Health & Fitness

Tips to Overcome Overeating

Overeating is not a problem as such; rather it is the symptom of many problems. If you want to overcome overeating, you need to analyze the root cause of the problems. Let us here discuss a few of the reasons that lead to overeating and find out the ways to overcome them.

Stress: Stress is a common cause of overeating. Anxiety increases appetite, and you forget your stomach while relieving your anxiety by hogging on to favorite food items. The best way to overcome this situation is to realize the importance of having a planned diet strategy and avoid the stressful situation. If you are overloaded with work or tensions of the day-to-day life, take a deep breath and relax for some time. Proper rest also reduces the stress. If you strongly feel to satisfy your stomach, go for a light snack.

Boredom: Boredom is another cause for overeating. Has life become too dull for you? Get up and go for a walk. You will meet the new life on the roads or at your neighboring shopping malls. Shopping is a better way to avoid the boredom than hogging. Why not think about participating an outdoor game or visiting a club?

More Reasons: A few other social reasons also contribute to overeating. If you are habituated to visiting your favorite restaurant with your friends, beware! Obesity is following you. Warn your friends too, for the restaurant foods are not so healthy to be habituated. Overeating can turn to be an addiction too. If you don’t have the money to spend on your daily quota of burgers and soft drinks, you will soon lose your so-called friends too. Youngsters are often the sufferers of these kinds of situations.

For some, quitting smoking all of a sudden results in developing the bad habit of overeating. The physiological change happening in the body is responsible for this. Also there is a ‘mental craving’ for something to substitute the blissful smokes. And food is the non-prohibited choice for them. Beware; you are getting into another ‘mal-addiction’ unknowingly. Consult your doctor or the counselor for the substitutes you can adopt till you fall back to the normal condition.

Most importantly, overeating can be the symptoms of certain health problems such as Bulimia and Binging eating disorder. Bulimia is an abnormal tendency to overeat and then purge (by vomiting). After overeating, the patient develops a feeling of guilt and humiliation that leads to the purging activity. Some patients use laxatives immediately after the food, and some others opt for fasting. These methods not only upset the physiological functions of the body, but also contribute to serious mental disorder.

Binge eating disorder is a habit of overeating without purging. Binge eating is different from the habitual overeating. The symptoms of Binge eating disorder are similar to that of Bulimia. They have an abnormal craving for food even if they are full. Depression can also be a contributing factor for these disorders.

Both these disorders need proper medical attention and counseling. They have to be addressed without delay.

Psychologically, overeating has got a lot of significance. In general, overeating can be overcome if you satisfy the needs of your mind with the pleasurable activities. Food, especially the unhealthy ones, should not be the alternative for such problems.