Why is it so easy to eat too much?

I have just been thinking about how easy it is to overeat. I have no problem eating 2000 calories at one meal and I know many other people are the same.

This website has definitely opened my eyes to how many calories are actually in all the most common foods that we eat everyday. Many combo meals at fast food places have more calories than I am supposed to eat in a whole day.

The common wisdom is "Eat when you're hungry." If I did that, I'd just plow through 5000 calories a day. I definitely do not burn close to the amount of calories that I want to take in. Do I even know what hunger is? It's obviously something else that makes me eat and eat after I've already had more than enough.

Why is it so easy too overeat?

because food is yummy

here's how it happened to me yesterday:

i was hanging out with my friend candice, who was planning to cook a roast for dinner.  we were talking about cooking methods, and she said something about roast potatoes.

i said, "I had mashed potatoes for christmas dinner, and they were sooo good."

she said, "Don't you eat potatoes?"

i said, "I can't have potatoes in my house, because I'll make poutine."

she laughed.  then she said, "I had the boys pick up poutine for me at A&W the other day."  (it was a much longer story than that, but for the sake of brevity...)

about 20 minutes later, i left.  on the way home is an A&W drive thru.  of course i got poutine (large), and of course i ate the whole thing.  and of course i then decided to look up the nutritional information.  bad, bad idea. 

830 calories should never ever fit in one bowl.

in my defence, i was medicating anxiety.  yesterday was a very uncomfortable day.

That is because our bodies take awhile to realise that we are full. It takes at least twenty minutes for the fullness to kick in.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

in my defence, i was medicating anxiety.  yesterday was a very uncomfortable day.

 Self medicating with food is a huge problem for me. I know it's not for everyone, but finally I went to the doctor and found there are other meds out there that work a lot better for me and um, well, have less calories than a trip to Burger King.

Man, you guys think I'm high strung. You should see me without my Xanax

It's easy to overeat because a) a lot of food tastes very good, b) it's often served up in very large amounts (especially if you're in the US) and c) it's available 24/7 in every place imaginable.   And a big part of the equation is that a lot of the food around today (especially the ready-made and fast food) is very energy-dense but nutritionally poor which tends to result in overeating.

You have to do a lot of retraining of appetite and tweaking of food-choices before you can go with the 'eat when you're hungry' adage.  Some ideas for you

• Prepare and cook your own food most of the time so that you're in control of the contents.  Use good quality wholefoods rather than convenience products
• Only buy/cook/serve the amount you need to eat.  Don't fill cupboards, pans or plates with food just because it's there
• Eat mostly vegetables.... they're filling, nutritious and very low in calories
• Make eating an event.  Sit at a table to eat.  Make conversation with others if possible.  Eat slowly, savouring what you eat.  Avoid grazing, bolting food down fast or mindlessly eating whilst doing other things e.g. watching TV or driving a car.
• Keep a food diary.  People who are conscious of how much they've already eaten eat less than those who aren't.

What's poutine?

*off to google*

Edit:  Ok, so I saw a picture on Google and I hope it tastes better than it looks.

Living in a country where everyone overeats because companies want to make money and thus by selling you more food they can charge more and people get used to just eating too much.

Fried chicken is my weakness.  Go look up Popeyes or KFC fried chicken.  Sit back, have a heartattack because it's so super loaded in calories.  Yet it tastes so good.  Look at cookies.  Most cookies are so loaded with calories... and most people were raised to eat more than a few.

For me, I was raised (as I think many were of this age) to clean our plates.  So whatever I get when I eat out I feel I have to eat... especially as I'm paying for it now.   So it's sadly something parents pass to kids without them noticing.

There are kids starving in ethopia so eat everything you are given.

It's a vicious cycle of life that it takes so much hard work to break.  Plus if you do manage to get to a healthy weight (thus in most cases some form of "Skinny") this society likes to ridicule.  Parents love to tell their kids they are wasting away to nothing and by nature feel there must be some drug involved.   My best friend told me I looked emaciated when I had dropped below 200 pounds.  I was in the 190's and I looked emaciated?   Give me a break.

Couple this with a society that believes in being so busy that they can't make the time to exercise and will happily ridicule anyone who does.   I have had several situations where someone made a comment about someone significantly overweight out on the backstreets walking.  I will rise to that person's defense.   I'll make a comment like "I think it's great that person is trying to do something.  We need more people willing to put themselves out there like that."   Usually that'll make people think.  I mean, a healthy life should be encouraged... but it's not.   It's not at the fast food places (even those that claim to have healthy food... most are still overfeeding their customers so they can charge more... or worse cutting the food and charging more than those they are overfeeding).

The sad reality is, when people eat healthy (and often less) that affects a lot of big powers out there in the food industry.

Original Post by jazzygal:

The common wisdom is "Eat when you're hungry." If I did that, I'd just plow through 5000 calories a day.

Whether or not there is any 'wisdom' to 'eat when you're hungry' is debatable, but if you're eating good, healthy, natural foods, it would be next to impossible to eat anywhere close to 5000 calories a day.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Whether or not there is any 'wisdom' to 'eat when you're hungry' is debatable,

I don't think it's wisdom. It's never worked for me but people say it. Maybe one day I will eat only healthy foods and we'll see if "Eat when you're hungry" works then.

Original Post by trhawley:

What's poutine?

*off to google*

Edit:  Ok, so I saw a picture on Google and I hope it tastes better than it looks.

mmm...it is delicious.  but you have to eat it fast, or you start to visualize your arteries clogging.

Original Post by driftpsychosis:

That is because our bodies take awhile to realise that we are full. It takes at least twenty minutes for the fullness to kick in.

 I really think this is key - except I heard it was 45 minutes for fullness to kick in.  Either way, if we could have instant fullness we'd definitely not eat as much as we do.

I used to love Carl's Junior Guacamole Bacon burger.  I would get just the burger with no fries and no drink, and I thought that was a good thing.  Then one day I looked up the calories HOLY COW, literally.  It has 1140 calories, in one sandwich.

Anyway, like gi-jane said, I've found that cooking my own food helps me eat better.  I think it's so easy to overeat because our bodies were designed to be able to farm and hunt our own food and then cook and eat it.  That kind of hunter/gatherer lifestyle burns so many calories.

But now we just sit around, and eat pre-packaged foods with no work involved.  It makes it a lot easier to over eat, especially when those foods are packed with sugars like high fructose corn syrup, and saturated fats.  When you cook your own food, you avoid those kinds of ingredients.

Original Post by trhawley:

What's poutine?

*off to google*

Edit: Ok, so I saw a picture on Google and I hope it tastes better than it looks.

I Googled it too. Um...interesting! So that's Canadian fast food, huh? We don't have anything like that in the states. I think the idea of cheese curds would scare many Americans.

Wouldn't scare me. I LOVE cheese - anything having to do with it. lol I was recently in Montreal, and me and my friends were at a charity hockey event. One of them (the only Canadian among us), had that. I tried it.. it was very yummy! She didn't call it poutine though. For the sake of us dumb americans she just explained what it was. lol

But on the topic of overeating and turning a meal into an "event" to enjoy it better.. I gotta add I LOVE to cook. I get frustrated super easily and quickly, so if it's quick and simple I'll enjoy every minute of preparation. (not so fun the more difficult meals, but the payoff is always worth it!) My only problem is I tend to nibble as I prepare, and even small bits of cheese, chicken, or veggies can fill you up, so by the time my dinner is ready.. I'm not THAT hungry. But then I don't wanna waste a beautiful meal, so I eat it anyway! *sighs*

Um, my maintenance sedentary "number" is about 1600. It's really hard not to "go over" eating a tasty meal.

Original Post by trhawley:

What's poutine?

*off to google*

Edit:  Ok, so I saw a picture on Google and I hope it tastes better than it looks.

I also had to google it.. I'm with you on this one.. yuck.

I dont know what poutine is either haha.

My maintenance calories is about 1500, so if i eat any fast food i have to eat very lightly the rest of the day. Im jealous of people who are never hungry or have "trouble" eating enough.

I'm jealous of Michael Phelps.

i know... ugh. ive never had a problem with my weight until college. before then, i could eat whatever i wanted. now i really have to watch what i eat. it's hard because my whole childhood ive been used to eating whatever without having to worry about gaining.