Nutritional dependence is one of the main problems of mankind in the 21st century. Food has become a cult; people absorb food not because they want to satisfy their hunger, but because it smells delicious and looks appetizing. And how much advertising! Fried wings and nuggets, immense hamburgers from which fat flows, cakes soaked in cream ... How can you refuse such goodies ?! Given this, it is not surprising that the question of how to quit eating has become so popular.
It would seem, but what's so difficult: to choose a menu, limit the consumption of harmful products - and you can forget about overeating forever. But not everything is as simple as we would like. And yes, this “works” in theory, but in practice, it’s difficult for a person who is used to eating a lot to limit himself, to put it mildly.
The problem is that the cause of overeating is not always on the surface. Often this factor is affected by problems of an emotional nature. The principle of substitution - when a person is missing something, he tries to make up for the lack by realizing other needs. Actually, food is one of the most affordable options for replacement.
There are many reasons for overeating and uncontrolled eating. And the main task is to find it. This is like a rise in temperature - until the source of infection is eliminated, it will not subside. So, how to quit eating, taking into account the various reasons for the occurrence of such a "pathology", and what threatens systematic overeating?
What is overeating?
When you want everything at once, and a person cannot stop, but continues to eat, this is the real gluttony. It should be understood that food is a tool that helps the body to perform vital functions stably and without disturbance. Moreover, food should be valuable, that is, enrich the body with useful substances. But often fried, fatty, sugary dishes, carbonated drinks and other "enemies" of the digestive tract and liver get into the stomach. They not only do not have nutritional value, but also heavily load the body, forcing it to perform double work. Overeating is the absorption of food in an amount much greater than necessary. And if this is repeated day by day, you need to think about how to quit eating in such volumes.
Symptoms of Overeating
These feelings are familiar to everyone, since they often arise during long holidays, for example, the New Year holidays: a full refrigerator of all kinds of goodies and a lot of free time. And you need to have time to eat all these dishes, because it’s a pity if they disappear.
All the unpleasant symptoms of overeating are associated with a violation of the digestive system. Stitching, cutting pains may appear in the stomach and intestines, there is nausea, a feeling of heaviness, heartburn. As a rule, laziness overcomes a person, it is difficult for him to move around, shortness of breath appears, and insomnia can even disturb. In severe cases, a depressed or depressed state is diagnosed.
What is gluttony threatening?
The harm of overeating mainly lies in the risk of developing obesity. Not so long ago, the media accused them of agitating girls to be thin, and therefore a wave of anorexia and dystrophy swept the world. Now the situation looks completely different: many countries are struggling with obesity. Both of these conditions negatively affect human health, therefore, of course, you need to adhere to the golden mean.
Obesity is dangerous for internal organs. Many vital systems work to the limit, as it is difficult for them to perform their functions under the weight of a layer of fat. It affects not only the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, but also the lungs, kidneys, liver and cardiovascular system. This is the main harm of overeating, not to mention low self-esteem, depression, laziness and, as a result, lack of relationships, sexual life.
Overweight girls find it much harder to conceive, endure and have a healthy baby. This is due to metabolic disturbances, since a slowdown in metabolic processes leads to hormonal imbalance. Destabilization of the endocrine system also leads to pathological phenomena - acne and ulcers appear on the skin.
What to do if overeating?
A person may not be obese, but with a systematic gluttony such a phenomenon can hardly be avoided. However, there are cases when overeating occurs during periods, usually after long holidays. When they pass, it is important to try to immediately establish a diet and diet.
So, how to stop eating everything, when there are signs of overeating, and there is no strength to stop? There are some good tips that will help you return to a normal diet:
- Get rid of unpleasant symptoms. It is believed that when symptoms of intoxication occur, it is best to take drugs from the group of sorbents. For example, activated carbon, Polysorb, Enterosgel. Drugs in this group will help get rid of heaviness, bloating, gas, nausea, and other unpleasant symptoms. After taking the medicine on the next day, it is undesirable to take food, but you need to drink more simple purified water.
- Support the gastrointestinal tract. If there are chronic diseases of the digestive system, it is recommended to take pills from a group of enzymes, such as Pakreatin, Festal or Mezim. With their help, the stomach will be easier to digest the incoming food.
- Move more. Many are trying to lie down, but this is fundamentally wrong. It is recommended to move more. Of course, if there is no severe pain. When the condition allows, doctors recommend to engage in physical activity. The load in this case will be useful both for the body and for the figure.
- It is advisable to stay in the fresh air, and before going to bed, drink a glass of kefir or another sour-milk product.
Causes of Excessive Appetite
To understand how to get rid of gluttony, you should find the cause of this condition. The most common version is the “distended stomach”. That is, when a person is simply used to eating a lot and cannot fix it, since the stomach is otherwise considered to be empty. But hunger is not always physical. Psychologists say that internal problems often lead to overeating, which is associated with the psychological sphere. Especially if a person constantly eats, but does not suffer from obesity. Although the psychological nature can play a cruel joke in both cases, just in the second, physiology is also connected. Let's consider in more detail all the possible reasons, so that it is easier to understand how to deal with this.
Physiological reasons
- Untimely nutrition. Surely everyone knows the state when there is a feeling of hunger after eating. This usually happens when a person has not eaten for a long time. In this situation, the body includes “protection”: in order to avoid this in the future, it “turns off” the feeling of satiety. A man eats an ordinary portion, but it seems to him this is not enough, you need to eat more. When he realizes that he has overeaten, it is already impossible to fix it.
- Leptin resistance. This is a pathology of hormonal etiology characteristic of people with obesity. It can also lead to overeating. Leptin is a hormone produced by adipose tissue. When a sufficient amount of fat enters the body, the brain receives a signal that it is enough to eat. Accordingly, a person feels full and stops eating. Leptin levels drop when food is needed. The brain receives a signal that it is time to stock up on fat, a person feels a sense of hunger. This happens in a person who is not suffering from obesity. With leptin resistance, this process is impaired. There are a lot of fat reserves, leptin, too, so the brain ceases to recognize the signals coming to it. Feeling of satiety does not come, but there is overeating.
Psychological aspects
The most common psychological reason is emotion. Many people mistakenly believe that “seizing” stress, anger, resentment, anxiety, frustration, or fatigue is the only right decision. In fact, it is not possible to achieve reassurance, but then you also have to suffer from a feeling of discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract.
Nutrition is the process necessary to maintain the normal functioning of the body. When a person experiences various negative emotions, he tries to enjoy at least something. Food is always at hand, moreover, you can go to the nearest store and buy various sweets. But emotional hunger cannot be satisfied with goodies, so you should not expect a feeling of fullness. As well as the pleasure of your favorite foods. This eating disorder caused by negative emotions is called compulsive overeating. How to deal with this phenomenon on your own will be described below.
The second psychological aspect is associated with a lack of concentration on food. This is no less common cause of overeating, when a person combines a meal with other things. For example, watching TV, talking on the Internet, reading. When there is no concentration on food, it is very easy to miss a signal of satiety. Thus, you can eat a huge plate of high-calorie dishes, and only then understand that you overeat.
Often, experts talk about the close connection of psychosomatics and overeating. And it comes from childhood. This is due to the fact that the child’s diet is limited to “healthy” foods, while completely eliminating the absorption of “harmful” foods. This, of course, is a normal approach, because every parent wants his child to grow up healthy. However, many such children, as adults, cannot deny themselves anything. Absorbing more and more food over and over, they systematically overeat, as a result of which the stomach is stretched, more and more are required to saturate portions and overeating further leads to obesity.
Every day, on TV screens and social networks, there are a lot of commercials in which fast-food restaurants offer you to try this or that burger, or even a set of fast food, they say, is also cheaper. And everyone will agree that these pictures look more than appetizing. How can you resist such a delicacy? The marketing of companies is designed to such a reaction - to lure customers. Probably, everyone is attracted by a beautiful picture, and not everyone is able to refuse their desire in such a brain. In this case, you may even feel hunger after eating, and, of course, a person will go to the store for these same chips or go to a fast food restaurant for great hamburgers and cheeseburgers.
Meetings with friends - what could be more fun and enjoyable ?! Another case where food will be consumed regardless of whether a person is hungry or not. You just need to eat "for the company." As a result, the metabolism is disturbed, there are symptoms of overeating.
How to quit eating? Solving a problem depending on the cause of its occurrence
The most effective will be the fight against overeating, if you try to eliminate the root cause. When the appetite is played out against a background of negative emotions, it is necessary to learn how to manage them, avoiding attacks on the refrigerator or store shelves. If you can’t do it yourself, do not be afraid to contact a psychologist. Perhaps this is the only person who can help solve the problem. But it should be said that you can fight on your own with compulsive overeating, you just want to. For example, you can come up with another lesson, and even better, in case of negative emotions, take a course of sedatives. As a rule, when a person calms down, the desire to empty the refrigerator will also pass.
By the way, if psychological reasons are to blame, you can try to cope with them as part of a group. There will be other people suffering from the same problem, and the person who is ready to help deal with this is a psychologist. "Clubs of anonymous gluttons" are not uncommon today, they are in all major cities.
Fans of eating while watching TV or in the company of friends need to learn to understand the importance of concentrating on food during its absorption. Eating should be at the table and in the kitchen, and not in bed, preferably in silence, so as not to be distracted by other matters, focus only on the taste and smell of food. So catching a feeling of satiety will be much easier. Before meeting with friends, you don’t need to eat enough if you plan a feast. It is recommended to put yourself a serving of foods equal to the one that a person usually consumes at home.
How to quit eating in the evening and avoid overeating due to untimely satisfaction of hunger? You need to try to eat at the same time every day. If there is a possibility that there will be no time for food during the day, it is recommended to take snacks with you. However, they should not consist of fast food. It is better to give preference to fruits, vegetable salads, natural yoghurts, nuts and other healthy products.
As for the “mouth-watering” promotions, you need to learn how to independently overcome the desire to buy this harmful product. As is the case with negative emotions, this is quite real. If you can’t refuse yourself such pleasure, it’s better to turn to a psychologist for help. Again, an anonymous glutton club will help. The main thing is not to be ashamed of your problem. It is much worse when a person does not seek to get rid of eating disorders.
It is more difficult when leptin resistance contributes to overeating. In this case, you must first reduce weight to get rid of excess fat and, accordingly, leptin. So it will be possible to restore the sensitivity of the brain to the hormone. You can try to cope with obesity on your own or consult a nutritionist and psychologist. To reduce weight, you must completely abandon sweets (including sweeteners), fatty, salty, flour, confectionery, refined oils, sauces. It is very important to exclude the consumption of trans fats, which are contained in the above products. Need healthy fats. They are found in dairy products, butter, unrefined oils.
Useful Tips
Psychologists say that the body needs only 21 days to adapt to the new rules. This applies to everything - both smoking and the question of how to quit eating a lot. Of course, at first it will be very difficult, but if you really want to, then everything will work out. You don’t need to refer to your own weakness (they say, “I don’t have willpower”), nod at others (“others live somehow with obesity”) or amuse yourself with illusions (“if a person loves me, he will not care, what is my figure "). These thoughts are fundamentally wrong, and it does not matter whether love is at stake, or something else. These are just excuses, which in the future can extremely negatively affect a person’s fate.
Willpower is needed, and to train it requires effort. Nothing in life comes just like that. Work on oneself is the main aspect in everything, whether it is a relationship with a person, a desire to quit smoking or eating a lot, achieve career growth or gain knowledge that will play a decisive role in the future.
In addition to willpower and the desire to achieve the desired, you will need to follow a number of rules and useful tips that will help to cope with overeating.
- Eat every 4-5 hours. Daily meals should be divided into 5 meals, while servings should be small. Three of them are the main ones (breakfast, lunch, dinner), the other two are additional (snacks). Why is this needed? For example, if a person after breakfast at 8 o’clock in the morning will have lunch only at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, with a 99% probability it can be argued that he will eat more. Moreover, it doesn’t matter at all whether he was hungry or not. Hunger will make you overeat, and in the future it will become the norm. So, if a person starts his day at 6 am, at that time there will be breakfast. At 10 o'clock hunger will already begin to be felt, so you need a snack. Lunch should be appointed at 13:00, a second snack at 4-5 pm, and dinner at 20:00. In this case, the last meal should be easy. What to eat at night? It is best to give preference to sour-milk products, steamed dishes, fruit and vegetable salads, casseroles.
- Include complex carbohydrates in your diet. They differ from simple ones in that they are digested by the body much longer. Accordingly, he does not need calories for a longer time - he already has where to get energy from. By the way, this is a very good answer to the question of how to quit eating sweets. Just the lack of complex carbohydrates in the diet makes a person consume fast (or simple), namely sweets. Complex carbohydrates are rich in cereals, pasta from durum wheat, young potatoes and brown bread. Even one serving a day will help avoid overeating.
- Fight emotions. It is important to learn to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger. You need to try not to think about food at all when negative emotions attack. And do not succumb to the desire arose "I want this, I do not know what." If this condition is accompanied by symptoms of hunger in the abdomen, you should eat a normal, wholesome meal or have a bite of an apple and drink green tea.
- Take your free time. Often a person eats from "nothing to do." Just to take some time. You should devote it to study, reading your favorite book, walking, exercise or other favorite activities.
- Eat from a small plate. So it turns out to accustom yourself to small portions and avoid overeating.
- Eat until a feeling of light satiety.
- Try to deny yourself the pleasure of absorbing junk food at the festive table.
- Carefully choose dishes for dinner. What to eat at night has already been written above. You can’t go to bed with a full belly. At this time of day, the digestive tract also rests, so there will be difficulties with the digestion of food, which threatens a set of extra pounds and difficulties with sleep.
- Do not allow the refrigerator to be clogged with food. Especially tasty but unhealthy foods.
What to do when you want to eat?
The desire to eat can be overcome by some interesting activity. You need to find something that will help pass the time when it is boring. What if you want to eat? Many nutritionists recommend eating an apple or a glass of kefir.
Each time there is a desire to eat, you need to drink a glass of plain water. It may seem to a person that he is hungry. This is actually thirst. Unless, of course, the time has come for the next meal.
If the desire to eat accompanies every day and does not pass, you should reconsider your diet. Perhaps it is poor in carbohydrates, and the body simply does not have enough energy. In this regard, it is recommended to keep a food diary in which you need to indicate when, what, and in what quantity was eaten. It will help to find errors and eliminate them.
Snacks will help to avoid hunger. You should take them seriously, as this is an opportunity to give the body nutrients and get rid of discomfort in the digestive tract associated with a lack of food.