DIET FACTS: 10 tips to avoid Overeating

 Diet Facts:  Do You Overeat?

There have been lots and lots of articles written about the obesity epidemic in the US, and how our "Supersize It" mentality and love of fast foods and overly processed convenience foods, as well as our lack of exercise has caused a huge increase in obese and morbidly obese people in this country.  But what is it that causes this?  Even if you can supersize your meals and our portion sizes, in general, have increased over the years.. by a lot...why do we do it?  We know that overeating is going to make us fat, so why aren't we pushing ourselves away from the table, buying the regular size meals or choosing to eat healthier foods? 

There are many reasons for this, but the biggest one, I believe, is that people don't listen to their body's signals. We continue to eat when we're no longer hungry, and we don't only eat because we're hungry. We also eat because "it's time", or we're stressed, or for emotional reasons, and add that to the fact that a lot of us have busy, overly full lives and hectic schedules, we don't always have the time or the energy to put much thought and energy into the foods we choose to eat.  We know fast food is full of fat, sodium, grease, and sugar, but by the time we get home from work, the last thing we want to do, or have time to do, is cook a more healthy, nutritious meal.  Then there's people like me, who live alone or often eat alone, and it's too much of a hassle and a pain to cook for just one person, so we opt for fast food and frozen microwaveable stuff, that is processed and full of preservatives and chemicals.  Unfortunately, most of the time my choice is to just not eat real meals.  Meals for me are more often than not a bowl of corn, ramen noodles, grilled cheese,  or a freeze pop, or maybe cereal or an egg sandwich, and that's not good either. under eating is just as bad for you as overeating, but that's an article for another day.  I have been making an effort to eat three actual meals a day, with real food...and I'm doing okay with it most days, but it's hard to make myself cook for just me. 

Food is supposed to be fuel, and our bodies need a certain amount of fuel every day to run right, but many of us eat way more than we need, or even WANT, just because we have lost the ability to listen to the signals of fullness or satiety our bodies give us and eat only what we need. We don't stop when we are satisfied, and sometimes don't stop when we are really full.  We eat until we're uncomfortable.  How many times have you felt satisfied, but kept eating because you were bored, or because there was still food on your plate and you didn't want to waste it?  If we made better choices, took smaller portions, and learned to stop eating, regardless of what is left on our plates, there might not be such a huge problem with obesity in this country.   I'm not suggesting that every overweight person is overweight due to overeating, or saying that  if you're overweight it's because you're some sort of glutton.. there are other things that often play into weight gain, but for a lot  of people, overeating is the main cause, and there are simple things they can do to try to change that.

Here's a few tips to help avoid overeating
1.  Eat three meals a day, starting with a healthy breakfast to kickstart your metabolism, and a sensible lunch and dinner. 
2.  Limit between meal snacks, and cut down or cut out things like cake, cookies and chips.  Choose fruit and low cal snacks, but if you really want/need a cookie, have one or two..not the whole bag.  If you want ice cream.. have a small cup, not a huge, heaping bowl . 
3.   Choose smaller portions.   Give up on the supersize option, and learn what a "regular" serving size is supposed to look like.  You think that you'll be hungry if you don't eat those huge portions, but more than likely you'll be perfectly satisfied, because you're body is probably telling you that you're done and you've had enough long before you choose to put down your fork.  You just have to learn to listen to it!
4.    No more seconds.  Eat your meal, and then put the rest away. Unless it's seconds on salad or veggies, forget it!  If you're really still hungry and truly not satisfied after you've eaten your meal, eat a piece of fruit or drink a glass of water before you reach for that second helping.  Chances are, you'll be satisfied and won't want seconds.  If the food was just too good and you really feel like you want more, try taking just one or two spoonfuls or fork fulls and see if that satisfies the urge for seconds, instead of eating a whole big second helping. 
5.  Stop eating out.  You have no way to know what's really in the food you eat when you eat out..plus it's really, really expensive.  With the amount of healthy groceries you could buy with what you spend at a restaurant it's crazy to go out!   Chances are, the food is prepared with a lot of prepackaged, processed stuff, including high fructose corn syrup, salt and fat.  If you do eat out, get a to go box right away and put half your meal in it before you start eating. 
6.  If you do eat out, go easy on.. or avoid altogether.. the appetizers, they're usually fried, battered, and covered in cheese and goo.  If you can't resist that blooming onion (like me!!) or that order of fried cheese (yuuuumy).. then get it, but split it with your hubby/wife/whoever, or order the appetizer instead of an entree, not in addition to it.
7.   Avoid eating with your friends.  Okay, this one may be hard to do, and could really put a crimp in your social life, but in terms of health and weight, eating with your friends, and eating as a social event, really increases the amount of food you will eat. Studies have shown that the amount of food people will eat is very often directly influenced by the amount of food they're served, the variety offered, and the number of people they eat with.  People tend to overeat in social situations, and food is no longer seen as nourishment or fuel, and more as a social event and something to bond over. Great for your relationships, bad for your butt!
8.   Avoid eating while watching TV or doing other activities.  Watching TV while eating greatly increases the chances that you will eat way too much,.because you're not paying attention to your food and mindlessly shoveling it in.  Before you know it, half the bag of chips will be gone, and you won't even remember eating them...so you didn't even enjoy them.. but you've eaten 500 extra calories you don't need. 
9.   Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly, paying attention to what you're eating, the taste, scent and texture of it.  Really enjoy what you're eating.  This not only will help you be more satisfied with what you're eating, it also will give your body time to digest the food you eat and register that you're full.  You're less likely to continue to overeat. 
10.  Listen to your body's signals.   Stop after every bite and put your fork down, or at least pause to see how you feel.  If you feel "done' and feel like you're satisfied, even if it's after only a few bites, STOP!   If you feel like "That was enough".. then be done eating.  Put the rest of your meal away or throw it away or whatever.  Just walk away and don't continue eating because you don't want to waste food. 

These are just a few things you can try, and they can really be helpful in learning to eat better and healthier.  What say you?   How are you at portion control and eating healthy?  Do you "Supersize it"?   Any tips you can add that work for you?