Help! I Want To Stop Overeating!

MOM/DAD: Don’t you know there are over 5m hungry children in the world? Finish your food NOW!

LIZ:  But mummy I am satisfied… [whine]

MOM/DAD: I said finish it…don’t let me get to you…waste not, want not! I spent good money putting food on the table and you will very well eat all of it!

Does this sound familiar?

Did you ever have this conversation with your mom, dad or some other elder caring for you when you were a kid?

I am of the opinion that many of us tend to over eat because of this scenario right here. Enough of this over time and you have a HABIT of stuffing your face well after you are truly satisfied/full. I know this habit did a BIG number on me, and I spent years just eating way past the point when I should have stopped. Add this to an underactive thyroid, a sedentary lifestyle (very little physical exercise) and you have what you see on the right.

Did you know that the average human stomach can hold upto 2 liters of food? Ideally we should try to consume no more than 0.9liters at each meal. But most of us cram upwards of 3liters to 5liters each meal.

So, if my food is solid and not liquid when I eat, how do I know when to stop at 0.9liters? How do I know when to stop eating? Glad you asked, let me share what I have learnt about this.

There actually is no real science to knowing exactly when you are full/satisfied after eating. In this case, experience is the best judge – if your experience has you overeating (like me)…then you are stumped! BUT you can re-train yourself to eat less, and learn when your tummy is really full.

My recommendations to train yourself to eat less:

·        Try using a smaller plate for your food (I downsized my plate to kids size so I eat less – but have 5 meals a day). This helps me not pile too much food on my plate and control the quantity of food I eat.

·        Chew your food till it’s completely liquidized in your mouth – some advice 20 times – before you swallow. Trust me, this can be so deliberate that you actually end up eating less

·        Eat your protein first – [as an African my mom would scold me for eating my piece of chicken or beef before other portions of my meal – something about that being a sign of a greedy child] but proteins actually fill us up faster so if you start there you are likely to feel full faster than if you start munching on your rice or potatoes first.

·        Although my nutritionist advised against this, I still do it as I derive some value from it. I try to drink a small glass of water before I eat. I think that the water helps me fill full faster thereby helping me not eat too much at one sitting.

·        I’ve said this before – eat mindfully. Don’t try to watch TV and eat at the same time, or read a book and eat, or work on your computer and eat; you will most likely miss your body’s cues that you are full and end up eating too much.

·        I read somewhere (and I am trying to practice this) that you should STOP EATING as soon as you START feeling the food in your stomach. The goal is to stop eating when your stomach is 80% full – when your hunger is just beginning to subside. I don’t quite know how to explain this, I guess you have to try recognizing the feeling of being 80% full, or feeling the food in your stomach to get what I mean. Sorry!

·        Blue plates! Yes the color of your plates matter. There is research that shows that eating from a blue plate puts a dampener on your appetite, resulting in you eating less. Converse is the case for white plate (why do you think most restaurants serve you from white plates?- you got it… To make you eat more!)

An idea I have not tried (yet) is washing your mouth out with mouth wash after eating so any food you eat soon after would taste not nice. (sounds … innovative)

Does this help? I know it’s not overly scientific but these are things I practice and I think they have helped me figuratively ‘put a knife to my throat’.

I know many of us have devised means of identifying when we are full and reduce overeating, and your knowledge or experience will help others. Care to share your method of choice?

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