How to Keep from Overeating - 5 Ways I Keep from Stuffing my Face

Ever since I was small, overeating has always been a problem for me. I was taught that if I wanted to leave the dinner table, I had to finish every morsel left on my plate, and unfortunately what was left on my plate wasn't always necessarily good for me.

However, when I was at my peak weight (about 221 pounds...yikes), I knew I needed to lose weight, so I had to use every possible tactic to keep myself from binging on comfort foods. Today I wanted to share with you my techniques on how to keep from overeating.

1. Brush your Teeth after every meal

Not only is brushing your teeth after every meal recommended by dentists, but the toothpaste taste in your mouth acts like a barrier that keeps you from giving in to cravings. Even if you do decide to have that extra slice of pizza, it will taste like you used Colgate as your marinara sauce. Yuck!

Similarly, you could also consume foods that leave a bad (or overwhelming strong) after taste in your mouth. I find that pineapple leaves a bitter, citrusy taste in my mouth that doesn't seem to go away no matter what I eat. You could also consume some garlic or onions, although I highly recommend you don't go out of the house. Or talk to anyone for that matter.

2. Leave sticky notes on the bad foods in your house

Giving yourself a little positive message is a great way to constantly remind yourself of your weight loss goals. This is especially true if you're confronted with a decision: should I or should I not JUST have one Lays potato chip?!

Of course the best decision is to not have junk food in your house in the first place, but for those of us that live in a house with several other people, that's not always an option. Instead, try taking some sticky notes and put them on the door of your fridge, on the door of your pantry, on the door leading to your kitchen, and on the packages of the bad foods. On the sticky notes write messages like:

• "Giving up already, Jay? You can do it!"
• "Turn away right now. It's not worth it!"
• "Are you sure you want to eat this? Why not have some grapes instead."

It may seem a bit weird at first, but it worked amazingly for me. You might even have a psychological impact on your housemates! Don't be surprised if no one touches the ice cream tub for several months because of your Post-it note.

3. Think about what you're craving, and choose a better option

Maybe you really aren't craving donuts, but rather something sweet. Or maybe you're not craving for a hamburger, but for beef. Before you decide to commit to anything unhealthy, really think about what you're craving, and choose a better option.

For example, I am a HUGE spicy food addict, and for years I used to go to my Safeway store every week and buy a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos. However, once I found out that I was really only craving for something spicy, not necessarily the Cheetos, I was able to pick better options. Now I put Tobasco on everything, and I haven't purchased a Flaming Hot Cheetos bag in over a year.

4. Keep yourself from being bored

Sometimes the reason why we eat is because we have nothing better to do! If I find myself at home during my days off and I don't have any plans, I always end up eating much more than I want. Because of this, I try to make a list of things to do for the day so I can stay both productive and healthy. The list doesn't necessarily have to be chores, either: I always make myself play at least 2 hours of online games just so I don't end up pigging downstairs.

Just make sure to not take this to the extremes; not eating because you're too busy is just as bad, if not worse, than eating too much.

5. Make your food the previous day

Knowing what you're going to eat for the day is an awesome to stay on track. I like to spend at least an hour every night preparing my meals for the next day. I take about six washable plastic containers and fill them up with stuff that I can eat throughout the day.

I have one container for breakfast, one container for brunch, one container for lunch, one container for my afternoon snack, one container for my dinner, and one container for my midnight snack (if I'm still hungry at night). Below is a picture of 4 out of 6 containers that I made the night before (I ate the first two already, haha. Sorry!):

I make sure to put a lot of healthy finger-foods in there as well. as you can see I put some grapes and Frigo cheese sticks in my containers. You don't want to have to keep breaking out the pots and pans every time you're hungry. As humans we're lazy, and if we are really hungry we'll just go for the easy route, and that can mean fast food or takeout!

My Final Bit of Advice

As with anything difficult, the one thing that you must exercise is your willpower. You are a strong, capable individual, and if you want it bad enough you'll get it. Just stay on track and keep visualizing that beach body. Good luck!