Want to know the tips to stop eating when you’re full? You know the feeling when you eat until your plate is cleaned off and all of a sudden you feel like you went overboard. Did you eat too much because that is the way you were raised? You know the message mom sent to sit and eat until you are finished. Or did your appetite get a hold of you and go too far? Did you slow down your eating, savor each bite and take a pause? In a world of busy lives and hungry bellies, here are tips to stop eating when you’re full:
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1. Drink of Glass of Water
Often hunger is confused for thirst, so if you are noshing down a lot of food, make sure you drink water. Water will help to fill your belly and avoid overeating. I try to drink 2-3 glasses of water with my meal so I do not overeat. This is one of the most important tips to stop eating when you’re full.
2. Pause and Take a Break
Instead of rushing to eat, placing forkful after forkful of food in your mouth, stop and take a break. Talk to your family or friends as you sit together or just slow down and think. It takes time for your stomach to send a message to your brain that it is full, so give it some time. This will help you to combat overeating!
3. Use Smaller Plates
One simple tip to help you to avoid overeating is to squash it before it even starts. Put your food on a smaller plate so you will eat less. You cannot overeat if you use portion control from the start. Be aware of what you are eating so you do not have to loosen your pants while you are eating. Loosening pants is definitely not a good sign.
4. Be Mindful
If you are staring at your own plate in dismay, you may want to stop eating. Be mindful of the food you are eating and when in doubt, put it back in the fridge for another day!
5. Wrap It up
If you are out for dinner, chances are the quantity is much more than what you would normally eat at home, so ask for a to-go box pronto. Do not wait until you begin to eat because you can easily talk yourself into eating more. Put half of your meal to the side and eat the portion your body needs instead of what it wants at the moment.
6. Take a Walk
As you sit at the table debating on finishing your meal, get up and take a walk. If there is a debate on another bite, you may just want to walk away while you are ahead. If you find you are still hungry after your walk, you can go for it, but give yourself some time to walk, digest and revisit if you really need that last bite; most likely you don’t!
7. Get to Bed
As you stare at the empty plate and debate on going back for seconds, check out the time. It is 8:00, way too late to be going for a second helping. In fact, unless you are fueling for a marathon, seconds should never be an option. So brush your teeth, do some pushups and get to bed to read a book. Curl up to your favorite read and doze off early. Tomorrow you can rise early to get your workout in!
Put down the fork, get outside for a workout and remember there is more to life than stuffing yourself silly. Okay we have all stuffed ourselves before but do you know how to avoid overeating and stop eating when you are full?
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