Overeating is the biggest enemy when watching your weight or making a change to your lifestyle. Staying in control of what we eat can be challenging in our world, when there is scrumptious foods available everywhere. We know how much to eat and what it takes to keep going, but sometimes we cannot help ourselves. The problem of overeating is not lack of character or motivation, but we are fighting our brains which are trying to protect us from starvation.
It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are, your mind does not comprehend that there is more food on the table than there should be. Even though you will feel full after a while when you eat, there is a delay between the time you’ve had enough to eat and the time your brain realizes there is food in your stomach.
These 4 simple tips below will help to make sure that you slow down or lower your calorie intake a little bit while eating.
- Start with vegetables or a fruit. There are multiple benefits by starting with your vegetables before moving on to the korma, biryani, pasta or potatoes. First, you make sure you get all the nutrition from the vegetables on your plate, and secondly you start filling up low calorie, healthy food so that you can feel satisfied earlier. Apples have multiple vitamins and it is filling. Spinach is a good dinner food.
- Chew every bite for longer. When you do this, you gracefully slow down your digestion which is a good thing. You also make sure that the digestive enzymes in your saliva get mixed with the food before moving on the stomach.
- Take breaks. After eating a few mouthfuls, put down the spoon or fork and just take a break for a minute or two. Talk to the people you’re eating with and let your mind catch up to your food intake.
- Stop when satisfied. There is a difference between feeling full and being satisfied. Being satisfied is when you have eaten enough, you are no longer hungry but still not full. This is the perfect amount. Feeling full means you are feeling bloated and you feel like your stomach is going to burst.
Fitness can also be incorporated to control your diet. Physical activity is important if you are looking to control you weight. You may go for a walk around the park or join a health fitness center. Use the treadmills and do cardio for 30 minutes a day. Swimming is an excellent sport you can start doing to trim down your weight and control your diet. When you exercise, you feel more energetic and you are able to control your diet. Your brain releases endorphins that manages your appetite.
Strength training is also something you can include in your workout regimen to make sure you are controlling your diet. You can do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training to help motivate you and manage your overeating. Walk up and down the stairs for 10 minutes a day as well. You can also play with your kids to stay active.