Overeating is the single biggest cause of obesity and lifestyle disorders. Overeating means eating more than your digestive capacity or eating the wrong foods at the wrong time. Most of us realize that we do overeat but cannot get over it and tend to regret later. The immediate/initial problems of overeating are in the form of laziness and bloating, the other being the hard time your digestive system has to assimilate the food. The long term problems of overeating is in the form of belly fat, skin problems, hair fall, lethargy, heart problems, diabetes. Listing below simple, effective ways to avoid overeating.
Eat Whole foods/Avoid Processed foods
The most important lifestyle habit that we have to change is to prefer/include whole and unprocessed food in your diet as much as possible. Foods like fruits, vegetable, nuts, whole grains, beans help you reset your brain and appetite.
Eat Breakfast
Not skipping breakfast is another habit to avoid overeating. According to a recent study, people who skipped breakfast were more likely to be obese than those who ate it frequently. So have breakfast and do not eat food at least 2 hours before going to bed. Eating food earlier in the day prevents you from overeating at night.
Eat Mindfully
Our stomach takes 20 minutes to tell the brain that it is full, so we tend to overeat when we eat fast. Eating while stressed out also makes us fat, both because we do not digest our food properly and also because stress hormones slow the metabolism promoting fat storage around the belly. Therefore we eating, make it a point to eat slowly, chew properly and enjoy every part of your meal.
Avoid/Moderate Alcohol
As per a study, people who consume alcohol ate significantly more than those who did not. This is because when consuming alcohol, it activates hunger-promoting brain cells. Alcohol also releases your inhibition’s/self control leading to the tendency to eat more. Therefore, cutting down on alcohol will get rid of additional sugar calories and prevent you from overeating.
Get sufficient Sleep
It has been observed/proven that even if we lose a little bit of sleep, it contributes to making us feel more hungry, crave for sugar and carbohydrates. This paves the way for more obesity and diabetes. Therefore it is important to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night which will facilitate less craving for food and normalizing fat regulating hormones.
Control Stress Levels
Nowadays stress has become a part of our daily life and which adversely affects our health. Stress makes us overeat, especially the wrong kinds of food , which leads to weight gain. Learn to actively relax, meditate and spend time on activities/hobbies of interest.