How To Stop The Urge To Eat Junk Food [6 Steps To Listen To Your Body]

Everyone has days when they feel off or way too busy, and the last thing on their minds is a healthy meal plan - especially around the holidays.  Not to mention the parties and social gatherings you need to attend that obviously include a buffet of delicious foods for you to indulge in.

So it's understandable that in certain situations it can become difficult not to overeat. You enjoy a healthy meal at home, thinking you’re doing great, and then you go out and are surrounded by junk food. Soon, you get hungry, and almost unconsciously you’re picking up dessert off the platter, and healthy food is forgotten.

Or maybe you really choose the “right” foods, but they’re just so delicious that you can’t have just one portion. We’ve all been there.

Have a look at six strategies that have changed the lives of many, helping them to live a healthy life, enjoy their meals more, and lower their appetite.

1. CONTROL YOUR BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS BY ADDING VINEGAR AND CINNAMON TO YOUR MEALS

Thinking to add some new flavors to your food and non-caloric drinks? Well, the good news is that there are many spices and flavors that can turn your food into both tastier and healthier. 

For instance, vinegar has recently been shown to lower your glycemic index, which means that you'll be able to metabolize the food more slowly. So, try and add acidic flavor to salad dressings, sauces, and roasted veggies.

For sweet-smelling and enjoyable warmth, add a pinch of cinnamon to everything from your daily coffee and morning smoothies to hearty chili. Just like vinegar, cinnamon slows the rate of your food transit from your stomach to your intestine so this will keep you full longer, and helps you prevent that post-meal crash.

2. LEARN THE ART OF EATING WHEN YOU’RE NOT HUNGRY

Often, when you get really hungry, you are inclined to overeat. In every episode of overeating, you will feel full, but then your insulin level spikes, making you feel tired, then really hungry again so you end up overeating again.

Trying to resist hunger is not a great idea, instead, try to nip it in the bud. Consider eating when you’re either not hungry or only slightly hungry, in order to eat less and allowing more time for your meals. When you are eating less during the day, you’ll have more energy which is certainly a nice bonus.

3. CHOOSE TO DRINK WATER, NOT LIQUIFIED CALORIES

In addition to feeling constantly tired and having your brain in a fog, mild dehydration can cause the sensation that’s usually mistaken for hunger. On the other hand, liquid calories like juices and sodas don’t feed your hunger, and their fast digestion causes insulin spikes. So try and give up the sweetened drinks and go for sparkling or still water.  To add some taste, you can also flavor it with lemon slices, strawberries or cucumber slices if you want, but don’t pack your drinks with calories.

Set a daily goal and aim to drink at least three-quarters of a gallon of water a day, using a reusable bottle. Also, make sure to drink a glass of water for about 20 minutes before every meal to reduce your appetite.

4. ENJOY EACH MEAL EATING SLOWLY

In the process of eating each meal, there’s a noticeable delay before you feel that you are full. This delay usually takes between 10–30 minutes. Due to this delay, we are inclined to ingest more food than we really need. And the faster we eat, the more food we are likely to consume at one sitting.

The solution? Try chewing each bite at least 10 times before swallowing. By following this simple rule you will end up adopting slow eating, thus allowing your brain to catch up with your stomach. On the plus side, you’ll also enjoy each meal more when you take your time to savor it.

5. LEARN THE HABIT OF HAVING A SMALL, FLAVORLESS SNACK BETWEEN MEALS

This secret was discovered by the late Seth Roberts. He used to consume a shot of olive oil or a glass of water with a tiny bit of sugar, this being an exception to the general rule on sweetened beverages between meals. Others may prefer a handful of unsalted almonds. Whatever your choice, try doing this once a day and you may see your appetite dramatically reduced. And this approach is especially important if your goal is weight loss.

While this may be one of the weirdest things you would ever try, it can also do wonders for you. The reason why this approach works is that it apparently adjusts the levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, by weakening flavor-calorie links. But in order for this to truly work, the snack must be really bland, and you must consume nothing else but water for at least an hour before and after the snack.

6. TRY THE “FRONT DOOR SNACK” METHOD

This will become one of your favorite hacks. Knowing upfront that your willpower is weakened when you’re hungry, and you can find more tempting junk food outside your home, you could choose to simply enjoy a snack of healthy food right before leaving home so you would feel less tempted out there. 

Make a habit of keeping a healthy snack (jerky, almonds, or vegetable chips) stored up at home and simply take a handful before you leave home. This will help you to “force out” the unhealthy food in your diet, and make it much easier for you to give up the unhealthy food.

WORST SCENARIO, BEST OUTCOME

What do you do after you’ve realized that you've indulged in just a little more than you would have expected? What is there to do or avoid doing right after overeating?

Far too many people fall into the same vicious cycle of overeating, restricting their diet, and punishing themselves after such an episode. Some of the worst things you can do after something like a weekend of overindulging is to blame yourself. 

And definitely don't fall into the trap of trying to compensate by skipping your next meals. Another thing you want to avoid is to force yourself to do tons of cardio as a way to 'balance' your episode of overeating.⠀

The best thing you could do is pay attention to your mind and the stories it is telling you. Become the watcher of your thoughts. The thoughts that tell you that “you’re not good enough, you’ll never accomplish this, and you’re a failure.” When you become the watcher of those thoughts, you get distance. You see that you don’t have to believe that voice in your head. Talking back to the voice and comforting it is the real battle.

I help my clients change their thoughts around eating. I go over the basics in my free stop overeating training (you can sign up with the form below). Check it out and see if you can start managing your urges to eat unhealthy food. I’ve done the work myself, so I understand.

Don't allow for one episode of overeating to hijack your meal plan and turn it into a whole week of overeating. You’ve got this!