NO YUMMY FOR A FLAT TUMMY

Are you Addicted to Food?

In our tradition, our generations have been hearing from their parents/grandparents

and elders in the family that any act or trait if done or present in excess then

the requirement always plays a diminishing act on our mind and body. Eg Over

confidence, overacting, over kindness & similarly OVEREATING, is not an

exception.

We have been told in our childhood that we have to eat to remain alive, not to live for

eating only. So broadly we can segregate people in two categories based on their

habit of eating,

1. Very significant community of people eating without caring ( living to eat)

2. A small yet smarter community of people who are very much careful in eating

habits mostly doing mindful eating. ( People belonging to a community that eats to live

long).

We all have gone through this phenomenon of excess eating in different periods of our

lives. However, the problem of overeating has aggravated with the onslaught of

covid. Covid had forced us to be at our home for longer durations and thus giving more frequent encounters with the items kept in our kitchens like cookies/ chocolates/

biscuits/ noodles / Khakhra and other food items at our will. Thus, a large portion of

people is doing overeating without even being aware of the same.

Other situations causing overeating are :

Stress: When you are stressed you eat more, after eating you feel bad about weight

gain, which makes you more stressed. Emotional conditions like major life changes, losing someone, anger, mood swings, depression, the confrontation at the workplace,

bullying, ego, bad relationships, financial insecurity, living alone, etc are some major

causes of stress.

Habitual overeating: Food addiction basically means a person eats uncontrollably

for reasons beyond hunger. One reason for this is the neurobiological imbalance.

Under this condition, a person feels low and needs to eat again, which leads to overeating.

Food gives him comfort and he lands in the vicious circle of food addiction.

Impact on the body of overeating:

• Stomach expands & pushes against other organs, making us uncomfortable.

This discomfort can take the form of feeling tired, sluggish, or drowsy.

• Eating too much food requires organs to work harder. They secrete extra

hormones and enzymes to break the food down.

• More hydrochloric acid is produced, if we overeat, resulting in heartburn.

Consuming too much food that is high in fat, like pizza creates this problem

more chronic.

• Metabolism may speed up as it tries to burn off those extra calories. Person

becomes sweaty or even dizzy.

Long-term effects of overeating :

The body uses some of the calories you consume for energy. The rest are stored as fat.

Consuming more calories than consumption makes us overweight or obese. This

increases the risk for cancer and other chronic health problems.

Overeating -- especially unhealthy foods -- takes longer to digest. If we overeat

frequently, over time, this slowed digestive process means the food we eat will remain

in the stomach for a longer period of time and be more likely to turn into fat.

Overeating impacts sleeping habits very badly.

Some ways to stop overeating:

Break the cycle: Focus on breaking the cycle of overeating – Stress- eat – Stress eat- Inculcate some hobby of diverting mind to different things like playing Guitar, Gardening, Writing, Reading, Singing, avoid sitting idle. The remaining occupy ensures that cribbing for food will be low and the vicious circle of overeating will break. Be socialize, make some goodfriends.

Mindful eating: Eat more fibrous, healthy food like green veg, proteins, fewer carbohydrates, they occupy more space in the stomach and make you feel satiety for a longer duration. Eat small and frequent meals.

Avoid places where fast foods are served – make a list and ensure very tight control.

Avoid situations that trigger cribbing.

Physical activity: Any physical activity like Yoga, Meditation, Walking, Jogging, Gym must be incorporated into the daily routine. Make some good buddy, who can push/motivate you to remain stick to your physical activity.

Fix daily screen time: Overspending time in front of screens for accessing Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, TV, Internet, Online streaming is a criminal offense committed against your mind and body. Most people remain eating something while spending busy in front of the screen. Switch off all notifications on your mobile phone and devote more time to the actions

mention in the top.