Bella Adams
Being overweight can have many causes. However, as strange as it may sound, the most common one is banal overeating. Do not rush to smile dismissively. Doctors call regular overeating a food addiction and equate it to nicotine and alcohol addiction!
Causes of overeating (food addiction)
Very often, the responsibility for the love of overeating is shifted to a bad heredity.
Undoubtedly, there is some truth in this. It is believed that if the mother is obese, the child will inherit her problem in 40% of cases. If both parents are overweight, the probability of obesity reaches eighty percent. However, genetic predisposition alone cannot explain the global trend, which will continue to make every second person on earth overweight in just 20 years.
The explanation for these figures lies, first of all, in the wrong attitude to food, in which it has been elevated to a cult. Both at the level of an individual family and at the level of society. Food advertising is also on this list.
Another reason for food addiction is dopamine deficiency (the neurotransmitter with this name is called the pleasure hormone). Studies have shown that in obese people, the dopamine content is, to put it mildly, different from the norm.
Signs of overeating (food addiction)
- There are many signs of overeating or food addiction. Let’s list the main ones:
- You eat very quickly, preferring to eat as much as possible rather than focusing on taste.
- You often snack with friends and family, even if you are not hungry at the moment.
- After a heavy meal, you feel a burning sense of guilt and remorse for your own gluttony.
- Food replaces a sedative, helps you cope with anxiety and stress.
- When you sit down at the dinner table, you lose control of yourself and lose control over what and how much you eat.
- If you can’t eat your favorite treats, you start to feel discomfort, ranging from severe irritation to headaches.
- You stop eating only when you experience stomach pain, discomfort, or other signs of overeating. And you began to notice that your breakfast, compared to the year before last, began to consist of more dishes (or products).
- Eating alone makes you happy: you don’t have to share a piece of delicious food if asked.
- Your irritation at being told how much you’ve eaten knows no bounds! How dare you!
- You think night is the best time to catch up on your fridge.
If you recognize yourself in at least three or four of these points, then overeating or food addiction is present in your life.
How to get rid of food addiction (overeating)
The only way to do this is to learn to eat less. Short-term diets will not help, even the most severe ones.
Firstly, anyone who has ever been on a diet knows how difficult it is to stop eating one day. Secondly, as practice shows, after the end of diets, weight tends to return very quickly. And often, a few months after the diet, it exceeds the weight with which you started the express diet.
The desired result can be achieved by gradually accustoming yourself to eating less.
Psychological struggle with overeating
Dishes consisting of several components, and even flavored with mayonnaise, spices, etc. greatly increase appetite. You want to eat them again and again. So, you need to develop a new menu for yourself.
At the same time, you should not radically give up your favorite foods. Moreover, you should not starve yourself.
The body instantly reacts to artificial hunger by switching on energy saving mode and increasing appetite. To prevent this from happening, it is better to simply reduce portions. For example, eat a few cookies a day instead of a kilogram of cookies. At first, even this will be difficult, but over time you will get used to it.
Eat only when you are really hungry. And get up from the table when you are already a little full (but not yet “full”).
Buy food only according to a list made the day before and well thought out. Do not buy a week’s worth of food in the supermarket before the weekend. Otherwise, this entire supply risks ending up in your stomach on Saturday night. Buy only as much as you need for you or your family.
It’s better to go to the store again!
Don’t go to the department that is a repository of your weaknesses (confectionery, fish, groceries). It is very difficult to fight the urge to buy something tasty and favorite.
When you are worried or anxious, go to the stadium, not the refrigerator. Sport increases dopamine levels in much the same way as food. Not to mention that sports is a great way to fight weight, not just food addiction.
Meditation and deep breathing exercises can also help you distract from thoughts about food. You can cope with the urge to eat with the help of your favorite music, movies, walks, socializing with friends, in general, with the help of anything you can enjoy.
