Modern scientific research is revealing more and more details about the subconscious mechanisms that control our appetite. Knowing them, you can change your eating habits. Here are some simple rules to help curb your appetite without even thinking about it.
Life Hacks To Avoid Overeating
1- Eat In Smaller Plate
Always eat on a small plate. According to scientists, we eat with our eyes, not our stomach. In turn, the size of the dishes affects our visual perception of food. It helps to control whether there is a lot of little food in front of us.
A small plate that is full gives the illusion of satiety. And vice versa – a bulky plate with the same amount of food looks scanty, increasing hunger. Moreover, the color of the dishes plays an equally important role.
2- Don’t Skip Breakfast
Don’t underestimate the importance of breakfast. Nutritionists believe that people who do not skip a morning meal receive fewer calories in the following hours. This happens for several reasons. First, food upon waking up activates metabolic processes and speeds up metabolism.
Secondly, it saturates the body for a long time. If we ignore breakfast, we will be haunted by an obsessive desire to eat. Because of this, you can get your norm with more high-calorie and fatty foods and shift the rest of the meals in time.
And if we eat when the metabolism is less active, the nutrients are more likely to turn into fat. That is why it is important not to skip breakfast and drink a large glass of water half an hour before it.
3- Eat Slower
Try to chew your food more thoroughly, concentrating on taste and pleasure. Thanks to this simple technique, we begin to eat more consciously. The feeling of fullness comes faster, and it becomes easier to monitor the amount of food eaten.
For the same reason, you should not read, watch TV, or check social media while eating. You should eat in silence. A person feels full faster if he/she hears chewing.
4- Give Up Alcohol
This is another reason for over-eating. After drinking an excessive amount of alcohol, a person starts to feel hungry. The brain starts to send signals to eat something. However, this is just a side-effect of drinking alcohol. If you really want to stop over-eating first get rid of this habit. You can also get alcoholism treatment for getting better soon.
5- Hide Food Away
Scientifically proven fact: overeating has not only biological but also psychological reasons. For example, we will eat more if the food is in front of our eyes. The mere sight of it causes a false feeling of hunger. To protect yourself from temptations, nutritionists advise hiding food in cupboards or on the highest shelves. The harder it is to get to the treats, the less likely you are to eat them.
The same goes for the refrigerator. Looking into it, the first thing we do is reach for what lies in. Therefore, it is better to transfer all not too healthy food to the lower and upper compartments. If you follow the lead of false hunger, you can face overeating and metabolic disorders.
6- Start Eating With Your Other Hand
Our brain functions in autopilot mode, most of the time. We can walk to the house without concentrating on the walking process and not paying attention to the surrounding landscape. But once we change the usual route, our thinking starts to work actively again. In the issue of overeating, habit plays an equally important role.
To turn off food autopilot, try eating with the other hand. This triggers the second hemisphere of the brain and allows you not to miss the moment of saturation. Simply by taking a fork in the other hand, a person eats 30% less. Besides, this trick helps to keep the brain in good shape and perfectly trains memory.
7- Plan Shopping Trips When You Are Not Hungry
If you’re hungry, put off going to the grocery store. In such a situation, you are at the risk of putting a lot of junk and high-calorie foods in the basket. Scientists say that when we are hungry, resisting temptations is more difficult. Even a short break between meals makes us choose unhealthy foods.
Therefore, the ideal time to visit the supermarket is in the evening after dinner or after breakfast on the weekend. Another proven way to avoid buying too much is to make a list of products. It helps not only to refuse impulse purchases but also not to lose important information. To not deviate from this list, you can eat an apple or just chew gum before grocery shopping.
8- Keep A Food Diary
A food diary is a mirror that allows you to see and analyze your nutrition mistakes. It is also an effective tool for identifying food intolerances. You don’t have to weigh foods and count calories to keep a journal. It is enough just to record everything that you eat during the day. Besides, you can track your sleep patterns and monitor the amount of water you drink.
If you don’t like handwriting, you can use one of the many mobile apps. The more often we pay attention to what we eat, the easier it will be to give up unhealthy foods. You will soon find that you have eliminated all meaningless and unnecessary calories from your diet.
9- Get Enough Sleep
Practice shows: the most harmful snacks, we crave at night. This is one of the reasons why you should go to bed earlier. Besides, lack of sleep increases the levels of anxiety and stress that can lead to eating chocolates. After a sleepless night, a person buys about 18% more food.
The fact is that due to a lack of sleep, the production of leptin, the hormone of satiety, gets disturbed. As a result, we crave more salty, fatty, and sugary foods.
Summing Up
Over-eating is a common problem. However, you can get over it. Just follow the above-mentioned amazing tips to avoid over-eating. In a month or two, you will notice great changes in your eating habits.