We all need help curbing our over-eating from time to time. Here are some helpful tips to prevent an over-eating overload.
Avoid Waiting Until You're Ravenous to Eat
If you don't feel hunger until it is too late, it can be challenging to eat your meal with mindfulness of your satiety levels. Set yourself up for success by beginning your meal when you're feeling hungry, but not ill or irritated. That said, many of us are not so great at knowing when we're hungry until it's too late, but if you are intermittent fasting, you can keep an hour in mind when you know your eating window will begin.
Are You Hungry Enough to Eat an Apple?
It might sound strange, but we often experience cravings that have nothing to do with hunger. Do you ever find that you have enough room to eat an ice-cream after a full meal but, the idea of eating a nutrient-dense snack, such as an apple and nut butter, sounds unappealing? In this case, you're probably not truly hungry. The next time you want to reach for a snack, ask yourself if you're hungry enough to eat a whole apple. If the answer is no, think about when you last ate and if you are experiencing real hunger.
Drink Fluids Before You Eat
It's always a good idea to have a drink before you start eating. Filling your stomach with a glass of water or tea can take the edge off of hunger so that you don't rush into your meal and eat too fast.
Help Manage Your Portion Sizes with Calocurb
For those not doing a fasting programme, we suggest taking Calocurb an hour before a meal twice daily (or when your craving time usually hits). For those on a fasting programme (16:8 as an example), we suggest taking a capsule at 9 am (during fasting), and one at 5 pm (during your eating window, before dinner). One of the best things with Calocurb is that you can change it around your daily schedule to find what suits you in terms of when it benefits your appetite/hunger the most. Our recommendation is a guide on what our clinical trials are based on, and what has been working for other customers and us.
Connect More with Your Food
Before the start of a meal, think about where your food is coming from, what makes up the meal and all the work that went into it. This can help you feel more connected to and mindful of the food you're eating.
Clear Those Distractions
Turn off the TV, get away from the computer and turn your mobile on silent. It's hard to tune into your body's cues with digital distractions making noise and taking our focus off of the task at hand: eating. Sit at the table with a chair and a plate to put yourself in a pleasant environment and mind-set for eating intuitively.
Balance Your Plate
A meal that includes a mix of carbohydrates, fat, and protein is more likely to satiate you faster and keep you full longer. When our meals are balanced, we get shorter-term energy from starchy veggies and grains and longer-term energy from healthy fat and protein.
Take Time-Out as You Eat
During the meal, pause and put your fork down. This gives you more time to pace yourself and check in to gauge how full you are. Engage in conversation if you are with someone. Take several deep breaths and drink some water. Repeat this several times during the meal.
Manage Your Stress
Eating is not just something we do when we are hungry anymore. Much of our eating is stress-related, which can lead us to overeat, too often, and eat the wrong foods. By taking steps to reduce stress through exercise, spending time in nature, practising mindfulness, or enjoying time with loved ones, you can reduce your chances of overeating.
Avoid the 'Last-Supper' Effect
Whenever we create a food restriction, it makes us susceptible to binge later on. In other words, if you forbid yourself from eating certain foods, you are highly likely to overindulge in them while you still can, a phenomenon also known as the "last supper effect." This can also carry over after you stop eating a particular food.