Sometimes, it is the vacations, holidays, marriages, get-togethers or functions that makes us overeat. But many people have a very common practise of eating a big portion of food either in one sitting or in the entire day. Few are aware of their habit but many don’t even realize that they are overeating.
Overeating is simply eating more than what our body requires on a daily basis in order to carry out normal activities. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is one of a kind in which people eat a lot of food in a short period of time, even if they aren’t hungry. Reasons could be many but gist is that one eats more than what is required.
Few Symptoms of overeating are:-
- Eating till you feel uncomfortably full
- Eating too much even if you aren’t hungry
- Eating rapidly, sometimes just gulping the food
- Generally, eating alone
- Feeling very guilty and disgusting with oneself.
Side effects or ill effects of Overeating :-
- Nausea
- Indigestion
- Drowsy & Sluggish
- Heartburn
- Fatty Liver
- Insulin Resistance
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Pcos
- Cancer
- Decreased Immunity
- Hormonal Issues
- Stroke & other Cardiovascular diseases
- Impairs brain function, can cause depression & anxiety
- Impaired social image and many more.
If we look deeply then we will realize that overeating is just a symptom, the real underlying problem is something else. Here we discuss some major factors why people overeat :-
Emotional Trauma- Many people experience stressful events in life like death of loved ones, accident, financial loss, bullying, body size complex etc which leads them to overeat as a means to comfort themselves.
Family history/ Genetics- Medical professionals believe that there is a strong tendency of overeating being passed genetically from generation to generation.
Stress- Blame it on peer pressure, school, college, work, siblings, or problems at home, people always turn towards food to find peace, solace & comfort. This makes them hog food in huge quantities and later regret.
Dieting – This is an important reason for those people who had once/ many times opted for starvation/ fancy diets to lose weight, ending up in binging episodes.
What are the Solutions to this problem ?
- Put the distractions away – This simply means eating your food in silence, away from television, computer, phone or even talking to somebody.
- Do not ban all your favourite foods – Banning favourite foods only makes you crave them even more especially in huge quantities. You can just fix a routine to treat yourself with them once in a while.
- Reduce stress factors & trigger foods – Many people have their triggering foods like ice creams, pizza, chocolates or any processed foods. You should completely eliminate storage and purchase of such foods immediately so that the urge can be avoided. Along with this try involving in some exercise and meditation practises so that body & mind settles.
- Fix your meal timings – This will fix almost all your munching problems as you will have food served at a time which otherwise could lead to binging.
- Keep a Food Journal – Maintaining this habit will help you realize how much and what you eat. It helps you know your weak time, food and quantity also.
- Increase Fiber & Protein consumption – Fiber & Proteins are two essential nutrients that are beneficial to the body along with providing satiety which help prevent the urge to eat for long.
- Eat slow – Eating at speed is not good for digestion, assimilation and realizing portion of the food that you are eating. Simply slowing the pace, chewing the food can drastically reduce the portion and enhance digestion.
- Eat Healthy & Ditch the Diet-Mentality – Fancy diets can help you lose a few pounds but make you more susceptible to overeating and binging. Instead, follow a wholesome diet that has all the required nutrients so that you don’t grab unhealthy food stuff.
For Personalised Diet plans call/whatsapp on 8447839546
