How to stop overeating and get busy

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you eat even when you are not hungry and cannot stop, you may be trying to seize your problems in this way. But you can and should pull yourself together. Tips from the book Diets Don't Work by Robert Schwartz will help you do just that.

Find out the reason

First, you need to make a list of situations in which you overeat, rush to food as a lifeline, or eat without feeling hungry. Describe when and why you do it. The list might look like this:

• I often eat my fill in the evenings, because I don't have time for lunch at work, and when I get home, hunger makes me eat for three.
• I'm afraid of doctors, but I often have to visit them, so on the way to the doctor I eat chocolates, gingerbread, waffles and other sweets to relax and escape from the upcoming stress.
• I often feel lonely, there is no one to support me, and I find this support in food: it is delicious, it brings joy, it is easy to get it, it will not leave in difficult times!

Find a replacement

Then try to determine how you can substitute food in the above situations or reduce the amount of food consumed. For example:

• I should look in my work schedule for 10-15 minutes to rest and have a snack at this time. I like to eat alone, so it’s more comfortable for me to do it when everyone’s gone for a smoke break, or right after everyone’s lunch.
• In addition to food, I am distracted from bad thoughts by solving scanwords. So I can do this while I go to the doctor.
• Even if there is no one to support me, I can be distracted from the feeling of loneliness by going to the cinema, by a sudden gift to myself, by watching old favorite comedies that make me feel that everything will be fine.

Of course, there is no guarantee that these methods will work. If there is no result, it is worth making a second list and trying again. Sometimes you can please yourself and eat some kind of sweetness, but only a little.

Stick to three rules

Schwartz advises switching to intuitive eating in his book. This approach has three rules to help you cope with overeating:

• You only need to eat when you feel hungry. You should not eat oatmeal in the morning just because the trainer advises so, or stuff your unloved cottage cheese into yourself, which should help you lose weight. No need to eat by the hour. Only eat when you feel hungry. In other cases, the method described above will help you.
• Remember: no one will take your food away from you. If you bought a bagel, ate half and ate, you do not need to finish the other half right away. You can do this later when you get hungry again. After all, you can always buy another one at the store. The same applies to any other product. The rule is simple and obvious, but for some reason many people eat as if they were doing it for the last time.
• Eat what you want. Nutrition is called intuitive, in order to allow yourself to eat what the body requires. If he at the beginning of the transition to such a diet requires only sweets and junk food - so be it, give him what he wants. Over time, your body will understand that no one else will restrict it, and will begin to behave well.