viernes, 24 de mayo de 2013

I Can't Help It! It's too Hot (or Cold)!

Temperature plays a very important role in deciding our food habits. In winters, we tend to consume warm or hot drinks like coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and eat fatty and heavy meals to keep ourselves warm. Similarly in summers, we consume ice creams, frozen desserts, chilled beer, and other drinks. These foods items along with the regular food add to the calorie content.
man eating ice cream in summer

SOLUTION: In summers, try to drink water instead of going for soda or beer, and in winters, soup will be a better option than hot chocolate.

But I Must Finish What's on My Plate

We have always been taught to finish everything that is on the plate. So, even when we start feeling full, we keep on eating till our plate is completely empty or till we stop feeling guilty about wasting food. The size of the plate itself may also be the culprit in this case.

mother feeding baby

SOLUTION: First of all, get a smaller plate. This will trick you into thinking that you have eaten a good amount and you will start feeling full and satisfied earlier. Use a plate in a contrasting color to the food. This will make the food easily visible and you can know how much you have heaped onto your plate.

My Lifestyle's so Demanding

Busy schedule, hectic job, social engagements, maintaining social status - everything is somewhere connected to eating habits. Moreover, due to work pressure, we either eat our meals too late or skip them altogether. This disturbs our body's metabolism and may create problems. Eating out on a regular basis can also be one of the major causes of overeating.
rich man dinner

SOLUTION: Drink a glass of water half an hour before starting your meal. This will fill your stomach and you won't feel the need to overindulge. Fix a time for lunch and dinner and follow it rigorously.

I Like My Meals Upsized!

A large serving size is another factor that contributes to overeating. Just because we are hungry, we order an extra large burger or meal. Instead, we need to order a small meal, eat it slowly, finish it off and then decide if we want to eat more. Another contributor to large serving sizes is buffets. We usually end up stuffing ourselves in such situations as we get the freedom to eat as much as we want.

rich man dinner

SOLUTION: To avoid overeating in this case, just order a meal that you can actually finish. Do not wait till you are extremely hungry. Instead of eating 3 large meals, go for 5 small meals.

It's Family Time!

Culture and traditions in the form of festivals and celebrations, give us a lot of reasons to overeat. By default, these celebrations come with loads of tasty treats which are quite tempting and we end up stuffing ourselves.


family dinner

SOLUTION: Though difficult, self-control is the only thing which will help you limit your consumption. Enjoy everything, but in a limited amount.

jueves, 16 de mayo de 2013

I Don't have Enough Time to Eat

Busy lifestyles and hectic work schedule can affect our eating habits. We start eating too quickly just to pace up with our work and end up eating more than our body's requirement. When we eat meals or snacks too fast, our brain takes some time to register that it's full. This results in overeating. We prefer junk food which is handy and can be eaten fast, and this just makes it worse for our body.

eating on the run



If you have little time to eat, breakfast has to be stronger than usual: coffee with milk, orange juice and toast with oil provide enough energy for the day. Mid-morning you can take a mounted or cheese or ham sandwich and afternoon coffee with milk and cookies or a piece of fruit, according to nutrition expert.
It is important that the day after the necessary vitamins are supplied so that dinner can consist of a first course of vegetables or salad and a main course of fish or chicken.


SOLUTION: Set an alarm to go off in 20 minutes when you sit to eat food. Eat slowly so that you finish the food on your plate in 20 minutes. This will help you to chew your food properly, digestion will be good and you will not overeat.


martes, 14 de mayo de 2013

I'm Sad/Angry/Depressed!

Emotional eating is very common. We indulge in comfort food to console and please ourselves when we're feeling down. Emotions such as anger, distress, sadness, happiness, fear, etc. are the most common ones that make us seek comfort food. Hormone fluctuation at the time of menopause, PMS, etc., results in mood swings which may also be a cause for emotional eating in women. But emotional eating has a scientific reason behind the consumption of a particular food.
girl munching goodies

Chocolate contains chemical stimulators which act as mood elevators and soothe us in discomfort. Similarly, fatty food helps us feel better. Hence, we eat such food which are, no doubt, helpful in cheering up our mood, but are definitely not good for health if taken in excess.


SOLUTION: The best thing to do in such situations is to talk to your loved ones with whom you can share your feelings. Speak to them instead of gorging on food. Just tell your friends what is bothering you and they're sure to come up with thousands of solutions. So, in simple words 'eat less, speak more'.


I've got Nothing Better to Do

If we keep a track of what we eat in the entire day or week, we might get a mini heart attack, seeing what kind of food we eat and how much, specially when we're not on any particular diet plan. Many people eat when they are working, when they have time on their hands, when they are bored or any time of the day without even feeling hungry. They eat whatever is available without even thinking about its nutritional content. This leads to overeating.
mindless eating

Always you have something better to do. If you want to do something interesting and you do not know what, paint, read, listen to music, you have a lot of things to do. Do not eat if you do not want to do it.

If you are thinking on what to do and you do not know what to do, here is a list of things you can do if you are bored. 

http://listas.20minutos.es/lista/50-cosas-que-hacer-cuando-estas-aburrido-325762/

SOLUTION: You can avoid mindless eating by drinking water whenever you feel like drinking something and have a chewing gum when you have the urge to munch something.

viernes, 10 de mayo de 2013

I'm Bored as Hell!

couch potatoYes, it is a fact, we eat when we are bored. When our body needs food and is hungry, the food gets digested properly and the body gets its share of nutrients. But eating just to kill time can result in obesity and other health-related problems. This is more dangerous because we are unable to keep a track of how much we eat, when we eat just because we have nothing better to do.








Try to eat when you are hungry no beacuase you do not have anything else to do. It is better to study, read a book, go out with your friends or anything else. Eat only because you are hungry.



SOLUTION: The next time you are bored, read a book, take a walk, play a game, or just take a nap. Do not dash to the kitchen.

My Life's a Party!

Almost everyone faces the problem of overeating either due to social pressure or tempting food or other reasons. But overeating can do a lot of harm, as it can cause obesity which in turn is related to heart problems, blood pressure, diabetes, etc. So, to limit our daily consumption of food and to fulfill our criteria of staying healthy, we should know when to say no to even a plate of our favorite food.
couple enjoying pizza
Meeting friends and socializing with people may be good for our social life, but it can also be one of the major reasons for overeating. We usually overlook our health regime when we hang out with friends. Many a time, we eat just due to social pressure. It's not that good food shouldn't be enjoyed, it's just that it should be enjoyed in moderation.











SOLUTION: To avoid overeating in such a situation, try to control the urge to binge. Order something healthy and light.

martes, 7 de mayo de 2013

Some exercises to lose weight

If you want to lose weight, you have to do some exercises like this ones:


Why do we eat?

We eat food to gain energy, which helps us in performing our daily chores. When our body lacks energy, our brain triggers certain hormones which make us feel hungry.

But do we really eat only when we are hungry?

There are many reasons which make us eat more than what our body needs. This extra intake of food is called overeating. Though when our hunger is appeased and our body sends a signal to the brain to stop eating, this signal takes some time to reach the brain and till then, we keep stuffing ourselves. Eating slowly can simply solve this problem.

martes, 30 de abril de 2013

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my new blog about common reasons why we overeat. I think is a good topic to speak about.

I hope you enjoy

Patricia Martín.