how to stop overeating
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Stop UNDEReating. Huh? Not eating enough can make you so hungry that you eat until you're uncomfortably full. Not eating enough doesn’t have to be extreme, it can look like some pretty common things we may experience:
Some of the above examples result in meals being skipped, or made smaller—either by cutting certain food groups out or simply trying to eat less overall. You can think of this as "undereating." The "Undereating" – "Overeating" Cycle From the way people casually talk about calories, you would think the prescription is simple: eat less, move more, and you’ll be healthy. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this; but you’ve been lied to. It is definitely not that simple. Your body’s most basic goal is to survive. When we don’t fuel our bodies with enough energy (calories), our metabolism ultimately changes to try to survive on limited food. You can think of this as being in “starvation mode.” In this state, your body tries to conserve the energy it has, because it’s not taking a lot in. This means your metabolism might start to do more storing than burning of energy, something that is in direct opposition to weight loss. On top of this slower, storing metabolism, our bodies start sending out all sorts of signals to try to get us to eat. All of a sudden, high calorie foods seem extremely tempting…Because your body is missing out on a high amount of calories. And even though you’re “trying to be good (which typically means eating fewer calories)” your body is pushing so hard for you to eat something, that at some point you wind up eating more than your diet may “allow.” The Hunger and Fullness Scale The hunger and fullness scale helps us to understand how this happens. Refer to the scale below. |
The scale describes different levels of hunger and fullness we may experience, from super hungry to over full. As time goes on between meals, inevitably we slip further and further down the scale. Then, when we eat something, we move up the scale. The hungrier you are, the lower you are on the scale. If you’re at a “0” on the scale, it will take a lot more food to get you to feel full (get to an “8”). And because your body is so desperate for food at a “0,” you’re more likely to eat quicker than normal, and potentially pass right by that “8” into “stuffed” or “sick.” This is "overeating." And it was caused by undereating.
Breaking the Cycle
Thinking about this scale can help us break this cycle. If we realize we’re going to need food or start getting hungry every few hours (inevitably), we can start to plan our meals and snacks to happen when we need them throughout the day. That can look like bringing a snack to eat before a long lab or making sure to eat dinner before going to work, or bringing dinner with you to eat on your break. All of these things keep your body fueled, so it doesn’t feel deprived and trigger overeating to compensate. As you’re eating, tuning into how you’re moving up this scale can be useful as well, as it can help you be more aware of when you get to that sweet spot of being full, but not overfull.
Breaking the Cycle
Thinking about this scale can help us break this cycle. If we realize we’re going to need food or start getting hungry every few hours (inevitably), we can start to plan our meals and snacks to happen when we need them throughout the day. That can look like bringing a snack to eat before a long lab or making sure to eat dinner before going to work, or bringing dinner with you to eat on your break. All of these things keep your body fueled, so it doesn’t feel deprived and trigger overeating to compensate. As you’re eating, tuning into how you’re moving up this scale can be useful as well, as it can help you be more aware of when you get to that sweet spot of being full, but not overfull.
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