Why do I eat so much? That’s really the question I wanted you all to ask yourself this week. And I have the ultimate nutrition tip for you.
If you only follow one nutrition tip it should be to only eat when you were hungry and eat less.
And as enthusiastically as people try this challenge, I’m never shocked to see how many people actually have a hard time doing it. It may be the most difficult nutrition challenge you can try.
So why do you eat so much? And why are you having trouble eating less?
There’s probably a dozen things that could be causing you to eat so much. They may be:
- Boredom
- Stress
- Distraction
- Fill a void
- Fun
- Contentment
- Socialization
But you are probably very aware of most of those – you are probably even guilty of a few.
However, in my experiment with eating less I have found 2 new reasons why you could be eating so much.
1. You’re thirsty.
One of my biggest nutrition challenges is drinking enough (sometimes any) water. I truly do not have a thirst mechanism. I go right from being fine to having a headache and feeling like my gears are grinding. Then I have to go on overdrive to rehydrate. And if I just stayed hydrated in the first place I’d be fine.
Anyway, since I was trying to eat less I drank more water. And guess what happened? Any hunger rumblings I was experiencing actually disappeared for awhile.
It was amazing! If I felt hungry I drank a glass of water and it satisfied me.
Sometimes hunger isn’t really hunger at all.
2. You’re eating the same things in the same quantities as your spouse/significant other.
The best nutrition tip I can give you is this…..
Here’s a brief scenario for you:
Since I met my boyfriend 3 years ago, who is 6′4″ and is 50-60 pounds heavier then me, I have gained 14 pounds. That’s about 5 pounds per year.
That’s right, me – fitness professional and know it all, gained weight just from dating.
What I started to realize is that I eat portions of food that are very similar to Scott’s. I don’t need to eat the same amount of food as a 6″4″, 215 pound man does.
Even if our activity levels were identical, his food requirements are much higher then mine.
I have to start looking at what he takes and then eating less. There’s really no good reason to match him.
And chances are very good that you are doing something similar. If you are having trouble losing weight (or if you are gaining weight) take a look at what your husband or boyfriend eats and make sure you eat less. For now that’s a good starting point.
The bottom line is this: you have to start looking within yourself to figure out why you eat so much. Your don’t have the body of your dreams because you eat too much – period. So take a look inside and come up with an action plan to turn things around.
