By Katie Breazeale, MS, RD, LD

It’s easy to overeat when you have a fast-paced job, and you never know when something will interrupt your meal.  There are multiple reasons why overeating could occur.  By limiting overeating, you’re helping your overall health.  Overeating can cause weight gain, bloating, heartburn, increased blood sugar levels, and work performance.

Top Strategies to Avoid Overeating:
  1. Not everyone’s plate should look the same. What you need to fuel your body will look different from that of your workout buddy, partner, and spouse. Base your plate on what you need, not what everyone else is doing.
  2. Avoid getting too hungry. By not skipping meals and having snacks, you can avoid getting overly hungry. Typically, when we miss a meal, we either rationalize that the next meal could be bigger, or we’re so hungry we overeat because we’re past the point of logic. Over-hunger can also lead to poorer food choices because we want readily available food.
  3. Eat mindfully.  The main goal is to not eat and do other things at the same time.  There’s reasons movie theaters offer larger sizes.  You are not paying attention to what you eat and can easily put away a large popcorn and soda in the first half. Try not to play on your phone, watch tv, or walk around eating.
  4. Wait to go back for seconds.  Food doesn’t digest instantly; it takes the brain a moment to realize you’re full.  If you finish your meal and still feel hungry, give yourself 20 minutes to see if that feeling goes away.
  5. Slow down.  While you may work in an environment where if you don’t eat fast, you don’t eat, try to add a little more time to your meal.  The ability to be a speed eater could also cause overeating, heartburn, increased blood sugar levels, and weight gain.
  6. Don’t use fitness as an excuse. You worked out and now think you can indulge because you burned the calories.  Your workout did not equal the cheeseburger and fries you’re envisioning.  Fuel properly for workouts with lean protein, complex carbs, and hydration.

Can overeating affect your performance? Absolutely. Overeating can cause you to feel sluggish, bloated, or drowsy. These feelings can lead to fewer workouts and less movement. Your work performance could also suffer because it is more challenging to be agile and speedy when you feel tired from a large meal.

Look for times after meals when you feel tired, overly full, or bloated, and think back—was it the quality or the quantity of the food? Opt-in for three meals per day and snacks to help avoid overeating and provide a solid baseline of nutrients for your day.