Do you Overeat

Do you overeat? The key to solving the problem is figuring out *why* you are overeating. Dr. Bill Polonsky shares five triggers in his book "Diabetes Burnout": stomach hunger, eyeball hunger, evening boredom, unconscious eating, and difficult emotions.

Reason for overeating #1: Stomach Hunger. This happpens when you eat small meals during the day and become ravenous at night. Are you guilty about eating too much the night before? Is your meal plan too restrictive? Stomach hunger is often triggered by attempts at dieting or other major food restrictions.

Reason for overeating #2: Eyeball Hunger. If you eat unsatisfying foods during the day, you can get eyeball hunger. Even though you ate plenty of food, your body is unfulfilled and craving more. So ask yourself: are you enjoying the food you eat?



Reason for overeating #3: Evening Boredom. Are you feeling lonely or bored at night, mindlessly watching TV, and wishing you had something to do? You may find yourself aimlessly wandering into the kitchen and eating. This is understandly stimulating. But it's not effective at relieving boredom.


Commit to yourself that you won't eat in front of the TV or while doing other activities

Reason for overeating #4: Unconscious Eating. Do you watch TV with a bag of chips and find it suddenly empty? When you link non-food activities like watching TV or surfing the internet to eating, you set yourself up for overeating.


Reason for overeating #5: Difficult Emotions. Difficult emotions like anger, sadness, anxiety, frustration, or loneliness can urge you to seek comfort in eating. Eating "comfort foods" is calming in children and adults. But the calm doesn't last long, and it doesn't solve the problem.