3179: 12 Tips For Beating the Social Overeating Habit by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits on Mindful Eating

[00:00:00] Hey, it's Justin from Optimal Living Daily. Before we start, I want to share a super powerful practice I use called NSDR or Non-Sleep Deep Rest. In just about 10 minutes or so, this Yoga Nidra practice leaves you feeling as refreshed as after a nap without actually sleeping. Experience it for yourself on our guided podcast. Search NSDR and look for the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:00:26] Hello, everybody, and thank you so much for joining me here on another weekly bonus episode of ORD. I'm your host, Greg Audino, and in this week's Sunday Extra, we're going to be sharing an old episode from Optimal Health Daily. I think you're going to like this one. So without further ado, let's hear Dr. Neil's narration and commentary as we optimize your life. 12 Tips For Beating the Social Overeating Habit by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net

[00:00:56] While I've learned to eat much healthier over the last six or seven years, one of my biggest challenges has been overeating on social occasions. There are holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there are many more. My kids' birthday parties, going out to dinner with my wife Ava, get-togethers with friends, social gatherings of business colleagues, drinking with best friends.

[00:01:17] I've always tended to overeat because, one, I'm distracted by conversation and so I eat mindlessly, and two, unlike at home where I've created a healthy eating environment, I tend to be surrounded at these occasions by boatloads of tempting but unhealthy foods. I've gotten better recently, though, and have been teaching myself healthier habits. My main habit is simple on the surface, mindful eating.

[00:01:41] Mindful eating is simply being aware of your eating, of your body's actual hunger signals, as opposed to your brain saying, eat all that sugar and fried stuff. It's also being aware of your urges to eat more when you're not hungry, of your snacking, even when your stomach isn't asking for more. Mindful eating is eating slowly, fully tasting the food, appreciating every bite, being conscious of what you're putting into your body, savoring but not overdoing.

[00:02:08] Mindful eating, though, can be tough to do when you're distracted by talking to friends and family. So I asked readers on Google Plus to share their tips for beating the social overeating habit. You came up with some great ones. I share these tips in hopes that you'll find them useful during holidays, social gatherings, and beyond. 1. Constant awareness of bodily feedback and sensation. Ask yourself, am I hungry? Do I need more?

[00:02:35] Being aware of your body's hunger signals is a skill that has been overridden by years of overeating due to food reward properties like sugar, salt, and fat. But it's a skill that can be relearned with practice. 2. Don't go to an event hungry. Eat something healthy and at least somewhat filling before you go. This way, you're less likely to mindlessly snack. This is one of the most popular tips submitted by readers. 3. Eat until you're 80% full.

[00:03:04] This is a cultural habit that the Okinawans have, and it famously helps them stay healthy well into old age. 4. Don't linger near the food table. 5. Make a conscious choice to eat whatever you want to eat, but don't eat just because other people are eating or because it's convenient. 5. Actually engage socially with someone. If your mouth is talking, you can't be eating at the same time.

[00:03:29] 6. At a standing event, keep one hand in your pocket and the other holding a glass of water. Unless it's a high-end Romanesque event with personal serving maidens, you can't eat what you can't pick up. 7. Cheat without guilt. For one or two occasions a year, allow yourself to eat as much as you want, which doesn't necessarily mean to stuff yourself, but to eat without thinking too much about consequences.

[00:03:57] Two big meals on Christmas or similar occasions don't spoil a year-long habit of healthy eating. Don't overanalyze, just enjoy without a bad conscience. 8. Plan behavior beforehand and plan it specifically. For example, if you're going to a place of feasting, like a buffet or a free lunch, make a specific plan for what you will allow yourself to do. For example, plan to eat a good portion of protein, one starch, and lots of green vegetables.

[00:04:27] With your plan, you can then acknowledge the urge to overeat but not give in. Be sure to make a specific plan before the event and not on an empty stomach. 9. Place your two palms together. Whatever fits in between is the approximate size of your stomach. Project that onto your plate and put only this much food on it. 10. Drink lots of water and eat slowly.

[00:04:54] Eating slowly allows you time to hear the faint but clear, enough, enough cries coming from the belly. 11. Get over the idea of finishing your plate and be stubborn about stopping when you're full. Most people are conditioned from childhood to finish everything on their plate, so they'll keep eating even though they're full. Be warned though that other people will sometimes get upset at you for not eating everything. Stick to this response until they move on. It was great, but I can't fit any more in.

[00:05:24] And 12. Try to count up to 15 chews per each mouthful. That will really slow you down. You just listened to the post titled, 12 Tips for Beating the Social Overeating Habit, by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. Hey, it's Justin from Optimal Living Daily. Before we start, I want to share a super powerful practice I use called NSDR, or Non-Sleep Deep Rest.

[00:05:51] In just about 10 minutes or so, this yoga nidra practice leaves you feeling as refreshed as after a nap without actually sleeping. Experience it for yourself on our guided podcast. Search NSDR and look for the one from Optimal Living Daily. Leo gave credit to those who came up with some of these ideas, so you can check out his sources by checking out the article online. And we always link to the articles in our episode descriptions at oldpodcast.com.

[00:06:22] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. I just read to you a list of 12 different ways to help prevent you from overeating, and that doesn't mean you need to do all 12 of these things. You should pick one, maybe two max, to try out. And if one or two of those didn't work, then you move on to the other ones. And then you try only one or two of those out. But the key is to find what works best for you. What seems intuitive?

[00:06:48] What seems like it could be a future habit or even like a reflex for you in the future? So as I was reading these to you, you probably went, Ooh, I like that idea. There was probably at least one that jumped out at you. That's the one you probably want to start with. People always want to know which ones I like to use. For me, I know going to an event hungry is a problem. That's when I'm most susceptible to overeating. And so for me, eating something before I go, something with a little bit of protein,

[00:07:15] ideally if it's a vegetable or a piece of fruit, something like that with protein usually does the trick. If I know there's going to be some food there that I know is a problem food for me, like pizza, french fries, or donuts, I usually go in eating a salad first. And so for me, eating a salad takes some of that edge off. The salad creates some volume in my stomach. I'll also drink some water. And then I won't be as tempted to go overboard with all those pizza slices. So I would say both of those are related.

[00:07:45] I like to plan beforehand as much as I can. Hey, that kind of rhymes. Now, I'm not a big fan for me of counting how many bites I take or how long it takes me to choose something. And that's just me. It may work great for you, but that's okay. It's something I've tried, didn't like, and so I moved on and tried something else. And that's what I would encourage you to do as well. All right, that'll do it for today. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for being here every day. I hope you have a great rest of your weekend.

[00:08:12] And I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.