Stop weight gain with 4 simple tricks to avoid overeating, suggested by top fitness coach

Health benefits of eating vegetables: Veggies are highly nutritious, loaded with fibre, and low in calories. So they are not only good for your health, but also very filling (Image: Pexels)

When it comes to food, occasional overeating doesn’t do much harm. The real trouble begins when it becomes consistent, leading to weight gain and other eating disorders.

Overeating is basically eating even after you are full, and there may be a number of reasons for it. While stress, anxiety, and seasonal factors are often associated with it, long-term implications may point to excessive gaps between meals, nutritional imbalance, and also how fast you eat.

“The most common reason for weight gain is not extreme overeating; it is actually mild but consistent overeating, and a lot of us do this on a daily basis,” fitness coach Raj Ganpath said in his new post on Instagram. While you may know the problem, he suggested four ways to help fix it…

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How to stop overeating

Space your meals right

He pointed out that most people have a 4–5 hour window between breakfast and lunch, but the gap between lunch and dinner is about 8–9 hours, which is disproportionate and ends up making them hungry and snack mindlessly in the evening. If they avoid this, they end up overeating at dinner. “What you need to do is to space your meals out, such that the time between breakfast, lunch, and dinner is roughly the same, so you don’t end up being ravenously hungry before you eat your dinner,” he advised.

Lean protein in every meal

Often, people don’t have enough protein in their meals, which leads to energy crashes and cravings. What protein does? Raj said, “It is extremely satiating and when you eat enough protein, it keeps you full for longer and that prevents you from overeating in the next meal.” It also gives you sustained energy throughout the day.

Eat a lot of vegetables

The fitness coach said veggies are highly nutritious, loaded with fibre, and low in calories. So they are not only good for your health, but also very filling. They leave less space for you to eat other calorie-dense foods.

Eat slowly

Mindful eating is essential. Raj advised eating slowly, chewing every bite thoroughly, and swallowing it properly before taking the next. “Because when you eat slowly you give your body enough time to communicate with your brain that you’ve had enough food. When you eat really fast, your body doesn’t get time to do so. As a result, you end up overeating even without your knowledge. So no matter what you eat, when you eat, or where you eat, make sure you eat slowly.”