8 simple ways to avoid overeating
These tips will help you celebrate the New Year without pain and heaviness in your stomach.
- Don’t sit down at the table hungry
Skipping breakfast or lunch seems like a good way to reduce the number of calories you eat in a day. But such a strategy will only increase hunger, and at the holiday table you risk putting more food on your plate than necessary. Additionally, skipping meals can leave you feeling low on energy, tired, and experiencing headaches. Try to stick to your regular eating schedule, even on holidays. Ideally, you should eat once every 4-6 hours. If, due to household chores, there is not enough time for a full lunch, make a light snack of vegetables or fruits.
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- Don’t rely on the January diet.
Many people indulge in food restrictions during the holidays in hopes of losing weight in January. This diet is called “Yo-Yo”: a person either loses weight or gains it again. This approach can negatively affect the functioning of the heart. Fortunately, your health will improve once you return to a healthy diet .
In addition, fat loss on this diet leads to lower levels of leptin, a hormone that signals satiety. As a result, a person will feel hungry longer, even if objectively he has already overeaten. This approach makes the January diet useless: the body will quickly replenish those kilograms that it has already gotten rid of.
The best option for those who want to lose weight is to always eat a balanced diet and add regular exercise to their life.
- Create a balanced menu
If you celebrate the New Year at home, you can create a competent menu yourself. Add lean meat, light salads and fruits to it. Consider how many guests will be at the party, and do not prepare in reserve. Firstly, when the table is full of snacks, the temptation to eat something tasty is greater, even if you are not hungry. Secondly, you can’t store food that will be left after New Year’s Eve for so long. For example, the shelf life of meat and fish dishes does not exceed 24 hours, and salads with mayonnaise – 12.
If you are visiting and you do not have the opportunity to influence the menu, then offer to bring a couple of low-calorie dishes. Let’s say you can make a holiday stew with ground beef and vegetables or oat pudding.
- Eat a variety of foods
Try to fill half your plate with vegetables and fruits. This will help you feel full faster and reduce the number of calories. Eat slowly: it takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to realize that you are full.
On the New Year’s table there will be traditional dishes that are rarely prepared at other times of the year. For example, Olivier salad and herring under a fur coat. Eating everything at once is not a good idea. Instead, pick one or two of your favorite foods and stick to just those.
- Use small plates
The larger the dishes, the higher the likelihood that you will fill the entire space with food. And if you are one of those people who have been taught since childhood not to leave food behind, it is easy to overeat. Try using a smaller plate – if you feel hungry after eating, fill it again.
- Choose your drinks wisely
It is advisable to limit alcohol because it increases appetite. In addition, alcoholic drinks are nutritious in themselves. A glass of wine can have as many calories as a piece of chocolate, and a pint of lager has the nutritional value of a packet of crisps.
There is a lot of sugar in lemonade and soda. You may not even notice that you’ve drunk several glasses. Sweet drinks can be replaced with low-calorie drinks, such as iced tea, mineral water, and kombucha. Another option is to prepare water with fruit. Experiment before the holidays to find your favorite flavor. For example, you can add lemon, basil, mint, cucumber, orange or parsley to the water.
- Don’t neglect physical activity
During the holidays, you may want to cancel your workouts and completely devote yourself to relaxation. But some researchers believe that exercise helps prevent overeating because it makes it easier for the body to regulate appetite and eating behavior. Make time for them before the feast. Go to the skating rink, do yoga , or at least take a walk in the park.
During the feast, take breaks between meals, for example, to dance. It takes several hours for food to be completely digested, and it remains in the stomach for 40–120 minutes. The more proteins and fats there are in foods, the longer it will take the body to absorb them.
- Don’t be afraid to say no.
If someone tries to persuade you to try a certain dish, try to gently refuse. For example, you could say, “I heard this salad is delicious, but I can’t eat an ounce of food anymore.” Find something you can praise – for example, say you liked the dessert or mention the table setting. As a rule, such an answer is sufficient. If the persuasion continues, and you are afraid of offending the hosts of the evening, take a small portion.