First up, in order to lose weight you need to take in less food than you are using, thereby creating an energy deficit. If you have read some of my posts before you may have come across this diagram below which does a good job explaining it
However, consuming less calories than you need is easier said than done for a lot of people.
One way to help you to do this is to work on developing these healthy eating habits. They will help to stop you from over-eating.
They take time to implement and it is a good idea to focus on one at a time, until you are confident that you are doing it habitually before moving onto the next.
Once you have all four in practice it will be very hard for you to overeat at a meal.
Obviously you still need to maintain an energy deficit in order to lose weight, but these habits are a great tool to help you do this.
The four habits are as follows:
Eating slowly
Eating too quickly is one of the main reasons people over eat.
It does not allow enough time for your food to reach your stomach and for you to realise you are satisfied.
By slowing down and taking your time you allow for this to happen.
A good way to implement this is to take an extra 5-10 chews of your food than you normally would or every time you take a mouthful place your cutlery back on the table until you have swallowed your food.
If dining with others, pace yourself to the slowest person there and engage in conversation during the meal.
Start by trying to do this at one meal a day and then progress it to two and three, when you fell confident you are eating slowly.
Taking regular breaks to drink
Again this habit will help you slow down and also help you to feel full quicker.
Drink a large glass of water 5-10 minutes before a meal, then take regular breaks during the meal to have another drink.
Try to drink a full glass during your meal as well as the one you have before.
Again start by trying this at one meal each day and then progressing as above.
Eating without distraction
Eating while distracted by phones, tv, reading, sitting at your desk in work etc is a another big cause of overeating.
By not paying full attention to what you are doing you are increasing the chances of eating too much.
You should be 100% focused on savouring your meal.
A good tip is to eat every meal as if you are in a nice restaurant, sitting down at a table with nothing to distract you.
No devices, just focus on enjoying your meal and eating slowly.
Stopping when you are 80% full
Eat until you are satisfied, not until you are stuffed.
You should not be eating such big amounts that you feel like you will explode, apart from it causing weight gain it is not great for your digestive system.
To implement this try using smaller plates when at home, this gives the impression you are have more food than you do.
When eating out ask for a half portion or always leave some food on the plate.
If you would like to know more about how to develop healthy eating habits that work for you, then feel free to contact me for some nutrition coaching or personal training.