Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

How do I stop eating so much?

13 Answers
Last Updated: 03/29/2021 at 11:20pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Polly Letsch, LCSW

Clinical Social Work/Therapist

I provide non-judgmental, person-centered, objective therapeutic treatment for individuals of all ages to improve social, emotional, mental and other areas of functioning.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
January 13th, 2015 3:50am
I think a good way would be to monitor how much food you're actually taking in. Keep a chart of food you've eaten. Therefore, you'll be able to clearly see if you really need more food or not.
Anonymous
April 20th, 2015 7:58pm
Ask yourself if you're full, wait a few second between bites to access your fullness. When you feel full, stop eating, even if there is more food left. However, if you struggle with under eating please see a professional and follow what they recommend.
Anonymous
April 24th, 2015 5:21am
Keep eating 3 meals a day and snacks, but if you want to lose a healthy amount of weight exercise! Do not over do it or stop eating because that can become unhealthy and lead into an Eating disorder
Anonymous
May 15th, 2015 6:13pm
I start thinking about my body as a temple. I started drinking more water, eliminating alcohol and eating fruits and vegetables every day.
Anonymous
June 30th, 2015 9:40am
Step 1 Chew your food slowly. When you eat quickly, a number of things happen. You eat extra calories, swallow air and get bloated. The end result is a stomach ache and an overabundance of calories that will get stored as fat. Stop this from happening by eating at a slow pace. Take a bite of food, place your fork or spoon down and chew thoroughly. After you have swallowed and your mouth is empty, take another bite and follow the same procedure. It takes approximately 20 minutes for a signal to be sent from the stomach to the brain saying that it is full. Take advantage of that time frame by eating slowly and you will end up eating fewer calories. Step 2 Drink water before your meals. Water is a vital nutrient that the body cannot go without. To prevent yourself from eating so much, drink a full glass of water right before your meals. This can create the illusion that you are full and you will not eat as much food. Also drink water while you are eating. Step 3 Eat more meals a day. Eating a small meal every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day can do a number of things. It can keep your appetite under control, give you sustained energy levels and increase your metabolism. Because you are eating meals often, you will be less prone to eat too much. Make these meals a balance of quality protein and complex carbs that are high in fiber.
charlotteviola
August 31st, 2015 6:42pm
The first step is to realise the reason why you're eating so much! Is it a hunger, or some other emotional reason? I know that I can be an emotional eater at times, which isn't pleasant at all. Especially knowing what it could do to my weight and body image, which sucks. But the understanding helped me to know and understand that I was doing it out of sadness and as a way to cope. So I found other better coping mechanisms instead, those without the unpleasant side effects. And I feel that it helped me become happier in the process :)
jovialBeauty03
September 14th, 2015 9:59pm
It is not so much how to stop yourself from eating so much, as it is to balance what you eat. Personally, I have started to do more of the balancing and actually eat more than I did before. With balancing food, I was able to try new dishes and old ones with new twists. The trick is to find a way to balance and control the need to binge often, in addition to drinking plenty of water (even if it means to flavor it! e.g. mio). Do not stop eating! Just balance! :)
Anonymous
October 26th, 2015 4:51pm
Slowly decrease your daily intake of food per day and soon you will be eating less also if you crave some chocolate only eat to squares instead of the whole bar
Theleavesinmay
February 9th, 2016 6:22am
You have to deal with the real reason you're overeating- Be it you're not gettin the right mineral, your hormones are out of whack, you're super stressed out-deal with the underlying issue and you won't feel the need to keep eating. If you don't think it's stress, and you're over the age of 16, I would check in with your family doctor
nlpinspiration
May 9th, 2016 9:37pm
Make a diet plan, work on it. Drink at least 8 glasses of water on daily level. Eat more fruit and vegetable when you are hungry.
Anonymous
January 3rd, 2017 9:37am
There are many ways to reduce the quantity of your eating, like taking a smaller plate with the same amount as you eat. When using a smaller plate the quantity seems to be too much and we will try to reduce what we eat. Another technique is to put a mirror in the kitchen, where seeing ourself taking food from the kitchen will be shown to us and we will get self conscious and try to reduce it, but the second method is more useful to reduce junk food.
Anonymous
May 19th, 2020 7:28pm
I've found that chewing gum and drinking lots of water helps me to feel full. I've also found that keeping myself mentally busy helps distract me from wanting to eat. In a specific example, I generally crave a snack before bed. I ask myself if I truly need this snack right now, or if I am just eating out of habit, thereby asking myself if I am truly hungry. If I am, I try to find something small, like trail mix, or another small sweet/salty but otherwise nutritious and healthy snack that will fulfill this hunger or habit. I have also found it helpful to track everything I eat for a day. Just having this log can help shed light on how much I have truly eaten that day. It also forces me to be more cognizant of what I am eating. If I know I will have to log that extra treat I don't need, I will be more likely to not have it. It's important to listen to your body and not deprive yourself of food you really do need however, as this can lead to bingeing. In the end, it's really about learning to tune into what you are eating out of habit, boredom, or otherwise, and when you are actually hungry.
TheBorderlineKitty
March 29th, 2021 11:20pm
It sounds a little like you're out of touch with how, why and what you're eating. And considering how nessesary food is for living, this can remain at the forefront of your mind a lot of the time. I know it can be easy to obsess over the amount of food but or bodies have this uncanny ability of telling us what we need and then seeking out the foods we know that contain those things. Sugars, starches, folates ect. If there is enough of one thing available with the thing the body is craving, we will eat enough of it to satisfy that need even if that makes us feel sick or poorly. It is possible to engage in mindful eating and ensuring you having nutritious snacks available that fulfil your bodies needs without having to worry about the -amount- you are consuming