Welcome Jessica Penner, a Canadian Registered Dietitian here today to tell us about her experiences and advice with overeating!
I was an active kid, but for some reason I had no endurance. After 10 seconds of running, I was out of breath with a burning stitch in my side. Apparently there’s a name for this: Exercise-Related Trans Abdominal Pain. It was extremely painful but my Phys. Ed. and swimming teachers just thought I was lazy.
I was jealous of people who could run. The concept of running for longer than 10 seconds without being crippled by pain baffled my mind! When I was 20 I decided to face this monster and learn how to run. My goal was to run a half marathon.
So I trained. I worked myself up to five mile runs, three times a week, with a longer run (8-10 miles) on the weekend. Eventually I did run the half marathon, in a blistering 2 hours and 42 minutes! Others would hate to settle for that time, but it was a huge accomplishment for me.
My Weight
Prior to marathon training I had a little muffin top and some other jiggly spots that I wasn’t a big fan of. I figured that adding 20 miles of running a week to my activity levels would help trim my figure, but this didn’t happen. I still jiggled, even while I was in the best cardiovascular shape of my life, and this puzzled me.
Fast forward a few years and add a nutrition degree. I’m now practicing as a Registered Dietitian. Through my education and time on the job, I’ve realized that some of my habits were causing me to overeat. Things that I did everyday made me subconsciously eat more than I needed or intended.
Unfortunately I’m no longer in the habit of running, but my clothes have never fit me better! In the past few years I got pregnant, birthed a beautiful baby, and I can humbly and honestly say that I look better than ever before! This is all because I’ve learned how to regulate my eating to the amount that’s right for my needs.
I’ve discovered for myself, and what I’ve observed in my clients, is that many of our daily habits are causing us to overeat. It’s only when we identify and change these habits that we can cure ourselves from a case of ‘overeating!’
Top Ten Habits That Keep You Overeating
- Multi-tasking. Do you eat while watching TV, checking Facebook, or even while making the kids’ lunches? Are you eating right now while you’re reading this? Multi-tasking is a prized skill in today’s society but, when it comes to eating, our bodies haven’t caught on to this phenomenon. Our stomachs send us subtle cues to tell our brain to stop feeding it but these can be easily missed if we’re distracted!
- Not planning ahead. After a busy day you and your spouse sit down to relax and watch a TV show and decide to have a snack. You open the bag of chips and three episodes later you leave behind an empty chip bag crumpled into a crinkly ball of regret.
- Sprint Eating. Remember those subtle cues our stomachs send our brains to tell us to stop eating? Well, they don’t work instantaneously. It takes time. If you are sprint eating, you might plow right past the point when your stomach wanted to send a signal to your brain to stop eating.
- Filling up on the meat and potatoes. In North America we tend to eat one course at dinner. Common eating practices in France involve multi-course dinners. Yet we continue to hear how French people are much smaller, on average, than North Americans! How can they eat more food, yet weigh less? The secret is in the first course: a soup or salad! If you start your meal with veggies, which have fewer calories, you will have less room to fill up on the main course.
- Not fully enjoying your food. The act of eating was meant to be enjoyable. Why else would God have created such amazing and diverse flavours? If food was simply to sustain us he could have stopped at manna. He didn’t. He gave us food that’s sweet and salty. Food that’s crunchy and velvety. Taking the time to savour each food can have a dramatic impact on the amount you eat. You’ll find that you enjoy your food more but eat less!
- Eating the wrong foods. When you eat certain foods, you’ll find yourself hungry and craving a snack in just a short while. While other foods will sustain you until your next meal. It’s important to choose foods that will keep you feeling fuller, for longer. These are foods that are higher in protein, fibre, and water!
- Keeping Food in Eyesight. The sight of food can actually cause the glands in our mouth to start salivating! You may not have even been thinking of food or feeling hungry but the sight of a tasty snack can cause you to reach for it, almost without even thinking about it! Keeping foods in the cupboard and out of sight can do wonders for putting a halt to spontaneous eating.
- Thinking of your workout as a workout. When people perceive the physical activity they do as exercise, they tend to reward themselves afterwards for all the hard work they’ve done. Often the reward comes in the form of a donut or other food! It’s important to find activities you enjoy doing. Not only will you find that it’s easier to make it a habit, you also won’t reach for a food reward afterwards.
- Restricting Diets! A bit odd, eh? You’d think that restricting food would be the first thing you’d want to do if you wanted to stop overeating. Unfortunately, the act of restricting something just makes you want it more!
- Using Bowls and Plates that Are TOO Big. The bigger the plate, the more your mind is going to want to fill it with food. Since most of us were taught to “finish the food on our plates,” the bigger the plate, the more we eat! Swap out your dinner plates for smaller plates and you’ll find yourself taking smaller portions.
Do any of these habits sound familiar to you? I’ve developed “I Quit Overeating”: a 10-week program that walks you through the steps it takes to change these habits. In the program you will explore different strategies that will turn your habits around. Instead of being controlled by food, you will regain control and be able to regulate your food intake for the amount that’s right for your body!
Learn more at www.smartnutrition.ca/iquitovereating.
Jessica is a Canadian girl with a passion for travelling and food, in that order! She grew up as a picky eater, but her love for travel forced her to meet the challenge of accepting new foods, and she now loves exploring new flavours in the kitchen. All of that delicious food posed a different problem at first, overeating, but her nutrition education and experience as a Registered Dietitian has brought insight and balance to her eating habits. She loves to share what she’s learned with others to help them get the most out of food!
Taca @ A Side Of Dessert says
March 9, 2015 at 9:30 amWhat an awesome post! I definitely fall victim to a few of these but over time I have become more aware and it has tremendously helped! Thank you for sharing!
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 8:56 pmThank you for taking the time to comment! Awareness is the first step!
Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola says
March 9, 2015 at 11:19 amI tend to over-snack when I’m mindlessly eating (such as when I’m eating and watching TV at the same time). If I know I’m going to be eating while doing something else, I try to portion out my serving ahead of time so that I don’t end up eating half of the box.
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 8:57 pmYou got it! That’s exactly what I recommend to my clients 🙂
Emma @ em-poweredwellness says
March 9, 2015 at 11:51 amI used to eat while on the go or standing up, which meant I wasn’t paying attention to my food and would often overeat. Now I try to make a point to always sit for my meals and be mindful
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 8:58 pmIt’s amazing what a significant difference such a small change can make, eh?
jen says
March 9, 2015 at 12:02 pmAha! My poor 9-yr-old son always gets the runner’s stitch and it becoming a problem–do you know what can be done??
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:00 pmAww, poor guy! What worked best for me was to a)breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth b)take a nice, steady pace but the hopeful thing is that I eventually grew out of it to some degree! I’ll still get it if I start running too fast.
Linda @ Fit Fed and Happy says
March 9, 2015 at 12:22 pmThis weekend I was guilty of ALL of the above! Oh my goodness, never again do I want to repeat what I did this weekend.
That out of sight, out of mind concept–totally true about food. I need to take a walk outside after eating.
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:01 pmI’m glad that one of the points spoke to you!
Kate says
March 9, 2015 at 12:40 pmI really appreciated this. Well written and so relatable for many!
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:02 pmThank you for your comment!
Dana | fresh simple five says
March 9, 2015 at 1:19 pmThis is such a wonderful post and something I can definitely relate to! While I tend to eat mostly healthy, whole foods and am physically active, I don’t feel I’m in peak health. However, I do notice some of these habits in my life. I’m working on eating slower and really enjoying each bite of food at the moment. Thanks again for the awesome tips!
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:04 pmI’m so happy you enjoyed the tips! Sometimes we can fall into a trap of overeating when we’re eating healthy foods… I mean, they’re healthy after all!
Cassie says
March 9, 2015 at 1:45 pmPlate size and restriction were my biggest problems!
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:05 pmPlate size is a hard one when ALL THE PLATES you can buy are enormous!
Thalia Prum says
March 9, 2015 at 2:47 pmHi Jessica,
What a great article. I had a similar epiphany when I was doing my master of dietetics, I was very active but managed to gain ~10kgs over a couple of years. It wasn’t until I was time-poor working in clinical that I suddenly dropped 4kgs without even trying (being busy and portion controlling my lunches by packing at home – this was me being cheap!) I just didn’t have the time to overeat.
I really like your pointing out plate size, this makes a big difference. Also leaving the meal on the kitchen counter rather than family-style on the table helps eliminate the temptation for ‘picking’ or getting seconds just because it’s there.
Re overeating, I recently wrote a piece about how overeating actually ties into the environment (as well as weight control) – something many people don’t realize. If you’re interested in reading you can find it here: http://www.pieholeblogger.com/2015/03/overeating-unsustainable.html
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:06 pmThanks for sharing your post! I’m definitely going to check it out.
Mabelle @ Ma Bella Vita says
March 9, 2015 at 3:25 pmDefinitely agree with a lot of these. Keeping a food journal is an incredible tool to pin point personal triggers. After all everyone is different.
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:08 pmThanks for mentioning the journal! This is a practice I recommend clients do for a short period as a method of reflection and, like you said, pinpoint personal triggers!
Livi @ Eat, Pray, Work It Out says
March 9, 2015 at 5:02 pmI like using smaller plates! It’s an easy way to prevent overeating!
Jessica says
March 9, 2015 at 9:09 pmI love how simple changes can make a huge difference!
Michelle @lifetotable says
March 9, 2015 at 9:17 pmbeautiful message! its important to understand that it is often our lifestyle that can affect our health as well as what we put in our mouths. changing lifestyle habits is just as important. And I think its safe to say everyone is guilty of at least one of those habits above.
Jessica says
March 10, 2015 at 11:49 amThanks for the comment! Although what we put in our mouth is important, I feel there is an unbalanced focus in our society on that aspect!
mary @ minutes per mile says
March 10, 2015 at 10:32 amquick question – were you training for a half or a full marathon? i see both in the post so wasn’t sure. the two are very different and obviously would require different nutrition/fueling strategies.
Jessica says
March 10, 2015 at 11:48 amDefinitely just the half!
Sarah Bryant says
March 10, 2015 at 9:45 pmUrgh, this is totally me! Honestly, sometimes I find it hard to slow down, be calm, and just enjoy the food. But, you’re right — God gave these flavors to us to enjoy. So, tonight, I’m going to try to chill, eat, and savor the moments with my family. 🙂 God willing, I’ll be able to do it. Thanks for this wonderful post! 😀
Jessica says
March 12, 2015 at 11:30 amI’m so glad you enjoyed the article! My cousins recently remarked how wonderful it is that God gave us different flavours. If food was simply for sustenance he could have simply created manna. But he loves us and wants us to savour the flavours!
athletic avocado says
March 16, 2015 at 8:07 amGreat post! many can relate to this!