Welcome to Wellness Wednesday where in-house nutrition coach, Coach Diana Leigh, answers YOUR questions about health.
Got a question you want to see answered here? Submit it on the AMA form.
Let’s jump into it!
Q: I feel like I’m consistently over-eating and can’t help it, but I know I need to eat less to lose weight. How do I get more control over my eating habits?
A: Typically when I work with clients who feel they struggle with portion control are most likely struggling with one or more of the following things:
EATING QUICKLY
It takes 20 minutes for the signals from your stomach to reach your brain and signal fullness as you eat, so if you’re eating quickly chances are your fullness signals are reaching your brain after it’s too late. In addition to that, those who eat quickly find themselves less satiated by their meal and looking for more.
TRY THIS: Plate your food, sit down with little to no distractions, and work on eating slowly while paying attention to how your body is responding to your food.
CHRONIC CALORIC RESTRICTION
Unfortunately there’s many apps and diet plans out there advising people to restrict calories well-below where they should be in hopes of achieving dramatic weight loss results. Instead, people are not seeing the results because they’re riding the restrict-and-binge rollercoaster. Restrict long enough and you lose all control when you’re around food.
TRY THIS: Eat until 80% fullness at each meal – you COULD eat more but you don’t NEED to.
CARB RESTRICTION
Do you feel like you can control yourself around food until sugar is put in front of you? This could be due to restricting carbohydrates. Carbs are processed as glucose aka sugar, and without enough glucose naturally your body will begin to crave it.
TRY THIS: Slowly add back in whole food carbohydrates and see how your body responds.
TOO MANY PROCESSED FOODS
Processed foods are known to be calorie dense – this means they provide a lot of calories but not a lot of nutrients to go with it. As a result you eat more without feeling satiated. This can include what seems like health food products such as protein bars and shakes if we aren’t getting adequate nutrition elsewhere in our diet.
TRY THIS: Find ways to replace processed foods with whole foods and see how your body responds.
Do any of these points resonate with you? If not, let me know in the ask box what you’re struggling with and I’ll drop my best tips for you next week!
Coach Diana Leigh is a Precision Nutrition certified coach who uses habit-based coaching to help her clients get stronger and feel amazing in their bodies without the restriction and overwhelm of dieting. For more helpful tips, follow her on Instagram @coachdianaleigh.
Want to work with Coach Diana Leigh? Fill out her application here.