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2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
It is very difficult to stop in time after opening a large bag of chips. In order not to reproach ourselves for overeating later, it is worth figuring out how we can control our cravings for tasty things.
You pour hot aromatic tea, open a packet of cookies with the intention of eating two or three things and … you cannot stop. You chew on your last cookie and you feel guilty: “Why didn't you stop? What's wrong with me?"
Let me tell you one secret. It is normal, logical and predictable that you cannot say no to certain products. We are all powerless before them. We are losing control, we want more and more.
“Oh, I ate the steamed broccoli. I just couldn't stop! - when was the last time you said such words? And in general, how often have you eaten too much buckwheat, celery stalks or salmon fillets?
In 90% of episodes, processed foods are the object of overeating: this includes all snacks, be it chips, bars, corn sticks, cookies, or more. They differ significantly in taste, smell, texture and shelf life from their original state. All these changes are aimed at one thing: to use the maximum number of pleasure centers in the body: in the mouth, brain, abdomen. They give us cravings, instant gratification, and are low cost.
An entire industry is making products so delicious that they can't be resisted. If you find yourself eating an entire packet of cookies or a huge bag of chips, relax - you're fine. Your body and brain are responding as they should, as expected.
The food industry uses a variety of additives and the most sophisticated marketing gimmicks to make the product "easy" to consume and … overeat. And we don't even know how much we are exposed.
Why do we eat more than we need
1. We are convinced of the usefulness of refined products
Food marketers are on the alert. Recycled products are sold in colorful packaging. To attract attention, cartoon characters, calls from celebrities, words and pictures that cause positive associations are used.
So, on the packaging of breakfast cereals, you can see the words "healthy", "natural"; on loaves - "multi-grain", "with flax seeds"; on the package with the sauce - "with olive oil", "with natural spinach" and so on.
While the nutritional value of these products is poor, the use of popular catchwords and trendy ingredients helps to influence the consumer. They convince us that it is “good for me,” that when we put these foods in the basket and later in our mouths, we make wise choices and take care of ourselves.
Plus, if the food is “healthy,” and you “deserve,” why not eat a lot?
2. Large packages make us think we have a great deal
Buy more for less. Sounds tempting, doesn't it?
Between a small cake made from quality ingredients for 150 rubles and a large pack of trans fat cookies for the same money, the latter seems to be the best choice.
But we are not taking into account what I call the "health tax" - the price you pay later. If you regularly eat highly processed foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients, you will end up paying off your health.
3. Variety whets appetite
You are unlikely to eat a ton of the same product - for example, apples. Now remember how you felt standing in front of a buffet or when a large set of rolls was brought to you for two in a restaurant.
You need to try everything: the more variety, the more appetite. It distracts us from our own body signals. Take away the variety, and it will be easier for you to turn on awareness. As a result, you will eat less.
4. The combination of several tastes is very difficult to resist
Typically, these are sugar, salt and fat (or two out of three). Divine sweetness, savory salt and oily texture are the most insidious friends. I don't remember my clients eating sugar or salt with spoons or drinking oil from a bottle. But when this trinity is united, it is impossible to resist them.
Salt and fat go well in chips and fries. Sugar and fat are the basis of any baked goods, ice cream, confectionery, chocolate. But the most dangerous is the combination of sweet, fatty and salty, as in brownie with salted caramel, fries with ketchup, or some chocolate bars.
5. Food is fun
Food is needed to survive. Thanks to her, the body and brain perform their functions efficiently. Therefore, providing them with nutrient-rich foods is a very smart decision.
But food is more than just fuel. It's a pleasure. When you savor its taste, aroma and texture, the brain receives the appropriate signals, remembers them, and insistently demands repetition. The ability to enjoy food saved the human race from extinction. Otherwise, what would have made our ancestors hunt a mammoth and run in search of non-poisonous plants and berries?
Unfortunately, this brain trait inherited from our ancestors does not at all correspond to the conditions of abundance in which we live. So don't let food become your only source of enjoyment.
6. Food is about communication
How can you refuse to eat pizza with friends or a family feast with mom's pies? Food brings you closer together. Food makes communication more complete, and time spent with loved ones more joyful.
How to stop overeating
Now you know why it is so easy to lose control of yourself and continue to eat when you are full. But what can you do about it? Here are some strategies to help you build the right relationship with food and become healthier.
1. Turn on mindfulness
Processed food is easy to eat: it breaks down quickly (you don't need to chew for a long time) and takes up little volume in the stomach. Thanks to this, we can eat much more in a short period of time.
Conduct an experiment and notice how long it takes you to eat a whole food - apple, meat, buckwheat, whatever - and how long it will take you to eat a cheeseburger or cake.
It takes 20 minutes for the signal of satiety to reach the brain. Think about what foods and how much you can eat during this time.
Build your diet with whole foods and minimize or eliminate highly processed foods.
2. Don't forget that you are being manipulated
If the picture of the happy family from the ads for mayonnaise and superfoods in the composition didn't convince you to make a purchase, then marketers will find other ways to influence your decision.
Have you noticed that recycled food counters are the first thing you see when you walk into a store? It has been noticed that if you see them first, you are more likely to make a purchase. In stores, everything is thought out to the smallest detail: in what place, in what row, at what height the goods are located. Everything in order to get you to buy products that will have a negative impact on your health.
Remember marketing gimmicks to help you make better choices. Buy groceries according to a pre-compiled list.
3. Tidy up your kitchen cabinets
Check the contents of the cupboards for junk food and mock foods. If they are, why did you choose them? Did you like the packaging, there is a trendy ingredient in the composition, the words organic, "gluten-free", "sugar-free" on the label? How many varieties of these products have you counted?
Buy and store only those foods at home that you would like to see in your diet.
4. Seek a connection to your emotional state
Food is like a canary in a coal mine. Eating too much is a sure sign of emotional discomfort when deeper needs are not met. We can eat when we are sad, bored, stressed, or tired. In this case, food provides temporary relief. And we resort to this "medicine" every time we form a habit.
Habits have tremendous power over us, both positively and negatively. Fortunately, we can control this. All it takes is time and an understanding of how this habit was formed.
Recognize the triggers that push you to overeat, and look for other behaviors in this situation that will promote health and wellness. Maybe it's a walk in nature or communication with loved ones, or maybe meditation or yoga.
As a nutritionist, I know how important a healthy diet is. But I also know that a healthy lifestyle is not only about food. This is attention to all aspects of self, and food is only one of them. Pay attention to your mental attitudes, relationships, work and environment.
If you are happy, you are less likely to use food as medicine if something goes wrong. Therefore, I will give one more piece of advice.
Be kind to yourself. Not only at the table, but in all areas of life.
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