Christmas Eve dinner, the Christmas reheat (and the rest of the week), the posadas, the New Year’s celebration, uff! In these December holidays there is always delicious food that we wait 12 months for, but we run the risk of overeating.
When we are in front of a buffet, lunch, party or a family celebration, our eyes tend to grow larger than our stomachs due to the excess food around us.
Have you ever wondered how much food is really too much?
“Overeating can be defined as the act of eating beyond what is necessary to nourish oneself,” says Kylie Arrindell, a wellness nutritionist at Houston Methodist Hospital. “Whether intentional or not, we all do it at some point. The short-term symptoms are related to an upset stomach, but there are long-term consequences that can have a very negative impact on health.”
It is important to recognize if you are falling into excess and to put certain measures in place, if you do it frequently.
What are the signs of overeating?
According to the Houston Methodist Hospital, calories are not a great indicator of mindful eating. These no longer represent the great reference as they were in the past, since they cannot measure satiety or the quality of food.
Conscious eating and stopping when you feel full are two key factors in understanding why you overeat. That being said, the real signs of overeating include:
- Eating past the point of when you feel full
- Find yourself eating, without thinking, just because you are bored or distracted
- Experiencing physical symptoms after eating, including nausea, abdominal discomfort, gas, heartburn, bloating, or reflux.
Eating, beyond feeding ourselves
“We already have a clearer picture of the short-term signs and symptoms of overeating, but there are also long-term indicators, such as unwanted weight gain, difficulty losing weight, and prolonged digestive upset,” adds Arrindell. .
Arrindell points out that over the course of weeks, months or years, overeating can affect your cholesterol and could impair blood sugar control, which could put you at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
How to stop overeating? Top 10 tips from a nutritionist
If you recognize the signs and are ready to act, here’s what Arrindell recommends to prevent overeating:
1. Familiarize yourself with recommended serving sizes
Portion size is critical. To keep your urge to eat in check, check out food nutrition labels and the recommended amounts on a plate of good eating, but always use reputable sources.
These guidelines aren’t perfect, but they can help establish the baseline of what a realistic serving size looks like; which is usually hard to guess on your own. Knowing the indicated parameter will also help you take responsibility for not eating when you no longer need it. Another way to understand what healthy portion sizes are is by asking your nutritionist. And speaking of taking responsibility for what we eat, we also recommend trying to eat on a smaller plate.
“The plates we serve our food on are often quite large, so even something as simple as downsizing your plate can really help ensure more appropriately portioned intake and avoid overeating, especially for those who they have been educated to finish everything on their plate”, adds the specialist nutritionist.
2. Include a source of fiber with lunch and dinner
“Fiber is useful for satiety, as it gives you that feeling of being satisfied after eating,” explains the nutrition expert.
For example, let’s compare a plate of roasted vegetables with several pieces of cheese. Both can contain the same amount of calories, but roasted vegetables are more likely to fill you up because they’re more filling and because they contain fiber. That feeling of fullness can help reduce tendencies to overeat.
On the other hand, cheese is denser in calories than a plate of vegetables and lacks fiber, so you will need a greater amount of cheese intake to reach the same point of satiety as with vegetables. So it’s quite possible that you’ll eat more cheese than your body actually needs before you feel physically full. That is why you have to combine foods at meals and start with salads and vegetables to reach the point of satiety more quickly.
3. Avoid skipping meals
Intermittent fasting, which is based on skipping meals, is a fad diet right now, but for some people, it can lead to a feast-or-famine mentality that inadvertently leads to overeating; The same thing happens when we avoid calories from a meal to save them and better use them at a buffet or family event.
“Skipping meals can cause intense hunger, which, for many people, tends to lead to overeating episodes,” Arrindell warns.
“Instead, I recommend snacking healthy between meals or eating smaller meals more regularly throughout the day.”
4. Know and limit the foods that are easiest to overeat
We have all wondered if there are foods that we should completely discard. Knowing them would simplify our lives, right? But again, nutritionist Arrindell says it’s not that simple.
“We all have our own individual preferences for the foods and drinks we enjoy the most, so advice on which foods to watch out for will vary from person to person,” Arrindell emphasizes. “Keeping a food diary can provide you with insight into your own eating habits, a useful tool for identifying which foods you struggle with the most.”
Most people tend to overeat high-calorie foods or processed foods that are perceived as “treats,” including those high in:
- Salt
- added sugar
- Saturated fats and trans fats
- empty calories
No food should be eaten in excess, even healthy ones, such as vegetables. Remember that these are rich in fiber and eating them in excess will cause digestive problems.
5. Stay hydrated
“Thirst cues can often be mistaken for hunger,” Arrindell cautions.
When you feel hungry or want to eat a snack, try instead to take a few sips of water. This can help you determine if you are really hungry or just thirsty. On the other hand, consuming at least 2 liters of water throughout the day can help you completely avoid those difficult moments of “hunger” or “craving” that you don’t really have.
6. Reflect on why you are eating and pay attention to hunger cues
There are many reasons why you want to eat, but there is only one physiologically important reason: to nourish yourself. “I think I need a sandwich” or “It’s dinner time” are phrases whose importance we must consciously redefine since many times we act and eat on impulse or out of habit.
“If you’re not really paying attention to the lunch or dinner you’re eating and thinking about why you’re eating it, you probably aren’t being aware of your body’s appetite and hunger signals either,” says Arrindell.
7. Slow down
Fundamentally, not overeating also means knowing how to stop when satiety approaches. Portion sizes can help, but ultimately, slowing down the rate at which you eat, along with paying attention to how you’re really feeling, is one of the best tools for avoiding overeating.
The goal is to give your stomach, which is full of food, and your brain, which is hungry, time to get back in sync with each other. In fact, it can take up to 20 minutes for your stomach to let your brain know that it’s full. That is why eating slowly becomes so important.
8. Rethink that second serving
Speaking of slowing down… This one can help you decide if you really need to refill your plate or not. “Maybe you’re really hungry and need more food, which is fine,” Arrindell explains. “But my advice is to wait 5-10 minutes before getting another slice to gauge if you’re still really hungry; and if so then make sure your extra portion is mostly healthy food, eg more vegetables.”
9. Turn off the TV
“Turn off the TV and sit down at the table, that’s a great start,” advises Arrindell. “Eating without distractions takes us back to the concept of connecting with the conscious process of nutrition for our bodies, which is the main function of food.”
10. Most importantly: don’t be so hard on yourself
Faced with the temptations of typical Christmas and New Year meals, you should not be so strict; You can eat anything, but you must also keep that commitment to yourself, stay aware of what you eat and drink, as well as make smart and healthy choices.
“Allowing yourself to eat foods that you really enjoy in moderation is helpful because then you’re not obsessed with overindulging in them later,” Arrindell closes.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.