Quick Weight Loss Tips – Tip # 3

Key to Overcome Compulsive Overeating: Eat, Drink & Be Merry!

“Some people have a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what they eat. For my part, I mind my belly very studiously, and very carefully; for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else.” ~Samuel Johnson

Many of us eat our food mindlessly. We eat even when we are not hungry, we eat just because the food is on our plate and we have been taught from young “to finish the food”, we eat “comfort food” that is not comforting at all…

As mentioned in the last article, deprivation diets which has a strategy of saying, “I’ll never eat fried foods or chocolate again” are doomed for failure. The key to lose weight successfully is quite the opposite: learn to enjoy what you eat.

Don’t deprive yourself. Depriving yourself of comfort foods and a lifestyle you enjoy is not going to work in the long-term. Instead, start by rewiring your comfort foods.

If you analyse what you enjoy indulging in – ice-cream, chocolate, cakes, potato chips? – you may realize that you love them because you have associated them with certain happy or relaxing events in your life. For example, when do you eat popcorn? Nine out of 10 people will answer, “At the cinema.” When do you enjoy your potato chips? “In front of my favourite television program.” “My father used to take all of us to KFC on the first day of the month, and it was really fun…” “My mum would buy ice-cream for me when I scored an A in school.” The list goes on.

When you are aware of your habits, then you can start rewiring your comfort foods by pairing healthier alternatives with these positive events. Instead of picking up that bag of chips, try a bowl of strawberries or cashew nuts.

The other key is to eat slowly and enjoy the taste of the food as you eat, rather than gobble it down. Also, take a smaller helping, and tell yourself, you can replenish when you finish that. This will help you in eating less, while enjoying the food even more. A case in point is my love for durians – I do not have to eat a lot to feel happy; I just buy one really good quality durian, savor the taste of each seed, and before I know it, I feel so satisfied and happy.

Look out for Tip #4 in the next segment of Health Coach International’s Quick Weight Loss Tips.