Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’m just going to have one” and before you know it, you’re staring at the bottom of the bag?
Or you put more on your plate than you think you will eat, with the intention of stopping when you’re full, but next thing you know your plate is empty?
How did that happen?
We all overeat from time to time. Holidays are probably the most common time we tend to over indulge. But what we tend to ignore is when we do it on a random Tuesday night in front of the television or Saturday night when we’re out with friends.
Overeating occurs when we ignore our bodies signals that we are full. Or we eat foods that are laden with sugar, salt and fat that trick our bodies into wanting more and make it easy to keep eating. (Think Lays potato chips and their tag line, “You can’t just eat one!”)
The key is learning what your triggers are:
- Is it a specific food?
- Is it a certain situation?
- Is it a feeling that you are eating in response to?
- Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? H.A.L.T.!
Once you know what your triggers are you can plan around them:
- Can you avoid having specific foods in your home?
- Can you have an escape plan for that certain situation?
- Can you identify what feeling you are eating in response to? Can you find a different response?
- Can you check in with H.A.L.T. and fix the problem rather than eat over it?
Triggers can be anything. They can be visual or a smell or a memory or an activity i.e. “I always eat the large popcorn at the movies”! Anything that prompts you to ignore your hunger and simply eat mindlessly until you are uncomfortable might be a trigger for you.
Spend some time figuring out what your triggers are and then create new behaviors to counterbalance them. Eating rather than overeating is in your control!
If you need help exploring what your triggers are and how to replace them with healthy behaviors please schedule a free half hour consult ($80.00 value) with me. Together, we can develop a plan.
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