Have you ever told yourself that you’re not going to touch the bread on the table when you go out for dinner, only to find yourself 5 pieces deep before the appetizer even comes? Use these tips to stop overeating FUN foods and actually start enjoying girls night out!
If you’ve made it to this blog, you probably can think back to a time really recently where you told yourself that you weren’t going to eat a certain type of food, but find yourself overeating it 20 minutes later! But honestly babe: I know this all to well. I used to tell myself I couldn’t eat ice cream, chicken tenders and pizza for YEARS, only to find myself overeating it and farther away from my weight loss goals. Not to mention when I finally did eat it, I felt like $H!T about it!
But seriously, overeating FUN foods can hold you back from weight loss, so it definitely is an important issue to address. If you feel like nothing has worked to stop you from overeating, I want to share with you what I’ve learned throughout my 7 year journey of ditching dieting and learning how to feel confident AF in my body so you can stop overeating FUN foods and become the best version of you. So here we go!
You must stop the black and white thinking.
I truly mean this, but you can’t make any progress without getting over black and white thinking around food and weight loss. If you’re sitting there reading this wondering what the F is “black and white thinking” it’s really a fancy way of saying you have an all or nothing mindset in the way you think. And to be fair, this is normal. Almost everyone on Earth views the world in black and white (all or nothing, good and bad) terms. But the issue with this mindset is that food isn’t just good or bad.
Specifically when it comes to weight loss and health, one food doesn’t define if you lose weight or gain weight. You eat a salad? Nope, you don’t just magically get washboard abs. And same thing goes with eating chips and queso when out for Taco Tuesday with your girlfriends. You don’t just gain weight right after a meal… that’s not humanly possible!
So instead of viewing foods in such black and white terms, I’ve learned to view food as nourishing versus FUN. We all know veggies, fruits and lean proteins are staples of a healthy diet, and that’s damn right. As a registered dietitian I’m all for nourishing, natural and whole foods… because it’s important for your health! And no surprise, for weight loss too!
BUT my problem lies with saying foods are bad. Instead of saying chocolate ice cream is bad, I re-framed my thought to say that it’s a FUN food because who wants to feel guilty about eating something that’s tasty! See the thing is, you don’t have to give up chocolate ice cream to lose weight and be healthy. Remember: One food doesn’t define your health or weight! Instead, I have chocolate ice cream as a FUN treat as part of my overall balanced diet. And luckily for you, as long as you’re in a calorie deficit (i.e. eating less calories than it takes to maintain your weight) you can eat chocolate ice cream without weight gain or guilt.
Allow yourself to have the damn cookie.
So once you overcome the black and white thinking, I want you to do something crazy. You heard that damn right: EAT THE DAMN COOKIE! But seriously, you have to stop (right now!) and promise to yourself that you’ll stop cutting out FUN foods in fear of gaining weight or overeating them. Because honestly, this is part of the problem!
When you cut out foods you love, what’s the one thing you want? That food. And when you finally cave in because for most babes you can’t just cut out cookies for your entire life… what do you do!? YOU OVEREAT. You get so uncomfortably full because you told yourself that you couldn’t have it or maybe you even cut it out for weeks and months at a time!
So while it may be scary, you have to allow yourself permission to eat FUN foods. Write it down. Tell a friend. Whisper it to yourself before you go for the cookie. Or maybe just buy the food you’ve been cutting out of your diet for months because you’ve been trying to lose weight. I don’t care what you do, but just give yourself permission to eat the food and I promise you, over time you WILL stop overeating it!
Become aware of portions.
Portions are a double-edged sword. Once you know portions of foods you think are “bad” you may feel more guilty if you eat them! But if you overeat chips out of the bag or ice cream right out of the carton, I think it’s SO important to learn mindfulness and self awareness of what’s in your food! So until you learn how to manage your intake and stop depriving yourself by implementing the tips above, please don’t eat FUN foods like ice cream right out of the carton! Portion them out to ensure you don’t overeat and so you can become more aware of the quantity of those FUN foods you’re actually eating. Awareness is everything when it comes to weight loss and stopping this vicious overeating cycle!
Create an overeating plan.
After going through my own overeating struggles, I 100% realize that when you start allowing yourself to eat FUN foods… you may overeat. YEP I said it! And if that’s hard to hear, I’m sorry but it’s the truth! There’s no way that you can just go from being so scared of eating a certain food because you always overeat it to having that food with a perfect relationship where you never overeat it!
So instead of freaking out the next time that it happens as you start to implement these tips, follow these steps below:
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Don’t Freak Out. Right after you overeat, the most important first thing you need to do is calm down. That means putting down your phone and not scrolling though Instagram. And oh, don’t go on your scale… for some reason us babes think that’s the best time to weigh ourselves!? WHAT TORTURE!! Instead, chill the F out and remind yourself that one meal or even day of overeating isn’t going to destroy your weight loss goals. Making yourself feel guilty won’t help you break this cycle!
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Get your mind off of overeating. One of the best things to do after you overeat is clear your brain and get your mind off of food. Go on a walk and listen to your favorite girly podcast, watch your favorite reality TV show or read a book with your pups snuggled with you. Do something that makes you happy and relaxes you.
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Plan the rest of your meals. While you may be like “why would I want to focus on eating right after over-eating” there actually is a point to this. Instead of skipping meals and restricting more food after overeating, I want you to vow to nourish your body so you can get back on track, feel amazing and get closer to breaking this cycle. I want you to plan a few meals and snacks (which may require grocery shopping babes!) so you can have macro-balanced meals. Head to my Instagram for some macro-balanced meal ideas.
