You have really tried to figure out how to overcome overeating, I know you have…
Frustrated by another failed attempt to stop eating too much, she sat on the end of her bed with her head in her hands. She looked up at the stack of diet books across the room and wondered if she had left any stone unturned. Surely there was hope to change but her optimism eluded her.
I’ve been there and maybe you have too. If diets books, food plans, and white-knuckling the steering wheel as you drive past your favorite food joint don’t work, what does?
While you will find a ton of resources on how to stop overeating on my blog, I thought it would be amazing to poll health and fitness experts on how they coach their clients to live their lives overcoming overeating.
Be sure to check out their websites to gather some of the best information on the web!
The #1 Tip on How to Overcome Overeating
My #1 tip for how to overcome overeating is to strengthen your faith that it is possible to for you to change. Why is this important? If you don’t believe in your heart that change is possible for you, then you won’t take the steps necessary to change or else you will sabotage yourself. Many people don’t believe that it is possible to change because they’ve practiced the habit for so long that it has become part of their identity as in “That’s just what I do.” They may also believe that if they don’t overeat, then they will be left without comfort, feel deprived, or have to face whatever fear is driving them to overeat.
So getting free from that habit first involves taking on a new identity grounded in Christ, believing that He is able to supply every need you have, believing that change is possible for you, and being willing to go through the process building new habits to replace the old ones. Meditate on Galatians 5:22-23, which says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Because God’s spirit lives in you, then the seed of self-control is there too along with all the others. To grow that seed requires awareness of the potential “weeds” in your life that is preventing its growth, such as emotional triggers, situations that tempt you, social influences, or foods that are hijacking your brain.
-Kimberly Taylor, Writer & Founder of Take Back Your Temple.
What Are Your Overeating Causes?
I work with my clients in portion control following the hand, fist, and thumb rules, but ultimately overeating often deals with emotional and mental ties. The first step is making a note of every time you either overeat or want to overeat. What is going on when that happens? How do you feel (stressed, upset, insecure, not good enough)? Identifying the triggers will help cut it off at the source first and then you can begin work with lifestyle change.
– Michelle Makela-Belo, Personal Trainer & Founder of Cr3ation Fitness.
Is Deprivation Causing You To Overeat?
I would invite someone who’s struggling with overeating to take a look at how she may be restricting or depriving herself throughout the day. When we place limits on WHEN we can eat, HOW MUCH we can eat, or WHAT we can eat, we are taking care of ourselves in the best way that we know how…
We believe that rules and plans will bring peace and control to our lives. But instead, we are creating the perfect environment for feeling out of control around food.
Restricting our food is not a solution to how to overcome overeating, it causes it. For example, have you ever told yourself that today you are not going to have a cookie with lunch, but then you find yourself eating a whole row of cookies later in the afternoon?
Or perhaps you do eat the cookie with your meal, but the ensuing guilt results in “oh well, I’ve blown it” thinking, and so you overeat throughout the rest of the day with the promise of doing better tomorrow.
Instead of depriving yourself, let yourself feel full and satisfied with your meal. Give yourself full and unconditional permission to eat. You can do this by asking yourself, “What am I truly hungry for and can I allow myself to have that?” This type of thinking develops our self-trust. And self-trust, not the restriction, leads to less overeating and more peace with food.
– Lisa Kam, Intuitive Eating & Wellness Coach at LisaKam.com.
Tricks To Stop Overeating
If we ate some of the good stuff first (veggies high in fiber or fruit high in fiber) our bellies would fill-up and the nutrients in the food would feed our blood, brain, and organs.
Then we would not eat as much of the junk. Hence, I say, not as much… It takes time to break habits and incorporate more foods that will help break those cycles. I started with a fruit and veggie smoothie in the morning to begin my journey of eating more fruits and veggies.
You have to start somewhere! No need to overhaul…just start by making one changing and making it count.
– Christina Grenga, Health & Fitness Coach & Founder of Grenga Health.
Mindfully focusing on the presence of God as well as focusing on mindfully enjoying my food are my biggest tips to help prevent overeating.
– Lacy Ngo, MS, RD at Mindfulness in Faith & Food.
An App to Help You Learn How to Overcome Overeating
Set lifelong boundaries in the area of food and then renew your mind every time you break your boundaries, or if possible, when you feel like breaking your boundaries. You can renew your mind with Scripture, the I Deserve a Donut app or anything else that will help you get a Biblical perspective on eating.
– Barb Raveling, Author, Speaker, & Podcaster at BarbRaveling.com.
Get a Plan to Overcome Overeating
Always start by tracking your food (overeating) for at least a week. You have to know what (and when!) you are overeating to be able to come up with an action plan. It’s always amazing to me how my portion sizes slowly grow over time and how quickly reaching for a little of this and a little of that throughout the day adds up!
– Becky Lehman, Health Coach & Founder of So Very Blessed.
How to stop overeating when bored
My #1 tip for how to overcome overeating would be to slow down just a tad and practice mindfulness. That can sound woo-y at first, but I’m not talking about meditating through the meal. I have a tendency to speed-eat, and sometimes I end the meal feeling well, only to feel stuffed a few minutes later.
So slowing down in some way – either by chewing more slowly, taking sips of water every couple of bites, pausing at the half-way point or whatever works for each individual person – can really help us catch the overeating before it happens.
The mindfulness comes in when we slow down… taking a moment to get out of the auto-pilot eating gives us a chance to assess how we feel, and how much more food we think we actually need to end at a comfortable stopping point. So the slow-down allows the mindfulness to have a chance to happen. The two work really well together to help combat overeating!
– Kara Buetel, MS, Nutrition Coach at Raising Nutrition
Get Off Overeating Autopilot
My top tip on how to overcome overeating is to slow down. Use a technique such as waiting for 5 minutes, keeping a journal on your kitchen counter, or rating your hunger on a scale of 1-10. This takes practice, but these techniques move you out of auto-pilot and get you thinking about your food choices.
– Sara Borgstede, Author, Speaker, & Coach at The Holy Mess.
Nourish Your Body to Overcome Overeating
My number one tip for overcoming overeating is to take an inventory of what area of your life you’re undernourishing. Take those areas to the Lord and ask him to guide you in feeding them with scripture and prayer.
– Kristen Ekiss, Speaker, Educator, Blogger, and Coach at KristenEkiss.com.
How to Stop Overeating Once and For All
The best way I’ve found to curb overeating is to remove added sugars from my diet. I’m a work in progress with this, but it never fails when I’m not eating sugar, healthy choices are so much easier.
As a recovering addict, I’ve learned a great deal about how certain substances can have a negative impact on our health. Processed sugar is one of those substances. It leads to continued cravings and the inability to connect to our fullness indicators.
Eliminating this can be hard to do especially with the sugar-laden world we live in. Try cutting it out for a week or so. I think you will be amazed at the diminished cravings and ability to stop eating at the first sign of physical fullness.
-Candace Playforth, Health Coach, Writer & Blogger at CandacePlayforth.com.
Overcome Overeating with a “Budget”
The thing I’ve found most helpful in terms of preventing overeating is tracking nutrition and aiming for specific calorie and protein target ranges each day. While some might feel that this approach is difficult and time-consuming, I’ve found that it provides some nutritional direction in terms of how much we should be eating in the same way a budget can help us to determine how much we should be spending.
– Mark Young, Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach at Christ-Centered Fitness
I hope you have found these quotes helpful. While different coaches have different approaches on how to overcome overeating, each tip has its own life-changing qualities.
However, hearing all of this great information on how to stop eating can be a bit overwhelming. All the tips are great and you want to do ALL of them– now. And, when that happens, we may end up doing nothing.
Rather, take a step back and identify ONE tip that you would like to implement and hang with that suggestion until you’re consistently using it. Then, visit another one. You may find some that work for you and some that don’t and that’s great– this is all part of the process on you figuring out how you can overcome overeating for good!
If you are looking to truly put your overeating behind you, check out the 10 Reasons Why You Can’t Stop Overeating Guide below!
Brandice Lardner is a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, Amazon #1 Best Selling Author, Homeschool Mom, and Jesus Girl whose mission in life is to help women ditch the diet mentality and find peace with food and their bodies so that they are better equipped to do the great things God has called them to do.
Wow, what an awesome post with tons of helpful information from people who are living it! Thank you for including me.
So glad you could be a part! 🙂
So much incredible advice in one space, Brandice! Thank you for creating this much needed resource and for including me. I know these words from a variety of perspectives will serve many people looking to curb the common struggle of overeating. It can be overwhelming to know where to start, but you’ve included a great deal of new possible habits to choose from.
Thanks, Candace! I was in awe of all the nuggets of wisdom and practical steps that were shared. I know this will be a big help to my audience. So glad you joined in!
Another amazing information-filled article! Thank you, Brandice, for taking the time out to compile all of these awesome tips for us suffering with overeating. I feel more prepared to take on the day without distractions of stress eating and be able to be more mindful during meals. I would love to be a part of another one of your Facebook group challenges if you happen to have one in the near future! Thank you again.
Hi Bailey! Thanks for chiming in! It was so fun to see these answers rolling in– such wisdom and things even I am excited to practice more of 🙂 Glad to hear you found the challenge helpful. I’ll definitely keep my email list in the know if there is something else coming down the pipeline!