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.


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.



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.


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.



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.




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

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.

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.

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.


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'.