Eating too much during meals or still eating past your point of fullness? Overeating creates physical and emotional distress. Extra body weight, personal frustration, anxiety about food choices and confusion about how to prevent overeating can diminish pleasure associated with food and dining experiences. Take a deep breath, learn tools to prevent overeating and approach each meal with the confidence that you can satisfy your hunger and tastebuds without engaging in overeating.
Know Your Dining Environment
Step 1
Observe the type of lighting and adjust your eating tempo accordingly. Dim lighting and candlelit meals encourage diners to linger throughout a meal and typically involve multiple courses. Stick to an appetizer, main course and dessert to avoid eating more than normal. Bright lighting energizes the nervous system, and a person typically responds with quick eating. Intentionally slow down your eating to combat your body's desire to hasten consumption.
Step 2
Use small plates and bowls when possible. Oversize dinnerware makes a portion's appearance smaller than it is in reality. Reduce your portion sizes if dining on large dishes.
Step 3
Eat in a warm environment. Opt to eat on the patio, sit by the fireplace or wear a sweater inside a cool restaurant. Metabolism slows down in hot weather, and the body responds by wanting less food.
Make Smart Choices
Step 1
Start meals with soup. Choose low-calorie, low-fat vegetable soups that are filling and help prevent overeating later in the meal.
Step 2
Place extra food in another room, not on the dining table. Ask the server to remove the bread basket or leftovers from a previous course if you are at a restaurant. Limit the convenience of the food and avoid mindless overeating. Assess your hunger before adding another helping to your plate.
Step 3
Eat foods that are high fiber and filling. Chose whole grains, fruits and vegetables, which contain fiber and contribute to feelings of fullness. Avoid white flour and foods that contain empty calories (chips) and are hard to fill up on (and therefore easy to overeat).
Understand Your Desire To Eat More
Step 1
Assess your hunger level throughout the meal. Stop eating when you are comfortably full, regardless of how much food is left on your plate.
Step 2
Respond to HALT before eating more food. Decide if you are reaching for more food because you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Prevent emotional overeating by revealing the force behind your desire to eat more. Eat more if you are hungry. Walk away from the table if you are angry, lonely or tired.
Step 3
Read, go for a walk, take a bath or do another activity if you feel the urge to overeat and want to overcome it. Excuse yourself from the dining table and remove yourself from the situation.
Tips and Warnings
- Drink water with each meal and hydrate throughout the day. Dehydration can present as feelings of hunger.
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