How to Control Portion Size and Stop Overeating to Lose Weight Now!

Do you suffer from a ravenous appetite? Controlling the amount of food you ingest is absolutely critical if you are to achieve your target weight. Read on to discover how you can eat less without going hungry, to finally shed all those unwanted pounds!

The secret to avoid overeating and naturally eat less relies on changing your approach to food. Here are some tips to apply that allow you to become more aware of the reasons behind eating for body nourishment as opposed to eating due to some underlying emotional factor.

Food Techniques

Emotional or stress eating

Turning to food because we are sad, depressed, angry, excited, or nervous creates a pattern of behavior that leads to overeating and weight gain. If you are serious and motivated enough to lose weight, now is the time to evaluate why you eat, when you are feeling these emotions.

Fortunately. habits can be changed. Instead of reaching for your favorite stress-reducing food, try going for a walk and assessing the overall situation. Take a few deep breaths, meditate, and seek to gain inner control of your emotions. Harping and arguing about something over and over does not create a solution.

Eating due to boredom

Remember the old saying "idle time is the devil's playground?". Try, to the best of your ability, to fill idle time with constructive projects. Take up a good book. Play some chess, checkers, visit the library, any hobby you like that positively keeps your mind occupied and entertained.

Once you learn to redirect and replace overeating with other activities, weight loss becomes a breeze. This will take a little time, however it has been proven time and time again, that new habits can be formed in as little as 30 days. Motivation and over-enthusiasm can wither and wane, but habits can last a lifetime!

In addition to taking control of the emotional stress triggers that cause us to overeat, it is imperative that we also make intelligent choices in the kinds of foods we eat.

Eat nutrient - rich foods

To successfully lose weight while controlling hunger, there are certain foods that control blood sugar levels and stabilize your appetite. Choose high quality clean burning foods that are as natural as possible to ensure that cravings are controlled. They include fresh fruits and vegetables (phytonutrients and fiber), beans and legumes, poultry, fish, and yogurt.

This is an example of clean burning foods that encourage your body to naturally burn more fat due to their high nutrient profile. Foods that must be avoided are the highly processed kind, which include packaged, fast-food, doughnuts, cookies, pastries, candies, basically JUNK FOOD!. Processing strips foods of their fiber and nutritional content which causes massive surges in blood sugar, leading to cravings shortly thereafter.

Drink one large glass of water every waking hour

Drinking more water throughout the day is a time-proven technique to naturally reduce cravings and portion sizes. Water fills the belly cavity, creating a sense of fullness, which leads to smaller portions. In addition, the brain can confuse dehydration with hunger; drinking a large glass of water can often times have an immediate appetite reducing effect.

Water, along with extra fiber, ensures better bowel regularity; a sluggish G.I. (gastrointestinal) tract can cause constipation, leading to a compromised metabolism. Keep in mind that our bodies are made up of over 70% water, and requires this vital nutrient for every metabolic function essential to sustain life.

Get more exercise

Going for a brisk walk is a great way to naturally reduce your appetite. Sitting around and doing nothing can greatly increase your appetite. In addition to keeping busy and burning calories, exercise helps control your blood sugar, reduce stress, and improves your mood due to the chemical endorphins released in the brain.

Take it easy at first if your a newcomer to working out. As you gain fitness and drop pounds, you might be motivated to increase the intensity and duration, which will allow you to reap all the benefits that come with being physically fit!

Slow down and chew your food!

The fastest way to overeat is to eat rapidly without conscious awareness. Eating in front of the television set, putting too much on your plate, and not taking the time to chew your food can destroy your weight loss attempts. It takes about 20 minutes for the brain to receive the signal of satiety from the gut. Slow down, chew and enjoy, so the brain can receive this vital signal before you go overboard in calories.

How to Control Portion Size and Stop Overeating to Lose Weight Now!