Overeating is a habit

It doesn’t mean giving in to every craving; it means getting rid of the idea of “giving in” to “bad foods” altogether. Eat that Oreo when you want it, without any negative emotion attached, and you won’t feel like you need to eat the whole bag.

Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Intuitive eating is about understanding what foods your body feels best eating, and how to make your own food choices based on your own hunger and fullness

To eat intuitively, you may need to relearn how to trust your body. Distinguish between physical and emotional hunger:

• Physical hunger. This biological urge tells you to replenish nutrients. It builds gradually and has different signals, such as a growling stomach, fatigue, or irritability. 
• Emotional hunger. This is driven by emotional need. Sadness, loneliness, and boredom are some of the feelings that can create cravings for food, often comfort foods. 

Some of the concepts of intuitive eating have been around at least since the early 1970s, though the term wasn’t coined until 1995.

The program was built on the principle that diets don’t work and that lifestyle changes and personal care are more important for long-term health.

Eat a sufficient amount of calories and carbohydrates to keep your body “fed” and satiated. Once you learn to recognize these signals in your own body, it becomes much easier to trust your instincts and repair unhealthy relationships with food.

Give yourself “unconditional permission to eat.”

People realize they don’t really want that food that was forbidden before; they just got caught up in society telling them they couldn’t have it.

Sweet foods can be more addictive than cocaine, one study found.

Over time, greater amounts of the substance are required to reach the same level of reward.

Even a single occasion of increased glucose levels in the blood can harm your brain. It can impair your memory and attention.

High sugar consumption causes inflammation in the brain. But, it can be reversed by following a low-sugar, low-GI diet.

• An imbalance or changes in hormones
• Emotional issues (eating for comfort)
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Dehydration 

• Lower stress levels: stress promotes cravings for comfort foods.
• Drink plenty of water: Dehydration manifests itself as hunger, so when you get a craving, drink water.
• Get enough sleep: not getting enough sleep alters the hormonal balance.
• Eat enough protein.
• Avoid hunger: under-eating can make food cravings worse.

Physical hunger

• It develops slowly over time.
• You desire a variety of food groups.
• You feel the sensation of fullness and take it as a cue to stop eating.
• You have no negative feelings about eating.

Emotional hunger

• It comes about suddenly or abruptly.
• You crave only certain foods.
• You may binge on food and not feel a sensation of fullness.
• You feel guilt or shame about eating.

While filling up could work in the moment, eating because of negative emotions often leaves people feeling more upset than before.

This cycle typically doesn’t end until a person addresses emotional needs head-on.

We associate comfort food with positive memories.

Think about all the happy and comforting memories you have involving food. Maybe your family used to celebrate occasions with a trip to the ice cream shop, or maybe your mom or dad used to soften the blow of a bad day with macaroni and cheese. When you’re feeling rejected or anxious today, eating one of those foods is an instant connection to that soothing time.

False subconscious beliefs include a feeling of nobody caring about what you have to say, a feeling of worthlessness and imagining yourself to be a miserable failure.

The astounding part is that we live most of our lives carrying these chronic false beliefs in us, manifesting them into unconscious actions leading to eating disorders.

The cure to a negative self-image formed by your beliefs is to be aware of what you think, speak or do. If you start to recognize your behavioural patterns, your hunger cravings and just pause before a habitual activity is starting, you can get a grip on the underlying emotions that drive these beliefs and corresponding actions.

Awareness and body-connection become your starting point, and one can then learn to recognize, manage, accept, and allow emotions, with eyes wide open.

When you’re under stress, your body is likely producing higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that tends to make people crave sweet and salty food—the stuff that’s generally not good for us. 

Create a simple stress management plan, or find stress relievers that fit with your specific situation.

Many people use food to deal with uncomfortable emotions like anger, frustration, and fear. There are healthier ways to cope with emotions:

• It makes your day simpler: fewer meals= less stressing about what you'll eat.
• It helps you live longer: you get the benefits of a longer life without the hassle of starving.
• Still up for debate, but intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of cancer.
• It is much easier than dieting, once you get over the idea that you need to eat all the time.

• Daily Intermittent Fasting: 16–hour fast followed by an 8–hour eating period. 
• Weekly Intermittent Fasting: One of the best ways to get started with it - do it once per week.
• Alternate Day Intermittent Fasting: incorporates longer fasting periods on alternating days throughout the week.