You feel satiated after you’ve finished a good meal at a restaurant, but somehow when you see the dessert menu, you can’t help yourself. Or perhaps you’ve gotten used to eating from a bag of chips while checking your email box, and when you take a closer look, the bag is empty. Do any of these situations seem familiar to you?
Experts say some factors that we often overlook, such as the size of the portion, the variety of the different foods we eat, and the size of the plates you eat from may influence our diet more than we might think at first glance. Indeed, if we were to eat only when we felt really hungry and stop when we feel full, there would not be so many overweight people all over the world. But that’s easier said than done.
The key, experts say, is to become aware of the underlying causes of overeating, so you can resist temptation and avoid gaining extra weight. Nutritionists say that once you become aware of the environmental factors that can sabotage your diet, you can react accordingly and make the right decisions. Simple habits such as moving the candy box outside of your visual area at work, placing fruit and vegetables on shelves where they are easier to see in the refrigerator and chewing food at a slower pace can limit overeating, and even help you lose weight.
Here are a few factors that can make you eat too much without realizing it:
Odors, appearance and sounds
Excessive eating can be triggered by the nice smell of a barbecue, the sound of the popcorn crackling, the unhealthy food ads or other similar factors. Experts say that most food habits are often influenced by environmental factors, so elements such as those mentioned above can lead to over-eating.
The tendency to eat while doing other things
Eating while watching TV, reading or checking emails is what specialists call “unconscious eating.” In the same category of harmful eating habits is also excessively “tasting” the food while cooking, or eating the last bits of food that your kids leave in their dishes.
When you do other things at the same time while eating, you can easily get overwhelmed and eat too much because you’re not paying enough attention. When you’re just eating and not doing anything else, you are more focused on the taste of the food, and you’ll notice that you’ll need less food in order to feel satiated.
Food is everywhere
Wherever you look you can find opportunities to eat – kiosks, drive-in restaurants, fast food or even gas stations. And when food is in front of us, we tend to eat as much as possible, specialists believe. It was noticed that when the candy jar was placed in the office, right on a table, people were eating around nine candies a day, while if it was put in the office drawer, they would only eat six. If the same jar was placed in a way that the people would have to get up in order to get to the candy, they would only eat around four.
Thus, you can train your instincts by placing snacks and sweets as far as possible, outside the visual area, while keeping healthy foods in easily accessible places. It is also advisable to try to resist the temptation to spend money on unhealthy foods, bringing in your own healthier snacks.
Fast-food: cheap, fast and accessible
Fast-food restaurants that can be found at every step and offer cheap food make us eat more and more often. Many such restaurants also offer menus that appear at first glance as economically more affordable alternatives, but which contain a lot of unhealthy fat, calories and sodium.
Experts believe that in order to resist temptation easier, it is best to train your senses to appreciate the more varied and subtle flavors and tastes of natural foods. Nutritionists recommend restricting visits to fast-food restaurants to once a week at most, and even then, try to choose the healthiest options you can find in the menu, such as salads or chicken sandwiches.
A wrong perception of the size of a “normal portion”
Our perception of “normal portion” has changed recently, partly because nowadays restaurants tend to offer over-sized portions. Thus, specialists warn that people can lose the sense of measuring a proper portion, making it increasingly difficult for them to appreciate how much they should eat.
Under these conditions, the best solution is to eat more foods with fewer calories. These are lots of foods that contain plenty of water and fiber and very few calories – for example, salads, fruits and vegetables. Nutritionists have determined that it is possible to reduce the number of calories ingested without increasing hunger, simply by choosing the foods mentioned above. It’s recommended to eat slowly, and take the time to enjoy the taste of the food so that we can learn to feel satiated with smaller portions.
Large-sized dishes
Researchers have found that we tend to eat more when we are served from larger pots than when they are small. A study showed that people who were served in large vessels tended to eat up to 56% more than those served in small pots. Using smaller pots, plates, spoons and cups will make you feel the same feeling of satiety, while eating a smaller portion. Also, using smaller tableware allows for a better perception of the taste, and leads to a slower eating rhythm.
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