Do you often overeat? I ask this question because most of us realize that we do overeat, but can't get over it. While eating our favorite food item, when we realise our stomach is full, but we tend to eat more only to regret it later. This Regret leads to discomfort in the form of bloating or laziness. And the other is the hard time your digestive system has assimilating the food. Most of the time, the overeaten food fails to get absorbed properly.
However, this won't affect you much, but overtime overeating habits may lead us to the road of diseases and some serious health conditions. Belly fat, skin problems, lethargy, heart problems, diabetes, you name it.
So to reduce that fat intake, Ayurveda suggests that we eat one Anjali of food in one serving. That means the food that fits in your two pams is your personalized portion size. But today, most people feel that eating less food will make them weak or malnourished. Even modern science after a series of research, has come to this conclusion that for any organism, if the calorie intake is reduced by 30%, it lives longer by 30%. So eating less is much better than overeating. So in this section, I am going to share with you
Five effective ways to overcome the habit of overeating.
1. Comprise your diet of all six tastes.
According to our Vedic scriptures, a meal plan is perfectly balanced and satisfying only if it offers all six tastes to your tongue. Namely sweet, salty, bitter, sour, astringent, and Pungent. In a traditional thali system, all six flavors are served on one plate and in the right quantities. It also represents all the food groups and their nutrients.
Remember when you were so full of food but still had a lingering craving for that dessert. It is simply because our body considers our meal with all these six tastes like a complete meal. Experiment with this on yourself the next time you sit to eat. Consciously take less food than usual. Now after the meal, eat a small piece of jaggery. And see how you feel two things will but first, you will feel satisfied, second, you won't feel lethargic. You can even take a green chile or have a chutney along with your meal. The idea is to try and complete the six tastes.
2. Keep add-ons.
Ayurveda recommends that you include curd in breakfast, buttermilk after lunch, and milk after dinner. Now, this helps a lot in curbing the habit of overeating. Basically, when you know that buttermilk is yet to come. You are happy to eat less for lunch. And when you know that you can drink a glass of milk before sleeping, you are happy to cut down your dinner. Similarly, you can even include fruits or fruit juices before breakfast or a vegetable salad before lunch. This way, you will eat variety, eat less, and feel full for longer. Even modern science tells you to eat real food if you don't want to overeat. Because our body essentially needs nutrients, whereas our mind keeps on craving that nutrition-less food.
However, when we fall for our mind. And eat that crappy food. We do feel happy for a while. But our body, which is still in need of nutrients, Gets the signals of hunger again. Then again, we eat something of that sort. And the vicious cycle goes on. Whereas if you eat fiber-rich Whole Grains, Pulses and milk products for proteins, Nuts for healthy fats, fresh fruits and Vegetable salads for vitamins and minerals. Your body feels full instantly. And you eat less.
3. Take only one serving every time you are about to eat.
Eat all that you want to eat in just one serving. Do not fill your plate. Think back to how you ate the last time. You won't remember how many food items you tasted, nor remember how many different types of desserts you hopped on. All you remember is how badly you were stuffed. This is because you did not put all the food in at once. You kept refilling, even at home. And someone is constantly serving us. And we keep on eating and eating until we can't take it anymore.
So always, take only one serving. Keep a variety of foods. Sitting quietly and focusing on eating helps a lot. This brings me to the next point.
4. Eat slowly.
Have you ever noticed, Every time you went to a party, dinner, or wherever else? Your mind gets satisfied with hunger after eating for about 14 to 15 minutes. And after those 15 minutes, your brain will always send a signal to your body saying, "Stop eating. We have got enough food." But it's up to you either you call for one more servings in those 15 minutes or slowly eat the first served in it.
But how do we eat slowly?
One simple way is to eat hot and fresh food. And another way is to chew on small bites. The problem is that most of us today eat while talking to others, watching TV, working on a laptop, or messaging on mobile. These distractions lead to overeating.
Did you know that In the U.S. in every dining hall there are instructions as to, "What to do if someone is choking on food?". Even Hollywood movies show a lot of such scenes.
But why are they choking while eating the food?
That's because they eat and talk at the same time. When you try to have both input and output at the same channel. Your body gets confused in eating and speaking. But if you just eat quietly and slowly. There would be no chance of choking.
As a practice, Eat at least one meal in a day alone. Alone means without your mobile, or any YouTube or Netflix shows. Consider it as your date with food. But if you want, just like me, you can sometimes play a soothing 20 minutes of instrumental music. This helps to keep eating for that long. And if you are eating with a spoon. Put down the spoon on the plate after every bite and take time to chew. This will also help.
5. Stop when the stomach signals.
This might have happened to you. When you went to a restaurant, where the service was poor. The waiter got late in bringing your last order. And at that time, you can't imagine eating the whole plate. But you would have definitely eaten it if he had brought it early. This is because it takes time for your brain to realize the signals of a satisfied stomach.
However, by that time we have already eaten that portion of regretted food. So what to do. One simple Way is When a doubt arises within you of, Shall I eat the more or not. It's time to stop eating.
Let's summarise the five most effective ways to stop overeating.
1. Comprise your diet of all six tastes. End your meal with a little piece of jaggery. You can have some bites of green chili or have chutney along with your meal.
2. Keep add-ons. Have curd after breakfast, buttermilk after lunch, and milk after dinner.
3. Take one serving at a time and Eat a variety of foods. Eat fruits before breakfast and salads before lunch and keep your meal balanced with Whole Foods.
4. Eat Slowly. Take only one serving to eat and Slowly chew your food. Eat at least one meal in a day alone.
5. Stop on your stomach signal. Your brain takes time to give the signals of a satisfied stomach. So wait for it, and when doubt arises, stop eating.
Now once you start following these steps. You won't be needing any dietician to tell you how much you should eat. You will start getting that message from your dietician sitting in your stomach, And that's an ideal state to be.
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