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How To Stop Overeating: 6 Steps From A Dietitian | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
An expert dietitian explains why in order to stop overeating, you need to start eating.
Expert eating disorder and dietitian Elle Kelly breaks down some of the reasons you may be overeating, and how you can overcome this.
Overeating can be defined as eating past comfortable fullness and can happen for various reasons. Still, one of the main reasons why we overeat is due to being overly hungry.
Elle will explain the biological needs of the body and the psychological aspect, to understand the science behind overeating.
Tips:
Number 1, eat enough
Number 2, eat regularly
Number 3, eat when you’re hungry and not when you’re starving
Number 4, eat balanced meals and snacks
Number 5, eat the foods you love
Number 6, check in with yourself
Follow Elle on IG: ellekellynutrition
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0:00
it might sound counterproductive but in
0:02
order to stop overeating you probably
0:04
need to start eating
0:07
my name is Elle specialist eating
0:10
disorder and sports dietitian and I'm
0:11
going to tell you some of the reasons
0:13
why you may be overeating and how you
0:15
can overcome this overeating can be
0:17
defined as eating past comfortable
0:19
fullness and it can happen for a variety
0:21
of reasons but one of the main reasons
0:23
why we overeat is due to being overly
0:26
hungry most of the time when my clients
0:28
struggle with overeating it's because
0:29
they're not eating enough they don't eat
0:31
much throughout the day and overeat at
0:33
nights they don't eat enough throughout
0:34
the week and then overeat at the
0:36
weekends and they don't eat chocolate
0:37
but when they do they eat so much of it
0:40
that they feel sick when I suggest we
0:41
look at increasing their intake
0:43
throughout the day in an attempt to make
0:45
eating habits more consistent they
0:47
express a fear that they will still
0:49
overeat when the opportunity arises to
0:51
eat and this fear keeps them trapped in
0:53
the cycle of under eating and overeating
0:55
however more often than not it will
0:58
result in the complete opposite
0:59
typically when overeating or binging
1:01
occurs it is following a period of
1:03
restriction be it a day without eating
1:05
much resulting in overeating at night or
1:07
months of dieting resulting in an
1:09
individual constantly overeating at
1:11
meals following their diet there are two
1:13
elements to this number one the
1:15
biological needs of the body and number
1:17
two is a psychological aspect when we
1:20
are dieting feeling hungry is normal and
1:22
expected to be part of the process this
1:24
can mean that we may try to suppress our
1:26
hunger by having coffee or diet drinks
1:28
in an attempt to give us energy and
1:30
satisfy taste or by filling up on low
1:32
calorie foods or perhaps we try to
1:34
distract ourselves from it but by doing
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this we're not actually satisfying our
1:38
hunger we're just delaying it which can
1:40
cause hunger to build up and lead to
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urges to overeat and feeling insatiable
1:44
after later meals when we diet our
1:46
hunger hormone ghrelin is increased and
1:48
our fullness hormone leptin is decreased
1:51
and this is an attempt by the body to
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promote eating more as a protective
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mechanism the change in these hormones
1:56
can lead to extreme hunger and a delayed
1:58
sense of fullness dieting can also cause
2:01
us to lose touch with our hunger signals
2:03
because we're so used to suppressing
2:04
them which increases the likelihood of
2:06
overeating because we don't know what
2:08
gentle hunger and comfortable fullness
2:10
feels like if you think you are eating
2:12
enough perhaps take a look at the type
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of food you're eating if your diet
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includes a lot of diet foods AKA foods
2:18
which may be high volume but low in
2:20
energy and nutritional value hello
2:22
courgetti spaghetti and green rice cakes
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you may not feel satisfied after meals
2:26
either physically or mentally physical
2:28
satisfaction looks like actually
2:30
satisfying hunger and providing the body
2:33
with adequate nourishment the best way
2:34
to make sure you are satisfying physical
2:36
hunger is to eat regularly eat enough
2:39
and eat balanced meals protein fiber and
2:42
fats play a vital role in leaving us
2:43
feeling satisfied and Fuller for longer
2:45
and carbohydrates are essential for
2:47
keeping our blood sugar levels stable
2:49
which helps to regulate our appetite
2:51
food satisfaction is so important in
2:53
preventing overeating but it's not just
2:55
about satisfying physical hunger it's
2:57
also about satisfying your taste buds
2:58
have you ever found yourself craving
3:00
something but you didn't allow yourself
3:02
to have it did you try to have something
3:03
to occur black craving did it work quite
3:06
often when we try to curb Cravings with
3:08
something else we are left feeling
3:10
unsatisfied and still wanting that food
3:12
we were craving in the first place you
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might try to curb your craving again
3:15
with something else but this is likely
3:16
not going to get you anywhere other than
3:18
wanting that food you're craving even
3:20
more for example instead of having a
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cookie you reach for some fruit in the
3:23
hopes that it will satisfy your craving
3:25
for something sweet but you still fancy
3:27
that cookie when you eventually allow
3:28
yourself to have a cookie you may have
3:30
to eat a lot in order to satisfy that
3:33
original craving so instead of having
3:34
one cookie you've eaten four or five you
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probably don't enjoy that experience as
3:38
much as you could and feel guilty for
3:40
eating it afterwards and this reinforces
3:42
the belief that you cannot trust
3:43
yourself and that you will always
3:45
overeat on that food which makes you
3:47
more determined to never have that food
3:48
again when we tell ourselves we can't
3:50
have something it increases the desire
3:52
for that item whether it's food in
3:54
general or a specific food or food group
3:57
so when we are eventually presented with
3:59
that forbidden fruit it can be harder to
4:01
stop eating the more you restrict the
4:03
stronger these Cravings become and this
4:05
increases the likelihood of overeating a
4:07
lot of people fear allowing themselves
4:09
to eat certain foods as they always
4:11
overeat on them but quite the opposite
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happens when we learn to allow ourselves
4:15
to have Foods we're craving we enjoy the
4:17
food feel satisfied and move on not
4:19
feeling guilty or wanting to make up for
4:22
it for the rest of the day or feeling
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compelled to eat the entire packet
4:25
because we know we can have it whenever
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we fancy it I really want to stress that
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overeating can be normal and sometimes
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we consciously decide to overeat perhaps
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because the food tastes good or because
4:36
we are in a social environment where we
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are not eating out of hunger but as part
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of the experience food is so much more
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than fuel I'm actually acknowledging
4:44
that is not only really important for
4:46
having a healthy relationship with food
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but also for preventing overeating so to
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summarize here are some things you can
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try if you're struggling with overeating
4:55
number one eat enough restricting your
4:58
intake harshly is likely going to
5:00
backfire number two eat regularly to
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keep your blood sugar levels stable
5:03
going long periods throughout the day
5:05
without eating will likely lead to
5:07
overeating at subsequent meals so why
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not try adding in a snack in between
5:10
meals my protein has a range of Handy
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balanced snacks like their oat bakes
5:15
which could be great to keep in stock to
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prevent you from becoming overly hungry
5:18
number three eat when you're hungry and
5:20
not when you're starving the more you
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try to delay eating the more your hunger
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will build and this increases the
5:26
likelihood of overeating number four eat
5:28
balanced meals and snacks ensuring that
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you have adequate amounts of various
5:32
nutrients will support satisfaction
5:33
after meals many people avoid adding
5:35
fats to meals but this is the most
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satiating nutrient number five eat the
5:40
foods you love explain including these
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foods from your diet is unsustainable
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and will likely lead to overeating when
5:45
you do allow yourself to have them and
5:47
finally check in with yourself get
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curious about your signals notice any
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habits around overeating and reflect on
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these experiences overcoming overeating
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can take time and practice and if you do
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overeat please remember that the
5:59
solution is not to be stricter or gain
6:01
control again it is to instead honor
6:04
your hunger and give yourself permission
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to eat and to eat all foods as always if
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you have absolutely any questions please
6:10
leave them in the comments below and
6:12
don't forget to like this video And
6:14
subscribe to the my protein YouTube
6:15
channel for more great evidence-based
6:17
nutrition information
6:18
[Music]
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