How to get rid of gluttony: lose weight, become aware of habits, help

Greetings, dear readers of this blog! Gluttony is a huge problem these days! Moreover, not only fat people suffer from it, but also ordinary and even slender people. Gluttony is a dangerous disease of civilization. And the reason is not only an excess of delicious food.

Our ancestors did not suffer from it, because in those days food had to be obtained. Catch up, kill, butcher, cook at the stake. Or grow, collect. All of these were very energy-consuming tasks.

Nowadays, it’s enough to go to the store, buy everything you want, and eat it all. But this is a dangerous path, because gluttony can cause many diseases, and even kill!

And we’re not just talking about obesity here. How to get rid of gluttony and lose weight? Below are important recommendations for solving this problem.

The essence of overeating and signs of the problem

Gluttons attach enormous, emotional meaning to food. And at the same time they absorb much more food than they need. For life and saturation. Overeating becomes the norm for them.

Here are the main symptoms of this terrible habit:

a person eats quickly and in large quantities;
can eat regardless of the daily routine, in the evenings and even at night;
is able to recognize the problem, but cannot stop eating a lot, so he eats goodies secretly;
Only large portions of tasty treats can save you from stress; other methods do not help;
at the moment of saturation, a person seems to fall into “autopilot” mode and is not able to control himself.

Symptoms of overeating

To understand how to deal with overeating yourself, consider the main symptoms of gluttony:

absorption of a large volume of varied food;
calorie consumption up to 10 thousand at a time, instead of the norm of 1 thousand;
unlimited food intake at any time;
lack of diet;
eating without feeling hungry;
eating “sweets” in secret from family and friends;
tendency to gluttony when completely alone;
lack of control over eating behavior;
being in a state of stress, which subsides after consuming a huge amount of treats;
remorse and guilt from a sudden attack of gluttony.

Considering the reasons

The causes of gluttony are not evil spirits. You definitely can’t cure it with conspiracies and folk remedies.

It is a given that modern people eat too much. They eat unnecessary and unhealthy food. And they don’t eat to live, but on the contrary, they live to eat.

Some modern scientists call the main impetus for uncontrolled consumption of food an allegedly genetic predisposition. The cause may also be a dysfunction of the brain lobes that are responsible for regulating appetite. And this is confirmed by numerous scientific studies.

At the same time, there are both objective and subjective reasons for gluttony.

Subjective

it can be a protective reaction of the body to injury (physical or psychological);
serve as a salvation from resentment, anger, stress, self-doubt, and other negative personality states;
the reason may be weak will and lack of external control;
the habit since childhood of “seizing” all failures with sweets, cookies and other tasty things;
lack of true love for your body and your personality;
self-doubt and totally low self-esteem;
lack of a normal diet;
lack of healthy eating habits.

Objective

Certain diseases can be objective: diabetes mellitus, traumatic brain injury, hypothyroidism and even schizophrenia. The consequences of constant overeating are terrible. The main ones are obesity, heart and joint problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, psychological disorders and many others.

Prevention

To eliminate bouts of gluttony, their causes, and to successfully combat them, follow the rules of healthy eating that you need to introduce into your life and try to follow them without violations:

Developing adequate self-esteem;
Creating a stable and safe psychological climate;
Refusal to use the “carrot and stick” behavior system used for circus animals, or reward food for following instructions;
Compliance with the regime of wakefulness and rest;
Compliance with a diet, including main meals and snacks in accordance with the rule of the three Ps “measured, rational, varied”;
It is necessary to chew food slowly, and after 20 minutes the brain will receive signals of satiety;
Do not eat in front of the computer, TV, or book, developing bouts of gluttony;
Symptoms of hunger are born not in the head, but in the stomach, so one should not confuse with hunger the images of tasty food that appear in the head, causing an influx of saliva, which stimulates appetite;
Do not live in reserve, so as not to stimulate attacks of overeating, do not destroy yesterday’s food: borscht, cutlets, etc.;
Stop eating after receiving a signal of satiety;
Do not confuse thirst and hunger, maintain a drinking regime;
Gradually remove from the diet the fast food dishes that have become habitual and fast food, which contribute to the development of gluttony;
Take vitamin and mineral supplements regularly, since a lack of vitamins in food develops bouts of gluttony;

Do not tease, do not offend and do not take out your anger and anger on your family, because it is so easy to break the psyche of a healthy person and so difficult to fight for its restoration in the future. No disease disappears or appears at the snap of a finger, and obesity prevention is the ability to notice the first signs of an emerging disease.

The article was checked and approved by Elizaveta Anatolyevna Krizhanovskaya, a practicing family doctor - see the authors of the site

How to overcome bulimia and stop overeating?

How to get rid of gluttony? To do this, I want to offer some important recommendations that you need to follow. Without following these rules, nothing will work:

Create a diet for yourself and strictly follow it! Eat 3 times a day. With breaks between meals for 4-5 hours.
Drink enough water. Usually, most people feel empty in their stomach after two hours. But this is not real hunger, it is a long-term habit. In fact, the stomach was just empty of food. Drink a glass of clean water. And this false feeling of hunger will pass. After half an hour, drink another glass of water (but not compote, tea, coffee or soda). This way you can maintain an interval of 4-5 hours without snacking. Now you are on the path to forming a healthy habit - living without snacking. Over time, your body will readjust. And you will easily observe the cherished interval, and your stomach will be able to fully rest.
Never skip a meal. A full breakfast is especially important. Not a sandwich with tea, but at least porridge with salad. Today, many people eat for dinner what they would have eaten for breakfast. Remember the saying: “War is war, but lunch is on schedule.” This is especially true for breakfast. Each of the three meals should be plentiful and satisfying. But least of all this applies to dinner. Eat plenty, understanding that the next meal will only be in 4-5 hours.
Remember that food that takes longer to prepare will take longer to digest, which means you will not be left feeling full for a long time. For example, recent studies by nutritionists at one of the US universities have confirmed this pattern. Students who ate oatmeal were more likely to feel hungry and want to snack than the same students who ate whole oatmeal porridge. As a result, it was concluded that fast food provokes snacking and gluttony. Therefore, time spent preparing unrefined foods is time invested in our health.
Learn to cope with stress without food. Physical activity provides good emotional stability. You can do morning exercises and strength exercises (pull-ups, push-ups, abs, squats), run, including jogging, running in place. In this case, Nordic walking, cycling, gardening, and even cleaning the apartment will be effective! Because during physical activity, our body produces substances that contribute to a feeling of satisfaction and good mood and even regulate our appetite. Find like-minded people and study together!
No strict diets! Any dietary restrictions can set the stage for your bulimia attacks. Eat a balanced diet, but eat in moderation. Giving up sweets can be done after consolidating the habit of eating. First, you should think about what to replace sugar with.
If you need to lose weight, don't keep any high-calorie treats in your house. Just don’t buy sausages, confectionery, white bread, or other unhealthy products with flavor enhancers. But provide yourself with a supply of dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, and bread.
Make your life as eventful and interesting as possible. You simply shouldn't have free time for gluttony. No, I'm not trying to convince you to become a workaholic. But I ask you to find yourself an interesting hobby, a useful activity. Start hanging out with friends more often, visiting theaters and exhibitions, and having fun at concerts. Make new acquaintances, sign up for a fitness club. Just don't sit around in front of the TV or computer.
Try not to drink food even with milk or kefir. Carry out a simple experiment and you will see that you will eat much less dry food.
If you have attacks of evening or night hunger, sleep will help! Just go to bed early to avoid eating at night. Sleep will restore your energy and vitality levels, and curb your desire to eat properly. And before going to bed, an active walk in the fresh air is very useful. If it’s hard to fall asleep on an empty stomach, then drink a glass of kefir or eat an apple.
Put utensils aside while you chew your food. This will help you chew your food more thoroughly, eat more slowly, and feel full faster. Nutritionist Leslie Langevin also gives this advice: take a 10-minute break when you've eaten half the food on your plate. This will let you know if you are full and if you need to continue. Chew long and diligently. Chew each portion of food in your mouth at least 25 times. This will improve digestion, make it easier on your stomach, and help you feel full faster.
Don't combine food and gadgets. Put your phone down during meals and turn off the TV. And just enjoy your food. Eat only at the table! Do not eat in front of the TV, at the computer, on the street, while running, in a hurry. Eating should become a kind of leisurely “ritual” for you, when all your attention is focused on this process (it’s no joke to chew each portion 25 times). After all, food is a pleasure of taste! And nothing should distract you from this.

Gluttony and gluttons. The most famous gluttons in world history

The passion for gluttony has tormented and continues to torment humanity no less than lust and drunkenness. Without much variety in entertainment, medieval commoners organized eating competitions at fairs. The disgusting twist is that they often used live cats to demonstrate their abilities. The British Library houses a hefty volume of 18th-century newspaper files that describes just such a blatant case of public “cat-eating.”

It was not only commoners who suffered from this mortal sin. Quite a few royals fell victims to gluttony. Some said that the endless marriages, executions and affairs of state served only as a background to the voluptuous gluttony of Henry VIII.

It seemed that the monarch even shortened his sleep just in order to have time to eat as much as possible during the day. He ate almost no vegetables and fruits, preferring pies and meat. Or better yet, meat pies) Heinrich can definitely be called a gastronomic gourmet. Guinea pigs and other exotic things often appeared on his table. Baked animal carcasses were often covered in gold and served on silver dishes. Another passion of the monarch was sugar and its derivatives: cakes, sweets and pastries. Thanks to the sweet, high-carbohydrate “diet,” the monarch lost almost all of his teeth and developed obesity and diabetes. At the end of his life, his waist circumference was 1.40 cm.

The French king Louis XIV (the Sun King) could compete with the king of England.

For starters, he ate several soups at once, often pouring them into one bowl. For the second course, the king ate mountains of various game, a pate made from it, and half a calf carcass. Louis lost almost all his teeth early, but this did not stop him from quickly eating his food, swallowing it in unchewed bites. Many believe that it was the monarch’s excellent appetite that was at the origins of exquisite French cuisine.

King Adolf Frederick of Sweden literally died from gluttony. He gave his soul to God right at the dinner table, unable to bear the variety and abundance of dishes served.

Russia had its own “glutton king.” Not by origin, but by vocation. Ivan Krylov had an insatiable appetite and almost never ate enough. He often complained about palace dinners, from which he left hungry:

the soup is served at the bottom, the pies are about the size of a walnut, for dessert, it’s a shame to say, half an orange with jam, you can’t reach for more

For lunch, he ate several first courses at once, 3-4 plates of pies, half a roast turkey, and a dish of chops. He finished the meal with Guryev porridge and sweet pies. The passion of the fabulist was reflected in his appearance: a camisole stained with greasy stains, a corpulent physique, shortness of breath.

It is known that towards the end of his life Elvis Presley gained a fair amount of weight.

The reason for this was ongoing depression, uncontrolled use of medications and gluttony. The “King of Rock and Roll” became a victim of the American way of life - fast food and dislike for sports. For breakfast, he ate 6 scrambled eggs with bacon and sausages, and almost every day he ordered a “Fool’s Gold” sandwich, which was made from a whole loaf generously spread with high-calorie peanut butter and bacon. Modern doctors believe that Presley had classic bulimia.

Life story

A friend of mine has a distant relative, Ilona, who suffered from bulimia for two whole years. Her husband left her, and this became the root cause. The woman felt sorry for herself for a long time, fell into depression and simply consumed her problem with cakes that she baked herself.

The result was a vicious circle: Ilona suffered from loneliness and ate sweets in huge quantities. I gained extra weight and because of this I couldn’t find a partner. Outwardly, the woman still looked quite attractive, but her internal complexes, along with depression, scared away potential suitors.

Fortunately, everything ended well. Ilona suddenly confessed his love to her childhood friend, a free romantic. He found her through Odnoklassniki, and love flared up with renewed vigor.

At the same time, the man was a fan of a healthy lifestyle, loved tourism, and gradually drew Ilona into it. Now they run together in the morning, go hiking, and cut salads. Gluttony - as if it never happened!

So, from this story we can draw the following conclusions. Firstly, the main place in getting rid of all kinds of addictions belongs to motivation. Which is based on key questions: for what, for whom and why am I doing this? Secondly, the friendly support of similar enthusiasts also plays a big role in overcoming bad habits.

Diseases - consequences of gluttony

The body is rapidly trying to correct the situation, giving the eater suffering from gluttony bouquets of diseases:

obesity;
type 2 diabetes;
tooth loss and damage as a result of exposure to stomach acid (bulimia);
dry lips and damage to the oral cavity (with bulimia);
hypertension;
gallbladder dysfunction;
disruptions in the functioning of the heart, turning into chronic diseases;
elevated cholesterol levels;
myalgia (muscle pain);
diseases of bones and joints;
diseases of the digestive system (stomach, intestines, esophagus, etc.);
shortness of breath and snoring during sleep;
overwork;
depression and stress;
bulimia

If attacks of gluttony and bulimia are not stopped in time, the diseases will subsequently develop into chronic diseases, complicating the life of your loved one.

Your invisible helpers in the fight against gluttony

Where to get willpower?

“Help yourself, take your will into your fist!” You've probably already heard similar advice more than once from your friends and acquaintances. We read articles with such calls on the Internet. However, I ask you to once again carefully read the twelve tips on how to get rid of gluttony.

Now pay attention to the fact that many of them do not require any amazing willpower, with the possible exception of points 1, 6, 7 and 10.

So it's not all that complicated. And the question of how to get rid of gluttony and lose weight is completely solved! At the same time, all that is required on your part is a decision and motivation. This needs to be realized!

Practical examples

For example, let's say you decide not to snack between meals. Therefore, you need to make sure that you always have drinking water at hand. But it’s not you who will quell false hunger, but water! You only need to drink during it, that’s all.

Or you decide: “From today on, I will stop eating in front of the computer screen and eat mindfully and slowly.”

To do this, you just need to allocate a suitable place in the kitchen, with the TV turned off, and - time.

But now it is no longer you who will restrain yourself from overeating, but the circumstances in which you have placed yourself will work for you!

And in addition to this, for many who suffer from gluttony and therefore excess weight, I would recommend such physical activity as Nordic walking. So what do you need to do to achieve this? First, familiarize yourself with the technique and understand the principle of this walking with sticks.

Secondly, purchase the necessary poles. And thirdly, make sure to take regular (preferably daily walks) in the fresh air. And then objective processes, that is, independent of you, will come into play and will help reduce the attacks of gluttony.

Because your brain will now begin to produce a hormone that balances appetite and satiety.

In the light of all that has been said, the mysterious words “healthy lifestyle” become clear. After all, it is a change in your lifestyle and not clenched teeth that plays a decisive role in defeating gluttony and other diseases of civilization.

Causes and factors of gluttony

There are many reasons that can cause binge eating in a person. To figure out how to deal with gluttony, you need to find out why it might have appeared. Knowing the factors and causes will help prevent a developing problem before it develops into a serious illness.

Psychological

Scientists believe that the main reasons for gluttony lie in the plane of psychology. The percentage of people who are susceptible to this disease is regularly increasing. There are several direct psychological factors that usually lead to compulsive overeating and ultimately obesity.

Excessive anxiety, fear of the future, major loss or psychological trauma. Often people begin to worry about the death of a loved one or separation from loved ones.
To console or reward themselves, people prone to such problems often begin to eat in exorbitant quantities. This is called emotional overeating. Unfulfilled, unspent feelings and needs become the main reason for this.
In terms of feelings, psychologically weak individuals feel insecure and vulnerable. Therefore, trying to hide from the world, they seem to become numb, while fencing themselves off from understanding the problem.
Feeling very disappointed in life can also lead to overeating. When a person is not satisfied with his achievements, life in general, when everything is going wrong, the only outlet may be food, which is always “ready” to satiate and bring pleasure.

Guilt, shame, excessive self-searching and self-torment, as well as other similar feelings, often become the cause of serious psychological problems. As a result, a person simply abstracts himself from the world around him, seeking solace and calmness in food. Moreover, often, the role is played not so much by taste as by the quantity eaten.

Biological

In medicine there is even a special term - genetic predisposition to gluttony. Many years of in-depth research have shown that obese people and children are usually prone to regular overeating. The explanation for all this is quite simple: in the human body there are at least six genes, discovered in 2001-2003, that are responsible for obesity. Those who carry these genes tend to weigh slightly more than those who don't.

Moreover, this is usually true even for those who diligently look after their body, are athletes and fans of a healthy lifestyle. It would be a mistake to think that a biological predisposition to overeating is a death sentence and you are destined to remain overweight forever. However, if you have them, your chances of becoming fat increase. About 50-65% of people suffering from severe obesity carry a combination of these six genes.

Socio-cultural

No matter how strange it may sound, the basis for gluttony is often laid in us by our parents themselves. Moreover, this happens at a stage when we still cannot and do not know how to resist. Surprisingly, more than 80% of obese people were regularly abused as children without even knowing it. Remember how your mother or grandmother forced you to eat boring porridge or stuffed you with pies?

The stronger ones distributed the goodies to their friends and fed them to the cat, but the weaker ones had to force themselves to eat. The child could not resist the pressure of adults, and as a result received trauma for life, and along with it a large number of health problems and excess weight. Also, is it possible to gain weight in one day of binge eating? The answer is, of course, no, but in the end, if you think like this every time, you can gain serious excess weight.

In some families, it is customary to regularly throw a feast with a mountain, as in old Russian fairy tales. Moreover, even the culture itself seems to suggest that a good fellow can eat a whole bull. Even in fairy tales and sayings they say that workers who eat little will also work lazily. All this sets up the idea that eating large quantities of food in one sitting is healthy, an indicator of health and strength. When it comes to a loader hauling heavy bags, this is almost true, but when it comes to an office employee, the matter “smells of kerosene.”

Diet to eat less

So, while eating, you should focus as much as possible on the food itself - an extremely important point. At the same time, before a solid meal, eat something protein half an hour. For example, an egg, a piece of chicken, walnuts.

Even workaholics should not forget that they need to eat 5-6 times a day, and in small portions.

To treat gluttony, you can establish the following diet:

breakfast - 7.00
snack – 10.30
lunch – 13.00
afternoon tea – 16.00
dinner – 19.00

And most importantly, you need to sleep at night. Provide yourself with a healthy 7-8 hour sleep, then the issue of night snacks will disappear.

What to do if you suffer from “hungry insomnia”? Play sports. The best time for jogging or a quick walk is around 20.00. Drink a milkshake before class and let your muscles work in the evening. After intense exercise and recuperation during dinner, fatigue will take its toll, you will forget about the “night watch”.

How to stop?

How to get out of the slavery of consumption? Fans of treatment with folk remedies have found a lot of options.

phytotherapy. The method is based on the properties of plants to reduce appetite. Brew flax, marshmallow and corn silk, take half a glass several times a day. Cumin and dill will help strengthen the stomach and normalize the processes of the gastrointestinal tract. They are added to ready-made dishes or made into a green decoction.
Aromatherapy against gluttony helps because the oily smells of aromatic mixtures have a calming effect, you forget about the feeling of hunger. Light sticks or candles with bergamot and rosemary in your apartment, and the feeling of fullness when eating food will come faster;
acupressure of the area under the nose (the hollow above the upper lip). Acupuncture should be performed using circular movements.

Tip two: make a rough plan for emotional stress for the coming week

Motortion/Getty Images

You may not immediately remember all the places where you usually experience stress. Then, first, you need to make a rough schematic map of the places you plan to visit

next week. Leaders, businessmen, and simply very busy people do something similar when planning their every day. They do this in order to properly plan their work schedule so as not to face a lack of time. By the way, have you often seen among successful people those who suffer from emotional gluttony?

So: it’s better to draw up this impromptu map at the end of the week, on weekends. Make sure that no one distracts you, take a sheet of paper (no smaller than an A4 sheet

), pen or pencil, get some privacy. Start with a square (or circle) representing your home.

Circles or squares should be large enough so that you can draw or write something inside
. No need to draw streets and highways. Just continue filling out the sheet, adding schematically the places you plan to visit on each day of the coming week.

What would we normally put on such a list? Work; the school to which the children must be taken; clinic; hairdresser; maybe theater or cinema

, where we planned to go with our family and so on. You should also include in our “map” the supermarkets that you are most likely to visit, shopping centers, and so on.

Then come up with a simple symbol that represents your emotional gluttony. So that you don't have to worry about improving your artistic skills, let it be an ordinary donut

(or sausage - at your discretion). Then draw this symbol in a circle or square, symbolizing the place where you can expect stress that pushes you towards emotional gluttony.

Is there a chance of a scandal with your boss or colleagues at work this week? Draw a donut in a circle to represent work; quarrels at the bank over a loan
this week ? Add the symbol of emotional gluttony to the circle representing the bank. But why is this necessary, you ask?

Take a look at the “map” you have created. Here is a real map of your emotional gluttony for the coming week, which clearly demonstrates problematic situations and events

waiting for you in the very near future. Forewarned is forearmed. If you can avoid some sources of stress, do so by changing your route for the week.

If it is impossible to avoid them purely for objective reasons (for example, you are unlikely to miss the next meeting at work

, which promises a stressful situation for you), then plan what you will do next.

Simple example:

after the meeting - lunch. You run into a cafe or have lunch on the spot - it doesn’t matter. If you usually dine in a cafe, think over the menu in advance so that you order something truly tasty
, but not unhealthy or heavy. If you usually take food with you to work, take something light for a snack on the day when you cannot avoid a stressful situation.

Tip one: make a list to distract your attention

Nicolas Menijes

The modern world and the culture in which we live are full of so-called irritants that play against us

, preventing us from concentrating, distracting our attention from the main things in our lives, shifting our priorities.

For example, we drive a car while texting on the phone (or walk, cook food, have a conversation with someone, work with a child - and all this time we “are” on the phone

). Naturally, at the same time we pay less attention to the main business.

Distraction doesn't seem like the healthiest thing to do, does it?

However, that same distraction can be a powerful weapon (one of) against emotional eating. Psychologists believe that diverting attention from the main goal ( the main goal of gluttony

- this is, in fact, gluttony), can distract us from thoughts about food, putting an end to the vicious circle of “stress-food-stress”.

By allowing yourself to focus on something else, you give yourself time

, necessary for your thoughts about the source of stress (and, of course, about food) to start moving in a different direction.

To make this advice less lengthy, try the following exercise. To do this, take a piece of paper and, without thinking too much, write down:

the names of five people you can call when you are in a bad mood (when you are upset, angry, or offended by something);
five ways to relax that suit
you personally (such as taking a hot shower);
five places where you feel so comfortable that you can completely relax (for example, the same bath, a chair on the balcony, etc.);
five things you could say to yourself during a stressful situation
to calm (for example, “this is all temporary,” “this too shall pass,” or something similar);
five activities that allow you to really take your mind off your worries for a while (for example, watching TV series, chatting in your favorite chat, and so on).

Post this note on your refrigerator (or make sure your notes are immediately visible when you walk into the kitchen). The next time you're under extreme stress and rush to the refrigerator.

To “eat away” your sorrows, you won’t have to invent something. Just look at the list, choose any of the two dozen activities, and then spend at least five minutes on it.