Overeating - strategies and resources to help.
Overeating.
Overeating is a common topic that comes up with many of my clients. It is something that many people experience caused by factors including distraction, stress, hormones, emotions and under eating. Overeating can also be as a result of disordered eating or binge eating disorder.
If you are unsure the difference between binge eating and general overeating, the National Eating Disorders Collaboration website is a good place to start https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/types/binge-eating-disorder/ . If this is something that you struggle with or something you are unsure if you struggle with, please contact your GP for a referral to a practitioner who can support you.
On the other hand, general overeating occurs for most of us at some point in our lives.
This could look like having extra food at dinner even when you were already really full. Demolishing the cupboard when you get home from work. Or for you overeating may look different.
This article is not with the intention of bringing shame or guilt to anyone who experiences overeating. Instead it is written with the intention of helping others to connect with their body and support eating in a way that is healthy for you.
Some of these strategies may work well, some may not. Please leave the strategies you feel are unnecessary and adopt the aspects you feel may work for you.
1) Mindfulness and checking in with hunger/fullness cues.
Taking a moment to check in with your hunger and fullness queues. There is a "Hunger Level Scale" document available on the Queensland Health website that I find very useful to quantify how hungry/full you are.
https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/152812/wtmgt_hungerscale.pdf
Initially it can be useful to keep a hunger awareness diary to be able to identify any trends or reasons for why you may be overeating. You can find the diary on the same link above. It can be useful for some people to print this out and physically write it out. If you don't like the idea of carrying around paper, another method could be keeping notes on your phone.
This overall aims to help you to notice when you are hungry and when you are full. In doing so, helping you to check in with yourself and your eating habits even when you may be initially distracted.
2) make sure you are eating enough at mealtimes.
Under eating or restricting throughout the day can cause some people to compensate and overeat later in the day.
The techniques above could help with identifying hunger queues if you find that you often are distracted, forgetting to eat meals or purposely overriding hunger queues. After restricting (wether intentional or unintentional) deprivation or threat of deprivation can trigger overeating.
Some strategies to help make sure you eat enough throughout the day could include:
- making sure you take 3 meal breaks per day
- scheduling a lunch break at work
- preparing meals in advanced if you find you are forgetting to eat
- bringing snacks (eg nuts, muesli bars) or nutritious drinks (eg smoothie) if you aren't able to take a break for food
- see a dietitian to ensure your meals/snacks are nutritionally adequate
3) check in with your emotions, anxiety and stress levels
Stress has an affect on hormones, dopamine system and motivation circuits in our brain. Together these may potentiate reward sensitivity, food preference and the desire to seek hyper palatable foods [2]. Depending on how you body reacts you could be under or over feeding your body during times of stress.
In addition to this, when in a state of heightened emotions, many people will turn to food as a comfort (aka 'comfort food'). We can do this as a form of self soothing to dispel unwanted and typically negative emotions. We typically turn to sweet and high energy density foods because they can improve mood and mitigate effects of stress via its effect on reward pathways within the brain [5]. Therefore heightened emotions may also be a factor resulting in overeating.
Some strategies for minimising anxiety and stress could be:
- meditation (there are some great free meditations on Youtube, Spotify and some great apps available)
- exercise regularly
- getting support from a friend, doctor, or psychologist
- going for a walk outside
- do things you enjoy wether this be listening to music, reading, spending time with family/friends, etc.
Beyond Blue has some great resources if you would like to explore this topic more https://www.beyondblue.org.au
4) Where possible, prioritise sleep
Poor sleep impacts the brain and can result in increased appetite and food desire. In addition, when people are sleep deprived they are more likely to choose foods that are higher-calorie such as high fat and high sugar foods [8].
You may have noticed this after a late night or early morning wake up. So, aiming for the recommended 7-9hours (for people aged 14-64) is a good idea [9].
5) Identify any triggers for overeating
For some people, overeating can be triggered by a range of things from a particular food, time, place, emotion, etc. The Hunger Awareness Diary above might be able to help you to identify any potential triggers for overeating that you may not be aware of.
Hyper palatable and heavily processed foods can be a trigger for overeating for many people [7]. One strategy to overcoming this is to have other options easily available. For example, having some yoghurt or fruit available at home for an afternoon snack. This way when you are hungry, you have food easily available.
Other triggers may require more in depth analysis. Since food triggers can be complex, this is could be something that requires support of a psychologist and/or dietitian.
6) Seek professional support
Leading on from the last point, often it can be useful to seek support from an accredited dietitian or psychologist if possible. If you are struggling with over-eating, under-eating or eating in general and are able to seek support I have included a few places you can find health professionals below:
to find an accredited practicing dietitian: https://daa.asn.au/find-an-apd/
to find a psychologist: https://www.psychology.org.au/Find-a-Psychologist
National Health Services Directory: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/australian-health-services
References
[1]https://www.nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/types/binge-eating-disorder/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214609/
[3] Torres SJ, Nowson CA. Relationship between stress, eating behavior, and obesity. Nutrition. 2007;23(11–12):887–94.
[4] 20. Block JP, He Y, Zaslavsky AM, Ding L, Ayanian JZ. Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among US Adults. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2009;170(2):181–92.
[5] Gibson EL. Emotional influences on food choice: sensory, physiological and psychological pathways. Physiology & behavior. 2006;89(1):53–61. Epub 2006/03/21
[6]https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/152812/wtmgt_hungerscale.pdf
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31105044
[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763921/
[9]https://www.sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times