How To Stop Overeating

I have been talking for a long time now about how the key to weight loss is simply eating less.

I know this sounds too easy and uncomplicated to be effective. I can’t sell “eat less” in a late night infomercial or on QVC. I can’t sell “eat less” in a bottle or pill case, despite some people trying. I can’t even sell you an “eat less” fat loss system from this website……it just isn’t sexy enough, cutting edge, or exciting. You’d never bite (sorry).

Despite all that, I believe we grossly overestimate how much we need to eat to lose weight or to maintain our weight. We have no idea how many calories is really in a single serving of food, and what the hell constitutes a serving anyway? It changes from food to food.

Why Do We Need To Eat?

I feel like this is such a kindergarten topic but I think we need to go back to basics for a second because we have obviously forgotten this.

We eat for 2 reasons:

1. To fuel the physiological processes that occur in your body.

This is your resting metabolic rate. It’s the minimum amount of food we need to consume to keep our bodies running, even when we are sleeping. This is different for everyone based on genetics.

2. To fuel the physical activity that you do throughout the day.

This is where we all go wrong……..we need to eat to fuel our activities, and for no other reasons. We need to eat the correct amount of food to fuel the amount of energy we need. If you eat less food needed to fuel your activities you will lose weight. If you eat the exact amount of food needed to fuel your activities you will maintain your weight. If you eat more food than is needed to fuel your activities you will gain weight.

Most of us are in the latter scenario. We are eating too much food than our bodies need for what we are doing. So, you can either eat less or exercise more. However, this article is about eating less, since nutrition is the number one factor why you are over weight.

Why Do You Overeat?

Why do you eat so much? Is it because you want to fuel your body for the activities you will be doing? Or because eating is fun? Because food tastes soooo good? Because you are upset about something? Stressed? Bored? Angry? Lonely? Maybe because it was there so you ate it? Are you actually hungry or is your husband eating 4 slices of pizza so you think you can too? Or do you simply not know how much you should be eating for your activity level?

You would be surprised at how many people just don’t know.

How To Stop Overeating

There are a ton of ways to help you to potion control that have been written about way too much so I won’t include them here at any length. But just in case you’re curious they are things such as:

• eating off a smaller plate
• not going back for seconds
• eat 1/3 of your meal you get in restaurants and have the rest packed up to take home
• eat home more
• drink water or eat soup or salad before you meal to help full you up
• make your meals plant based and add protein and fat as additions to the meal, etc.

You get my drift?

Here are 4 completely new ways to stop overeating that I am hoping you have not yet considered.

1. Determine how many calories per day you need to meet your weight loss or maintenance goals. Use this calorie calculator to help. This is highly based on activity level.

2. Keep track in a food log how many calories you are consuming each day. This is a great way to see what you are doing right, and, more importantly, what you are doing wrong. As I said above, I guarantee if you are having trouble losing weight or if you are gaining and you don’t know why, you are simply eating too much and you just don’t know it.

3. Determine why, when, and how much you eat and keep track of the reasons on your food log. You should try to identify when you are eating because you are hungry (which is what we want) vs the times when you eat (or overeat) because of some other reason. Once you figure out some of the non-hunger related reasons for eating you may see some of them disappear. Sometimes knowledge is the answer. But sometimes you need a little extra help. If this is you I highly suggest seeing a therapist to help you work through issues.

4. Find ways to eat less that work for you personally.

One thing I realized when I evaluated why I ate so much was that I was inadvertently trying to keep up with Scott. For those of you who haven’t read about Scott before, he is 6’4″, about 220 lbs, and mostly made up of muscle. He works about 10 hours each day as a contractor – a highly physical job. He probably burns more calories in 1 hour at work then you do all day long.

So then there is me. I’m 5’9″ and last year moved to a very sedentary, sit behind the computer job. In fact, some days I sit here for 12 hours writing this stuff for you!

The question is, do I need the same about of food as Scott?

Hell no. Not even close. Can I and have I eaten the same amount of food as Scott?

Hell yes, many, many times. And when I realized that, I knew I had to take action. All I did was observe what Scott put on his plate and I took less. I try to take about half of what he does. If I need a little more I take it but I always start low.

Tough, I know.

Another way I started eating less was by using intermittent fasting. You simply fast for short periods of time and it gives you all sorts of health and weight loss benefits. The good news is, another metabolism myth is debunked here because you will not slow down your metabolism by fasting – or skipping meals for that matter.

I simply eat dinner one night so I am done by about 6pm. Then I don’t eat again until 6pm the next day. I go 24 hours without eating but never go a full day without eating.

On a slightly side note, my favorite reason why I like to fast is because after I do it I have no sugar cravings. It totally balances me.

You can see a free fat loss presentation using intermittent fasting by clicking here.

If you do these 4 things, I promise you will be well on your way to eating less and reaching your desired weight.

Your Coach,

Susan Campbell, MS, CSCS

P.S. You can see a free fat loss presentation using intermittent fasting by clicking here.

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Tagged as: eat too much, intermittent fasting, lose weight, over eating, weight loss, why do i eat so much