Thanks.
12 Tips For Beating the Social Overeating Habit
Post written by Leo Babauta.
While I’ve learned to eat much healthier over the last six or seven years, one of my biggest challenges has been overeating on social occasions.
There are holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there are many more: my kids’ birthday parties, going out to dinner with my wife Eva, get-togethers with friends, social gatherings of business colleagues, drinking with best friends.
I’ve always tended to overeat, because:
I am distracted by conversation and so I eat mindlessly; and
unlike at home, where I’ve created a healthy eating environment, I tend to be surrounded at these occasions by boatloads of tempting but unhealthy foods.
I’ve gotten better recently, though, and have been teaching myself healthier habits.
My main habit is simple on the surface: mindful eating.
Mindful eating is simply being aware of your eating, of your body’s actual hunger signals as opposed to your brain saying “eat all that sugar and fried stuff!”, of your urges to eat more when you’re not hungry, of your snacking even when your stomach isn’t asking for more.
Mindful eating is eating slowly, fully tasting the food, appreciating every bite, being conscious of what you’re putting into your body, savoring but not overdoing.
Mindful eating, though, can be tough to do when you are distracted by talking to friends and family. So I asked readers (on Google+) to share their tips for beating the social overeating habit. You came up with some great ones.
I share these tips in hopes that you’ll find use for them during these holidays, and beyond.
