Why You Overeat

• The food tastes good
• To mask uncomfortable emotions
• It was what was served to you
• You ere taught to eat what’s on your plate
• Restaurants serve large portions
• Trying to eat the same amounts you used to when you were younger

Why You Need to Stop Eating When You’re Full

Overeating results in  calories being stored as fat, feeling lethargic

after the meal, excess gas, heartburn, and constipation.

How you Harm to Your Body When You Keep Eating When You’re Full

Calories, the energy store stored in our food, fuel our bodies. When we

overeat–that is, when we eat more than we can digest, these calories

are stored as fat in our bodies. This extra body fat creates health

hazards. It makes it more difficult for your body to use insulin, which

raises your insulin levels and blood sugar. Extra body fat can bring

about high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes, depression, and

cancer.

Lethargy after Overeating

If you feel really lethargic and fatigued when you eat a big meal, your

body is letting you know that you overdid it. Your body requires energy

to digest. But when you overeat, your gastrointestinal tract, which is

made of your digestive organs –   including your stomach, liver,

pancreas, and gallbladder small intestine large intestine (colon), all

now have to work much harder to process and store the extra food that you ate.

The food that you eat is processed by the body by being broking it

down into glucose to provide you with energy. Insulin is secreted by the

pancreas to facilitate the distribution of glucose. Your blood sugar level then

increases because there is too much glucose. This gives you a quick increase in energy.   

However, more insulin is then secreted to disseminate the glucose.  But then, because

of the drop in blood sugar, you just as quickly lose energy and become tired. At the

same time the sleep hormone, tryptophan is released and the brain then disperses

melatonin–the sleep hormone– with further makes you tired.

What to Do

The most important steps you can take are to stop eating when you are full and in general,

don’t overeat. Don’t rush eating your meal so your blood sugar levels don’t spike. Moderation in eating is key.

How to Get Used to Stop Eating When You’re Full 

Your body will naturally tell you that you’re getting full. This is like

seeing a traffic light turning yellow — you know the light is going to

turn red and you keep ongoing. Get used to listening to these signals.

Also, over time, you will be able to better judge what the right

portions of food will be when you eat. In not putting too much food on

your plate, you are laying the groundwork to eat the correct portion. 

You may be used to eating beyond the point of when you feeling full. The

food you’re eating may be delicious so why stop when you’re full? Yum,

you keep eating.  You may eat overeat because you don’t have a regular

eating schedule. You may eat breakfast then have lunch at a time when

you’re still full from breakfast. Or, you may put off lunch and then

overeat because it was so long since you had breakfast. You may confuse

any discomfort that you have in your stomach or gut for hunger, but it

is actually stress or the need to drink water.  or simply that you’re

not used to stopping eating when your stomach signals to you that you full.

In fact, your stomach signals to you several minutes after eating that

it’s full, so you should stop eating when you’re almost full. Also, by

overeating regularly, you don’t give your digestive system the time that

it needs to eliminate. This is a chief way that fecal matter becomes

undigested. It takes some practice, but you should get used

to not eating after your stomach feels as it’s full, not eat until you

are hungry. We often eat with disregard to our bodies. This type of

eating includes snacking between meals, which should be kept to a

minimum at best. It may be just overeating because you are eating what

was served to you at a restaurant or by friends and family or even a

meal you cooked for yourself.  By allowing your food time to transit

through your digestive system before eating next, you greatly minimize

a fecal buildup in your colon–as well as keeping you feeling and looking trim.