3 Hacks to Stop Overeating (Part 2)

Now that you know including healthy fats in your diet makes you feel fuller and avoid the usual post deal sugar highs and lows. Here are two more hacks I use to stay on track and avoid overeating.

Hack #2: Have soup with your small meal

With my eating plan, the biggest hurdle to overcome is the small meal of the day. It’s really just a snack, since you are only eating to a 3 on the fullness scale. For some people, especially in the beginning, that might seem daunting.

However, it doesn’t need to be. Simply add a soup to the mix. My favorite is a vegetable soup, throw in your favorite (or at least tolerable if you are not into them) garden fresh variety, add lots of spices (again, your choice). If you have stomach issues, make sure to include plenty of ginger as well. Now you have a hearty dish that’s going to fill you up, while being low in calories.

Our goal is to feel satisfied and stay in a caloric deficit on most days. Having a soup is a painless way to achieve this. For me, my small meal of the day is supper. I normally have a bowl of vegetable soup, with some berries topped by a spoonful of almond butter. It’s nutritious, filling, and gets the job done. Try it!

Hack #3: Weigh yourself everyday

That’s right. Everyday.

I know this goes against the standard protocol. Here are my reasons:

• Accountability. When you are trying to lose weight, or to maintain it, the only way to know for sure how you are doing, is by weighing yourself. Not judging by how you feel (that’s just guessing). Going a week or more between weigh-ins is too long of a gap.

• Information. By knowing what your daily weight is, you immediately know the effects of what you ate the day before, combined the amount of physical activity performed, have on your body. Over time, this accumulated information allows you to get to know your body intimately. Information truly is power.

• Psychology. Just knowing that you’ll weigh yourself the next day is often enough of a deterrent when temptation strikes (ie. eating a bag of chips just before bed).

• Adjustments. The point of daily weigh-in is not to freak yourself out by the the fluctuations in numbers. That’s normal. What you want to know is the overall trend. I’m never concerned by a one day increase or drop over the previous day. However, if my weight increased 3 days in a row, then it’s probably something I should look into, and find out what caused it. Conversely, if it drops 3 days in row, then whatever I’ve doing is working. Make a note of it for the future. Having a number everyday gives me the flexibility to adjust my diet accordingly.

One last tip, make sure you weigh yourself at the same time everyday to keep the data consistent.

There you have it, my three hacks to stop overeating and stay in the weight loss zone. They’ve worked wonders for myself. Feel free to apply any or all of them in your life.

Do you have any hacks of your own? I would love to hear them!