I used to be quite a chubby kid. And not just chubby on the cheeks but also on the stomach. I used to eat a LOT to satisfy myself. As an introverted kid with a dead social life who felt insufficient attention, all I could look forward to was the food. It drowned out the world and put me in a state of bliss. I felt loved.
Well, that was just the dopamine kicking in…
Since then, I started losing weight without any weight loss program and without actually trying. Before I knew it, by 2022 I wasn’t big anymore; quite the opposite. I didn’t realise it back then but I started to mindfully eat.
Mindful eating is key to weight loss.
Hara Hachi Bu
To stop eating when you’re 80% full.
Overeating disrupts your hunger regulations by disrupting how your ghrelin, which makes you hungry, and leptin, which tells you you’re full, function. It’ll essentially make it more difficult for you to discern whether you really need food or not and this will lead to overeating.
This rule helps separate what you crave from what you really need (True hunger). Ask yourself each time you’re thinking of eating more, am I really hungry? 80% hunger should feel like you slightly want more but are satisfied at the same time (from my experience).
Extra Fact: Did you know, according to Huberman, if you eat too often, your inflammatory markers increase? Which means you’ll receive more infections. Not only does this rule of 80% work with losing weight, it also helps with infection.
Eating healthy
It takes some time to start eating healthy and it takes even more to begin to LOVE eating healthy. But once you get to that stage, you’re much better off.
So why don’t we do that for you?
Starting slow is the best option, start by removing the bad foods in your diet. From 5 days of caramel cake to 4 days of caramel cake. Remove the days and get to a point where you remove the actual food itself.
An extra tip is to learn about food, health and all that stuff. Knowing what you’re eating and how it affects you can help steer you in the right direction (especially if you care about yourself).
This was me with milk last year, I saw this study on milk increasing estrogen and this has led me to remove milk from my daily consumption.
Moral of the story: if you care about yourself and you learn about something that can affect you, it’ll be easier to change your eating habits.
Always start slow. And start by removing.
Making it easier
The reason you began overeating wasn’t because the food was so good.
It likely doesn’t have to do with food!
It likely has to do with trauma or bad relationships or something else regarding other aspects of your life. You’re only using food to soothe you.
One of the factors that contributed to my weight loss was I unknowingly removed my problem. It was a lack of the feeling of belonging. I had a whole group and I later even joined a martial arts gym where I felt connected. Your problem may be a lack of something.
Don’t get me wrong, I had extra problems which I had to solve throughout 2023. The key is to dig deep into your problems. Through journaling, meditating, or doing nothing. Let your mind wander and think. Acknowledge your thoughts and maybe even write them down. Aim for clarity of your problem.
Once you know your problem, your mind will work towards solutions.
Hope this helps, have an amazing day folks.
