, and eating out of boredom or due to ‘cravings’.

You may be able to able to relate to one or more of the above scenarios. The main concern however is how often these scenarios take place. An individual of a healthy weight may, for example, ‘comfort eat’, however if this comfort eating is only occasional, and the rest of the time they eat healthily, then it may not be effecting their overall weight and health. If however ‘comfort eating’ takes place on a daily basis, sooner or later weight gain will be apparent.

If you are concerned with over-eating have a read of some possible solutions below that may be able to help.

Ask Yourself: “On a Scale of 1 to 10, how Hungry am I?”

If 1 is really ‘full’ and 10 is ‘starving’, only eat if you score an 8 or above. If you score 7 or less then try drinking a glass of water and waiting 10 minutes. If you are still feeling hungry after this time, and it is not a meal time, then try a healthy snack such as a piece of fruit, light/diet yoghurt or small handful of nuts.

Analyse your Food Cupboards

If high fat/sugar foods are available in the house they you are already exposing yourself to more temptation than is needed. If you know that you comfort eat or binge on biscuits, for example, make sure that these are not kept in the house. Have healthier ‘snack foods’ available such as flavoured rice cakes or vegetable crudités (chopped vegetable sticks) and salsa or reduced-fat hummus.

Portion Control

If you like sweet treats on an evening have a think about portion control. Instead of buying large chocolate bars buy the ‘miniature’ versions instead. Choose the ‘treats’ that are 100 calories or less and then limit your self to 1 or 2 of these maximum a night. Another tip could be to ‘bag up’ your biscuits: buy sandwich bags and at the start of the week put 2 biscuits in 7 bags; this is your weekly allowance and if you have bags left over at the end of the week then bonus, only make up only 6 bags the next week and so forth. It’s about making small dietary changes, that’s all.

SLOW down your eating

Your brain takes approximately 20 minutes to realise that you’re eating. This means that if your meal is eaten in less than this time then you maybe left craving second helpings/dessert etc. A simple solution to this is to slow down your eating: put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls and have a glass of water next to you – make a rule that you’re not allowed to finish your meal until the glass of water is finished. If you still can’t slow down on your eating then try having a glass of water or a hot drink after your meal and waiting 10 minutes. Your cravings for a dessert maybe reduced. If they haven’t, try a low calorie hot chocolate drink made with water.

Keep your hands Occupied

If eating becomes an ‘activity’ in addition to 3 regular meals a day, then plan some activities that you enjoy and that you know will keep you occupied (and thus your mind OFF food). E.g. phone call to a friend, sewing, reading a book, the washing up!

I’m not saying that the above solutions will ‘cure’ over-eating, but they may help to decrease the number of times that they occur. Have a read of my 'A Diet Free Zone' blog for healthy eating tips to help you keep trim and on the right track!

Nichola x