Tips to Control Overeating

Losing that extra pound of weight is a dream for many of us. Well, the key is to strictly cut down on those calories and consistently exercise. Though this seems to be simple logic, most of us either find it hard to maintain the effort of exercising or find that the stubborn fats in our body are extremely resistant to those efforts. Therefore, I consistently receive enquiries from patients asking about medicines or measures to burn calories or suppress their appetite. Yes, there are various pharmaceutical companies that have marketed medicines to burn calories or suppress one’s appetite. However, I find that these products either do not have enough scientific evidence to back the claim or I foresee a lot of adverse effects associated with it.

Let’s look at various methods to eat little.

Hunger, appetite and satiety are under the control of the brain. Chemicals, hormones and signals from the stomach send signals to the brain which in turn either tells you that you should eat or stop eating. In a simplified way, the stretching of the stomach and the amount of chemicals released from fats and carbohydrates are two essential components that drive signals to the brain to bring down hunger or stop eating. If we manage to tell the brain to stop eating through those chemicals, hormones and stretching without actually overeating, we can succeed in suppressing our appetite.

Presenting below are a few tips that can trick the brain and suppress the appetite.

1. First and foremost ‘Never skip meals’. If you go hungry for more than four hours, you leave a long gap which will in turn make any trick fail; so for all my patients out there who wish to control their appetite, my first and foremost advice is ‘never skip food’ especially ‘breakfast’.
2. Drink a glass of water. Water is the best thing you can use to fill yourself. It has an important quality of flushing out toxins. Try gulping a glass of water the next time you are hungry. You can add a slice of lemon or a sprig of fresh mint if you don’t like plain water.
3. Try a bowl of soup. Broth or vegetable soup will cool off your appetite. If you are not able to find ingredients to prepare soup, I suggest eating fresh vegetable or fruit salad and a little ice cream. A salad made up of lettuce, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, carrots, oranges, grapefruit and apples is claimed to suppress one’s appetite.
4. Snack up with low fat and protein foods. Snacking is useful, provided you find the right choice.  Nuts are my favorite. They are rich in protein and fats which should be sufficient to quench one’s appetite. Quarter cup of almonds or half a cup of ground nuts is sufficient to accommodate this requirement.
5. Include lots of fibre in the main course. Make sure you have lots of vegetables and greens as a part of your meal.
6. Eat slowly. Chemicals and hormones that lead to appetite suppression build slowly, as you eat. Eating quickly will lead to overeating before those hormones can suppress your appetite. Therefore, make sure you eat very slowly and gradually.
7. Divert your attention. Sometimes, eating happens out of boredom, when we're not in physiological need of food. Sleeping, exercise and sports are some activities that will divert your attention away from food.