Overeating means taking in more food than your body needs. Everyone has overeaten at least once because sometimes it’s hard to know the limit when eating your favorite food. Some people do that often, and if overeating becomes your habit, it can have severe consequences for your body. How to know when you have overeaten? Do you feel discomfort in your stomach after the meal, nausea, or extreme fatigue? If yes, that is the sign that you overeat.
What happens when we overeat?
When we consume more than our stomach capacity allows us, the stretching of the stomach stimulates the Vagus Nerve, which sends signs to the brain to inform the brain that we have filled our capacity. The brain then activates the painful stretching of tissue in the stomach to warn us to stop eating. But, when we eat too fast, we fill our stomachs before the brain realizes we are overeating, so it doesn’t have time to warn us to stop. When we overeat, our stomach becomes three times bigger, and it presses the rest of the digestive organs and presses the diaphragm, which causes shallow breath. That is why you have difficulties breathing when you eat too much. Also, you are most likely to suffer from heartburn when overeating.
Why are we overeating?
Humans don’t eat just because they are hungry; hunger is just one of the reasons we are eating. The reason our body craves unhealthy food is that eating that food makes us happy. Our brain creates a connection between the food we like and the feeling of joy we experience when we consume that food. Here are four more reasons we overeat:
- Skipping meals
From time to time, you miss eating your breakfast or lunch because of work, and you are in a hurry, so you haven’t eaten the whole day. After an entire day of not eating, you come home and order food; you eat on the couch watching your favorite tv program. That situation will mostly lead to overeating.
- You are not eating enough nutrients
When we have a deficiency in our body, our body will crave more food. But, if your diet is primarily unhealthy, your body will crave junk food because it doesn’t know better. You can’t crave broccoli if you don’t eat it.
- You don’t measure your food right
Don’t focus just on the size of the portions; focus on what that portion contains.
- You crave something other than food
If you had a stressful day or feel exhausted, sad, and depressed, you will most likely find comfort in food, and that can lead to overeating.
How to stop overeating
1. Find a healthy diet you can follow
You can do this by yourself or visit a weight loss clinic Chicago, dietitian, or doctor. It’s essential to develop a good diet plan because you can overeat with healthy food too. Also, it’s important not to cut all of your favorite food out of your diet.
2. Reduce stress
Stress is the number one reason we overeat, and you have to find a way to release the stress other than food comforting.
3. Don’t eat too quickly
When we eat too quickly, our brain won’t have enough time to send us the signal we are full.
4. Eat protein
Protein will keep you satisfied, and you should include it in almost every meal.
5. Eat regular meals
Don’t skip meals. Try eating at least two main meals a day, and add some healthy snacks between those meals.
Final thoughts
Be free to seek help if you think overeating is becoming a habit you can’t get rid of. If nothing you did didn’t help, you should talk to the specialist and discover why you overeat. If the cause is in your head, you should settle that first, and a healthy diet comes after.
This post has been sponsored by Alpha Efficiency
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