If you want to avoid gaining weight,
Don’t eat again until you’re hungry.
It’s that simple.
The minute you notice that you’re eating and you’re not hungry.
Stop.
Note where you are on the hunger scale.
And wait until you’re at -2 (slightly hungry) to eat again.
This may only be tomorrow, or many hours later, so you have to be willing to skip a meal that you usually eat.
It’s worth it because it’s entirely possible to not gain weight from one overeat.
Thin women overeat sometimes.
And they maintain their weight by simply not eating again until they are hungry.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
Even if you want to talk about calories (which I usually don’t):
Let’s say you eat 500 calories more than your body required during your overeat.
Or even 1000.
I predict you won’t be hungry for a while.
At least one meal.
If your overeat was late at night, you’ll probably wake up and still feel full.
Follow my advice – don’t eat breakfast, even though the experts say you must.
Today, your body is telling you you mustn’t.
It’s still processing what you ate last night and it doesn’t need more fuel right now.
So if you do the math, that skipped meal will equal about the excess calories of what you ate.
In the end, its a wash.
And your weight loss plan is still on track.
Easy huh?
In my experience, we never gain weight from one overeat.
Here’s the reason that overeating leads to weight gain:
We tell ourselves that it’s over.
We’re off the wagon.
We’ve lost control.
We’re never going to be able to do this.
We have no will power. No discipline.
These critical thoughts make us feel despair and hopeless.
And, if your go-to when you feel despair or hopelessness is food…
You can see where I’m going.
More overeating.
To more self-abusive thinking.
To more hopelessness and despair.
And even more overeating.
It’s this cycle that causes you to gain weight.
Not that one overeat.
The good news is that you can stop this cycle
Because you’re the one who started it.
With your thinking.
Don’t make that overeat be a reflection of who you are.
Just tell yourself that you are not going to eat again until you’re hungry.
Don’t do this to punish or restrict yourself.
Do this to take care of yourself. Honour your body.
Tell yourself “taking care of me means I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m satisfied’.
‘I’m going to wait until I’m hungry until I eat again’.
‘Everyone overeats sometimes’ (this is true – most naturally thin people overeat sometimes too, then they do exactly what I’m telling you to do)
If you find yourself overeating regularly, and often, you may want to consider whether you’ve made food rules that are feeling too restrictive. I have found that ditching your diet rules leads to more even controlled eating, and easy, drama-free weight gain.
If you find you can’t stop eating, email me to see whether you’re a candidate for my weight loss coaching program – I can help you stop. Forever. It’s hard work. And it’s so worth it.