It’s less complicated compared to you believe to eat way too much on healthy and balanced foods when you’re not carefully determining as well as considering your parts. As well as that has the moment to do that for every single dish and also treat anyhow?
As a person that has actually invested years establishing a strong understanding of calories as well as section dimensions for a range of foods, I still blunder periodically by consuming excessive. Via all of it, I’ve pertained to determine at the very least 6 bad routines that have the tendency to lead me (and also possibly great deals of other individuals as well) down that unfavorable roadway to over-eating.
These are the kinds of practices that are so implanted in our way of livings, we’re virtually unconcerned to that they could add to overindulging. The amount of behaviors can you confess to experiencing in your very own life?
1. Eating too many carbs without enough protein or healthy fat.
Fruits and veggies are absolutely essential in any healthy diet, but let’s face it—trying to fill up on cucumber and celery is only going to be a very short-term solution. If you’re running entirely on fast-digesting carbohydrates, you’re probably going to be hungry again sooner than later, making you more prone to overeating at your next meal or snack.
Solution: Always add some healthy protein and fat to your carbs to help you stay fuller for longer. Try oatmeal, avocados, nuts or hummus. Check out these 10 protein-packed plant foods for even more ideas.
2. Distracted eating.
Most of us have become multitasking eaters. We eat dinner on the couch while we watch Netflix or scarf down our food in front of our computers while we hustle through lunch at work. When we do this, our awareness is taken off of tasting and swallowing our food, making it difficult to sense our bodies’ signals that tell us when we should stop eating.
Solution: Make it a habit to eat at the dinner table or get away from your desk at lunch. Also, check out some of these mindful eating tips.
3. Using a full-sized dinner plate.
Have you noticed that dinner plates have gotten bigger over the years? They definitely have, and that means it’s a heck of a lot easier to go overboard on portions with all that extra plate space to fill up. In fact, the correct portions might actually look a lot smaller to you than they really are when they’re sitting on a large plate.
Solution: Review WebMD’s portion control guidelines and consider swapping out your big dinner plates for your smaller appetizer/salad/dessert plates in your dishware set. It may look and feel weird, but if it keeps your portions in check, then it’s working!
4. Waiting too long between meals.
I’d say not getting enough healthy protein or fat goes hand-in-hand with spacing your meals out too far apart. Both can make you ravenous—to the point where you lose all control when you actually do eat. If you go all day without eating very much and then gorge yourself at night, you’re more likely to gain weight and even compromise your sleep quality, too.
Solution: Get used to planning your meals and snacks way ahead of time. Whether you’re hungry within 2 or 6 hours of eating your last meal, tune into your body regularly and make sure you can snack on something healthy to hold you over until you can get some real food. Here are a few portable snack ideas to consider.
5. Not getting enough sleep.
Some studies have found that sleep deprivation heightens people’s preferences for bad food choices. And it makes sense, right? Lack of sleep puts stress on the body, and one common way people deal with stress is by eating. Likewise, if you’re spending more time awake than the average, well-rested person, that also gives you more time to spend rummaging through the pantry or refrigerator.
Solution: Make it a priority to start getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night by setting a strict bedtime and wakeup time you can stick with. Check out these top 10 sleep mistakes and their solutions.
If you can master all the solutions to these sneaky habits that cause you to reach for more food, then you’ll be on your way to eliminating any big struggles with overeating from your life. It just takes some extra awareness and a lot of action!