Be Mindful to Stop Overeating

Many people could stop overeating and lose weight if they would practice one simple approach–being completely aware of what and how much they eat.

One very simple way to do this is to keep a food journal. There are websites dedicated to this where the calorie and nutrient contents of both meal ingredients and packaged meals purchased from the super market, as well as just about every menu item on every chain restaurant are listed that make keeping this journal quick and convenient.

This exercise need not involve obsessive accuracy, but try to be honest with yourself. For the first week or so, you may need to measure your food, but after a short time, you will get a good feel for what a cup of cereal, a half cup of milk, or three ounces of meat looks like, then things get decidedly easier. You don’t need to be too concerned about whether an apple is a medium or a large one or a cup of vegetables is exactly eight ounces, either.

The main benefit you will derive from keeping this journal is you will be, perhaps for the first time in your life, completely conscious and mindful of how much you are eating. This goes a long way toward helping you to understand emotionally motivated eating, whether that eating is for consolation or pleasure.

In less than a month, you will be able to make your journal entries in no more than several minutes a day.

At first most people on a weight loss program in Ocala are shocked to discover how many calories beyond their body’s maintenance requirements they are consuming, but the simple process of keeping a food journal shows them that it is possible to maintain health and vitality with much less food and still eat all the foods they love.