Written by: Lara Zibarras, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
For years, I felt like I was over-eating. Stuck in the diet-and-then-binge cycle, either restricting my food or full-on bingeing.
I often left the table feeling overly stuffed, with a distended tummy.
I found it hard to control myself around food – especially at buffets or parties where food was in abundance. I’d find myself gorging on the very foods that I’d sworn I must give up.
Thankfully, my eating is more “normal” these days, but the journey was long and bumpy to get here. These 6 tips have been instrumental in helping me stop overeating.
Tip No.1 ‒ Don’t skip meals
I used to skip a lot of meals. Sometimes my diet plan demanded it, or sometimes I was saving up calories for a night out. I rarely ate breakfast, and sometimes skipped lunch. I had a very disordered approach when it came to food.
Then, when I eventually sat down to eat, I was so hungry that it was virtually impossible to not overeat.
If I went to a restaurant or someone’s house for dinner, I would gorge on the bread basket or bowls of snacks. Saving calories backfired because I would lose control around the food.
Things got so much better when I started eating more regularly, sometimes snacking between meals to ensure that I never got overly hungry.
Tip No.2 ‒ Avoid unnecessary food restrictions
I used to cut food groups completely out of my diet. I’ve been through so many phases of my disordered eating journey and each stage entailed a different food that was demonised.
Early on it was fat, so I avoided anything fatty or creamy. Then later it was carbs, so I avoided them – even fruit. At one point I was gluten-free, another point dairy free.
Of course, I understand that some people must avoid certain foods in the case of allergies; yet I had no good reason to cut these food groups.
In fact, unnecessary restrictions exacerbated certain cravings – when I cut sugar it made me want more sweets, when I cut carbs it made me want more pasta.
This felt insatiable and when I inevitably gave into the cravings, I would overeat, unsure when I’d be able to get my hands on that food again.
By stopping unnecessary food restrictions, it took away that overwhelming desire for those foods.
Tip No.3 ‒ Tune into your body’s hunger cues
I mentioned earlier that skipping meals made me feel ravenous. I tried all sorts of tricks to pretend I wasn’t hungry – like drinking water or distracting myself. I felt like hunger was something to be pushed aside and ignored.
Instead, I started to tune in and then honour that hunger. If I felt hungry, I would eat. Sometimes it was just a small snack, but tuning into my body’s hunger cues allowed me to stop feeling overly hungry which meant that I didn’t feel wild around food.
Tip No.4 ‒ Use mindful eating techniques
When I felt wild around food, I would stuff food into my mouth as quickly as possible, often not tasting or even enjoying it.
When I learnt mindful eating techniques things really started to change. I aimed to avoid distractions, to eat food sitting down and from a plate, and to really appreciate and savour the food I was eating.
Essentially I was trying to slow down, taste, and enjoy my food. This allowed me to tune into my body better and understand when my feeling of fullness was emerging.
Tip No.5 ‒ Include protein and fibre in your meals
As I was starting to tune into my hunger, allowing myself to eat more, and aiming to do so mindfully, I also found it helpful to ensure that my snacks and meals were filling in a positive way, so that I felt satisfied after meals.
Protein helps that feeling of satiation and fibre is bulky, so you feel physically full; ensuring that I added them to my meals lessened the desire to gorge on other foods.
Tip No.6 ‒ Plan ahead
The final thing that helped was planning! I know that meal planning sometimes gets a bad reputation amongst the anti-diet community, because it can be very entrenched in diet culture. But, I found it helpful to put some thought into my weekly meals.
I don’t fully “meal prep”, cook in bulk, or eat the same thing daily. But I do find it helpful to write down a menu, which helps with shopping, planning and creating meals.
I don’t have time to cook everything from scratch. So I don’t. But I do believe in eating a variety of foods, with lots of fruit and vegetables, so planning ensures that we have a vague skeleton of nutritious meals in the upcoming week!
The bottom line is that it is possible to regain your confidence around food. And sure, there might be times when you feel a little stuffed, but taking the time to implement these 6 changes can put you back in charge and feeling empowered around food again.
Lara Zibarras, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Lara Zibarras is the food freedom psychologist. Her 20s and 30s were riddled with food anxieties and disordered eating, so finding food freedom was truly life changing. Using her background in psychology, nutrition and intuitive eating, she is now on a mission to help women eat dessert without guilt, find “healthy” without the obsession, and the freedom and joy in eating again.
