Help! I Overeat...

Has anyone ever asked you why you were overweight?

Someone once asked me what I was doing when I allowed myself to balloon to my 156kg weight. My go to argument was that I had a thyroid problem (hypothyroidism). I did have a thyroid problem and was taking medication for it. But truth be told, I was a habitual overeater! Yes I said it! I used to eat too much. Much more than my body needed – so the excess was stored on my hips, thighs and …you get the picture.

Some of my excuses for my ever increasing weight was ‘I only eat when I am hungry’ or ‘hunger is my bodies way of telling me it needs fuel’ or my personal favorite ‘rather than the food waste, might as well put it to use in my tummy’! (yep, I said that --- sounds silly now, but then it made a whole lot of sense). I’ve actually heard someone (who will remain anonymous – to protect the guilty LOL) say ‘eat hearty today, for tomorrow we diet – if tomorrow ever comes!’

To answer your question, yes I still tend to overeat (if I am not careful) and am always tempted by food.

But why do I overeat? Am I legitimately hungry when I do eat? Is there any help from someone like me? What steps can I take to prevent myself from overeating and negate my DROP IT lifestyle?

For me the first step is identifying if my body really needs food before I eat – am I really hungry, because if you ask me I am dying with hunger. But what I have learned recently has shown that it’s really habitual eating – a knee jerk impulse to put something in my mouth. Other times it’s really thirst that I mistake for hunger, and other times as well I am eating out of boredom (my biggest eating trigger). Other reasons I have heard people [over]eat is depression, anger, joy, anxiety etc.

This is a big can of whoopee, but today I’ll take on the question ‘am I really hungry when I eat’. To answer this question, there are a few questions I’ve learnt to ask myself:

When did you last eat Liz? If I have eaten less than 2.5hours before, I am most likely NOT really hungry –as hunger cycles really peak in 120minutes intervals (different researchers have different things to say about this – some say 90mins, but I think the 120mins is more realistic), so unless I had a really tiny small portion - chances are I am not hungry. In this case I go for a glass of water or cup of tea. What I do avoid is gum – because gum has a way of making me feel REALLY hungry…is this just me or does this happen to you too? Other things I have tried between meals is fresh fruit – like apples (try this combo: apple with peanut butter – you will LOVE it), carrots, garden eggs… things like this help stave off the hunger pangs until my real meal. I hear that proteins last longer in your tummy, so you might want to try some real cheese or a boiled egg.

Are you craving something in particular or are you really hungry Liz? Craving is an intense desire to eat something in particular – like pistachio ice cream against my body reaching out for sustenance. This is tricky because I don’t know about you, but when I crave, I crave things I should ideally avoid. But hey! You only live once right? What I do in this instance is NOT to give in to my cravings, because it can lead me down a downward spiral of binging and guilt. I substitute what I crave for what I actually like – like a cup of iced tea, or fruit or veggie smoothie (seriously). Someone once suggested iced lemon water [simple iced water with a wedge of lemon]– I have not tried it but hey if that floats your boat why not give it a try. But I do not deny myself tasty treats like a little cup of ice cream once in a while. I actually have a timetable for treats so I don’t feel deprived – and like I said they are treats for me – I think of them as rewards for sticking to my DROP IT lifestyle. It has worked so far…

Are you sure you are not just thirsty Liz? If you are like me and don’t drink much water it will be easy to mistake your body craving water for hunger pangs. For me this is the biggest culprit because I think that if you are thirsty and rather than drinking water you eat, you will still have that feeling of thirst – because the need is water and not food. If the root desire is not satisfied, it will not really go away. So I am trying to learn how to know the difference. What do I do? Have a glass of water and wait a few minutes, if it is thirst the urge for something in my mouth would go away. Not very scientific, right? The way I see it, a little more water never hurt anyone.

Are you sure you are not just bored Liz? Boredom is my biggest trigger for overeating. Once I have nothing to do I default to two major things – eat and sleep in that order. Not good for someone who needs to keep active to DROP IT, right? No one has to tell me that I am bored, so here I have to exercise some will power. But common sense things I’ve come up with to keep me active and help me not resort to food include – read (no great hardship here because I really love to read, the trick is to find the book to take my mind off my stomach), go for a drive, go see a movie (but forego the popcorn and cinema snacks).The trick is to avoid boredom in the first instance- which is why I have taken up some new hobbies (don’t ask…J).

Have you noticed anything about your eating patterns? How do you manage [premature] hunger? I’ll be glad if you share…

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