Struggling with overeating? Try these tips...

Overeating is probably one of the most common issues that clients and members bring up. It's a tricky one because it can be pretty nuanced. Overeating, to me, isn't just 'eating in a caloric surplus' as defined. Overeating eating too much at one time but not eating enough overall. Overeating can be eating too much of one thing. It can be eating too much consistently. It can be finally eating enough but feeling as if you're overeating. It can be intentional or unintentional. Sometimes subjective, sometimes objective. Always with an underlying reason.

Now, although I recognise the nuance, the caveat is that most of the time, my girls are referring to eating too much food often deemed as 'bad' or 'junk' (I like to say hyper-palatable for neutrality) when they look for support on overeating. Let's briefly discuss this topic first before we dig a little deeper into the whys and what to dos of overeating in general.

Hyper-palatable foods are made up of the perfect combination of flavours (salt, sugar, fat) and textures (crunchy, melt in your mouth, smooth, creamy you name it) that make our brain think we have hit the jackpot! These are the types of foods that tend to be calorie-dense, intensely flavoured, super tasty straight away and easy to eat. Minimal effort - big brain reward. Our brain says: 'YES BABY here's a nice big whack of energy that I can absorb and put to use ASAP. It's lighting me UP, gotta get the goods when they're there' (We are still so very primal.) These foods are often times designed to be irresistible. So when we look at overeating, especially when it's overeating these foods, we need to look through a lens of self-compassion and curiosity so that we can make empowered choices. Understanding how we came to be in a situation that leads to overeating is important because we can then reverse engineer it to find out what can be done differently in future. Ergo, what needs to change when it comes to our behaviour or even our environment.

With this information in our arsenal we can approach overeating from a place of self-compassion and curiosity.

It takes an "ugh, what a shit day *grabs bag of crisps and mindlessly eats the whole thing* UGH. I'm disgusting" situation to a "Hmm, I feel stressed and like I want to eat something, maybe some crisps will me feel better? No, I don't want to do that because I find it hard to stop when I feel like this and then I feel rubbish afterwards so I'm going to call a friend and talk it out"

The outlook changes from overeating happening to us to making empowered choices because we are able to identify our feelings and our needs.

Let's take a look at some of the reasons why overeating happens:

Stress

Stress is hands down the #1 reason people overeat. This is because most of us have really poorly developed stress management tools. (They didn't teach us this in school, right?) So many of us are going through our daily life feeling overwhelmed, verging on burnout and perpetually busy. So after a long day of doing our stressful lives we plonk ourselves down on the sofa and try to manage the aftermath of the day with some tasty treats that make us feel good (at least for a little while). There's nothing inherently wrong with this, it might temporarily make us feel cosy and nice BUT it doesn't really solve the issue because we just end up repeating it all tomorrow and the next day and the next...never really managing the stress, just trying to survive. Now I know we can't rid ourselves from all of life's stressors but we can develop ways of better managing the stressors we do have that don't result in belly aches and other unwanted side-effects.

Stress Management Tools

- Put some boundaries in place! This is hands down #1 because all the rest are damage control. Boundaries have the potential to create clear and tangible change within our lives. What do they do? They ensure we get our needs met! Trying to do everything for everyone or being a 'yes' woman grinds on a girl! Say no, delegate, ask for help, have those hard conversations - get those boundaries in place. (You may need to spend some time working out what your needs are - journalling or chatting to a coach/counsellor/therapist or the right loved can help with this).

- Meditate. (Yes even if you cringe at the term and you think it's woo-woo) Meditation has been proven to lower stress levels, improve self-awareness (hi, needs), reduce anxiety, improve sleep and lower blood pressure. I mean, those are pretty insane results for something that takes minimal effort. Download an app and start practicing it. I use Insight Timer but Headspace is great too!

- Take a walk or do some type exercise. It really can help to release tension, improve your mood and get those endorphins going. The amount of times the girls come into studio after a stressful day, blast out a sessions or a class and tell me how much better they feel is proof enough for me. ;)

An Attempt to Cope with the Feels

So easily done, especially when we're busy and flying through each day but feelings don't just go away. Even when we push them down. They'll eventually bubble up again, usually with more gusto than the last time! I like to think of myself as a little bottle of fizzy drink that fills up with feelings. I have to release the pressure from time to time otherwise the bottle will explode. Messy.

Ways to Feel the Feels

- Write it down, express your feelings on paper. You don't have to keep it hanging around you can rip it up and throw it away but often times the act of writing them down is a good release

- Meditate (snuck it in again) 5-10 minutes can go a long way. A lot of times we shy away from spending time with ourselves, feeling afraid of our feelings because ew, who wants to feel all those horrid things right? The truth is the feels that we are trying to avoid only hang around longer the more we ignore them. So the quickest way to process is through them - let them stay their course. Meditation is a great tool for allowing space to feel those feelings.

- Cry it out. Go full on ugly cry and embrace it. Play that song that makes you weep, watch the Notebook - do what you gotta do. There's no denying we feel better after a good cry.

- Scream, shout, punch a pillow. Hey, if it works for you and it's not hurting anyone else - why not?

- Talk it out with someone you trust whether it's a friend, partner, family, coach, counsellor or therapist. Talking can be very therapeutic.

Viewing Foods as 'Good' or 'Bad'

It's so important to address mindset when it comes to food and removing morality from certain foods is key for many of us. When we refer to food as 'good' and 'bad' we attach a moral value to it which often leads to restriction of these foods. The cycle goes something like this: "I'm going to be 'good' so I won't eat any 'junk' because it's so 'bad'." So we don't allow ourselves these types of foods then when we do it's a feeding frenzy. We feel out of control. Which often leads to feeling guilt and shame. Which then can lead to 'fuck it' and before we know it the box of doughnuts is gone and we're telling ourselves we'll not eat another one ever again and that we are so bad. The morality moves from the food, onto us and so the restrictive cycle continues.

Adopt an All Foods Fit Mindset

Viewing our health as a multi-faceted thing is the first step to adopting an 'all foods fit' mindset. When we accept that our health is not just our physical body but our mental health, our relationships, our sense of purpose and our environment we can begin to understand that all foods serve a purpose within these areas. For example: Eating nutrient dense whole foods is a big win for our physical health but when there is no flexibility and it starts to get in the way of eating at a fancy restaurant for our anniversary we compromise our relational health. So it's give and take between all areas. I prefer to think of food on a continuum of more nutritious to less nutritious and make decisions based on my overall health as opposed to just physical.

Over Restriction

Not being adequately fed doth make for a grumpy bod. Our bodies have got some pretty serious and cool safety measures in place to ensure we stay alive. (Aww, thanks BEEB) Back in the day these were exceptionally useful and did wonders for the survival of our species. Nowadays in our super fortunate society with an abundance of food they are still needed but not in that life or death kinda way of our ancestors. Our bodies don't know that we have a supermarket 10 minutes down the road stocked to the brim with everything we need to nourish it. It is still under the impression that we don't know where our next meal is coming from. So when we don't get enough to eat (or over restrict) for an extended period of time our bodies will kick its safety measures into place and make damn sure that when there is food available that will give us a lot of energy quickly (hyper-palatable foods). The stage is set for us to pretty much go ham on that food with the aim of getting enough when it's there.

Eat Enough Food, Consistently

Yep, that's it. Get regular meals that are filling and satisfying. Not just for a day or a week but for months and years. Show that bod that it's safe! There's no famine around the corner. This simple behaviour can be so effective in reducing overeating episodes as a result. A well-fed body will not go so primal on these foods. Now, will there be times when you are super hungry, probably because life happens right? But at least the understanding of why will be there and a conscious decision can be made on what to do in the moment.

Boredom

This is a big one for me personally. I am so easily bored and find myself with my head in the fridge looking for something to do! Food lights our brain up and gives us a little dopamine hit so it's no wonder we seek it out when we're feeling bored.

Find Something Else to Do

Sounds like a non-tip but when we feel bored we're just looking for some stimulation. Some of us are more prone to this than others because of the way our brain is wired so divert that feeling towards something else. Move, stretch, tidy, get a change of environment, ring someone, message someone, have a drink of water or squash - you get the idea. It can be literally anything that makes you feel a little bit nice!

It's Become a Habit

For some, overeating may have been something that began during another season of life (maybe lockdown) that's just kind of.. stuck around. It doesn't serve any real purpose anymore it's just automatic.

Change the Environment

-Shake it up. Make it harder to overeat by removing the foods that cause this to happen from your environment or making them harder to access. Think out of sight, out of mind.

-Swap the snack out for something that's harder to overeat. We know that overeating hyper-palatable foods is easy peasy yet overeating whole foods is harder. They are physically harder to eat as they tend to require more chewing and while tasty, don't tend to send our rains into party mode. Just make sure it's satisfying! I'm definitely not suggesting munching on celery as opposed to crisps because let's be honest that's going to backfire.

-Change what happens before the habit. If the routine is usually dinner, sort out everything for tomorrow, put the kids to bed and finally enjoy some downtime in front of the telly with a favourite snack then switch up what happens right before the telly and favourite snack. Break the cycle. Make a hot drink instead, go out into the garden and take a few deep breaths, take a different route to the telly!

Once the 'why' for overeating is identified, find another behaviour (from the lists above) in response to the trigger. These all tie in heavily with knowing ourselves, owning our choices and showing up for ourselves in a way that aligns with our values and goals. Nailing the basics is, as always, a priority. Knowing our patterns, needs, likes, dislikes, our hunger and fullness cues, strengths and weaknesses. Changing our behaviour takes work but it is possible.

Do any of these resonate with you? Do you have strategies that work for you already? Was this helpful?

Let me know in the comments below!