In this podcast episode, I share overeating tips you can use to manage hunger fast.
How I developed hunger
I’ve developed a minor food addiction recently.
Here’s how it happened.
Around the last fall, I started running a lot.
I’d run about 12 kilometers (or 7.5 miles) 3 days per week.
And on the fourth day (Sunday), I’d run about 18 kilometers (or 11 miles).
The good thing is that I got ripped.
But I also developed food cravings.
My overeating reasons
My body was scared and responded with an insatiable hunger.
The good thing was that I started appreciating food more.
But I didn’t appreciate that my serving sizes became larger.
I don’t like to put my digestive system under the stress of excessive food.
It doesn’t really make sense.
I mean you eat for energy, but now you spend more of that energy on digestion!
What bothered me more, though, was my overeating psychology: excessive focus on food.
Thoughts about food interfered with my work and other activities.
That made no sense.
Here I am, as ripped as I’ve ever been.
But I’m concentrating on food like a 300-pound person who eats 10,000 calories a day.
I also started spending more time planning, cooking, and consuming food.
These things seemed so important that I could spend more than 4 hours each day on them.
I had to break out of this vicious cycle of focusing on food.
No matter how good it tasted.
My overeating cause on the physical level
I realized that my body created this craving on the physical level for a good reason initially.
After all, I lost weight, so it was under stress.
But my maintenance calories went down.
Say, from 3,000 to 2,500.
Physically, I needed less food really.
So on the psychological level, it was still up to me to choose whether I should recognize this craving as valid.
Sending the right message to my mind
My idea for tackling the overeating problem was to focus on things other than food.
Here’s one technique that I used.
One day, I went for a bike ride to Downtown Toronto to do some errands.
That’s about 20 kilometers from where I live.
It was time to have dinner, but I wasn’t done with my errands.
So I could either grab a quick snack on the go or skip dinner altogether because it would be too late when I came home.
I chose not having dinner.
By doing so, I told my subconscious mind that completing my errands was more important than eating.
This message was the first part of the technique.
The second part was rewarding myself for this good choice.
Since I saved money by skipping a meal, I could buy something pleasant instead.
Appealing to my love of Stephen King
I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since high school.
So I bought a King’s novel Lisey’s Story in a used book store.
I reinforced that the pleasure of reading and owning a book is better than eating.
I anchored myself on the book.
Every time I read it or just glance at it, it reminds me of my healthy choice.
You can use this idea with food if or with almost anything else.
These are my overeating tips in a nutshell:
- You send a clear message to your brain: this good behavior is better than the bad one.
- You reward yourself for good behavior with something material.
And it reminds you about your conscious choice frequently, ingraining it in your subconscious mind.
Another example: helping a friend
Let’s look at a few more examples of how you can apply this tip:
I’ve been experimenting with intermittent fasting.
One thing that I do on those days is replacing each meal with something pleasant.
So once, instead of having a meal, I mowed a lawn for a friend.
Every time I look at that beautiful green lawn now, it reminds me of my healthy choice.
And reinforces that intermittent fasting is good for me.
This overeating tip might seem small to you.
But little anchors like this can really go a long way in terms of reprogramming your subconscious mind.
Especially when you consciously look for opportunities to create them.
And do it often.
Final overeating tips
The next time you feel like doing something you would feel guilty about later like overeating, resist the temptation.
Save the money.
Send this exact amount as a donation to a cause of your choice.
Print the thank you note from them.
Write on it: “I DID IT” in capital letters.
Put it on a wall or a desk or in your car so that it’s in front of you often.
Overeating junk food
Overeating junk food is even more dangerous.
Not only do you hurt your body with too much food, but you also cause it trouble because this food isn’t good for it.
One way to crush junk food addiction is to reprogram yourself with an affirmation like this one:
https://romanmironov.com/blog/break-junk-food-addiction/
Let me help you with more overeating tips
As a life coach, I’m here to help you overcome overeating.
Contact me today to make progress with this problem.