Ep: #19 -How To Stop Overeating: The 5 E's of Eating

Faye Casement Author

Mar 22, 2023 |

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We all have to eat, it's a basic human need. But why do we eat? What are the different reasons we have for putting food into our bodies?

But have you ever stopped and really looked at why you eat?

There are five different reasons we eat – and each one has a different effect on our bodies and minds. In this blog, I am going to explore each of the five types of eating and what they mean for your health and happiness.

Have a guess what do you think the 5 E's might be? maybe you can come up with more...

For lasting weight loss, it is helpful to know these reasons and to identify how, when, where, and why they crop up for you.

I am going to run through them today.

So let's dive in

Energy

Eating for energy, to fuel your body!

This is the most obvious reason to eat. How our body is designed and for survival. We need food for energy, to live, and to function. We can think of food as fuel for the body – it’s what keeps us going.

This is true eating and the type to be aiming for, for health and weight loss.

It is nourishing your body to maintain your energy levels throughout the day.

Eating to keep the body physically going and to give it what it physically needs so your body can serve you in your endeavours.

Your body is designed to tell you what it needs we have hormones and neurotransmitters that send signals to our brain to let us know when we are hungry, what foods we are craving and when we are full.

The problem is that these days most of us have lost touch with those signals due to years of dieting, emotional eating and other food behaviours that have desensitised us to the signs which is why I recommend getting back in touch with your body through intuitive eating.

Intuitive eating has a number of factors to it but one is eating when you are truly physically hungry. This does not me hangry, with pains, feeling sick and starving but when your body is signalling it needs physical sustenance. So maybe you are feeling a few growls, you are thinking you could eat and haven't for a while, your energy has dipped etc there are a number of signals your body will send off.

The other part is stopping when you have had enough to sustain your body.

Intuitive eating is about treating your body with care, rather than excessive restriction or deprivation through elimination. Listening to your body and what it physically needs in terms of quantity and quality (nutrition) of food.

To achieve weight loss we play about with these areas to find success.

Scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being a not at all and a 10 being a hell yeah. Do you think you listen well to your hunger and satisfaction signals?

OK, so we have 4 more E's left have you guessed them all I wonder!

So these are the ones you really need to be aware of and work on for weight loss and to reduce overeating.

These are some of your potential saboteurs.

First up..

Engrained

Engrained eating is when we eat based on habit, not hunger.

It’s the type of eating where you snack in front of the TV because that's what you always do or eat because it’s “time for lunch” even if you’re not hungry.

This type of eating can lead to weight gain, as well as digestive issues and low energy levels as your body tries to process something it does not need.

You will have built up a lot of food habits over the years and these need to be worked through one by one for lasting weight loss success. Some of your rules/habits may serve you but some may not.

Some possible habits:

• Clock eating - eating because the clock says a certain time.
• Eating in front of the TV or at the cinema
• Picking at your partner/kids plate
• Licking the cake batter bowl
• Picking at food whilst cooking
• Grazing the fridge
• Having food combinations e.g. meal deals
• Grabbing sweets as you walk by reception/colleagues' desks
• Its ok as its Christmas, Easter, Holiday etc
• Having to clean your plate
• Overfilling your plate

If you want real food freedom you also want to look at your food rules. Some of these will serve you and others will not. These are beliefs you have gathered over time that change how you show up and can really impact your mindset in weight loss. These are things that will start with I must, I should, I am supposed to. It is likely you hold conflicting beliefs after years of dieting which means the mind chatter can be incessant.

e.g.

• You must eat breakfast even if you are not hungry because it starts your metabolism
• Not eating breakfast because someone said fasting is best
• Belief you cannot eat processed food and lose weight that it is 'bad'
• Must get 10k steps a day
• You have to exercise to lose weight
• You have to be 100% on plan to lose weight
• You must eat 5 portions of fruit/veg a day
• Certain food groups are 'bad'

I will be encouraging the Triple-A Women to be working on these this week so why not join the membership and start knocking down these dominos!

Enforced

This type of eating is often driven by external factors such as work, social events, or family obligations.

It means eating when you’re not hungry but feel compelled to eat anyway. Often accompanied by a sense of duty or responsibility.

An example of this would be a job as a food taster, wining and dining clients, eating because it’s someone’s birthday and there’s cake, or because you want to eat with your family.

The problem with this type of eating is that it can lead to overeating, as you are eating when you are not hungry.

Examples to look out for:

• Evening meals with the family
• Socialising with friends
• Eating windows due to work
• Working with food
• Wining and dining clients
• Food pushers
• Office Treats
• Family events/gatherings
• Somebody has cooked for you/bought you a gift.

Emotion

Emotional eating is when you eat in response to your emotions, not because you're physically hungry.

You may turn to food to comfort ourselves when we’re sad, stressed, angry, or bored.

The problem with emotional eating is that it can lead to overeating, as well as feelings of guilt and shame after eating which can lead to self-sabotage.

Examples of emotional eating:

• Overeating dinner or grabbing a take out after a 'Bad' day at work
• Eating when you’re bored
• Using food as a reward - "I deserve this!"
• Using food to numb out
• Drinking wine as you have had a bad day at work and deserve it
• Because you have had an argument
• Procrastorsnacking

Does emotional eating come up for you? If so when/how/why?

Empty eating

Empty eating is pure mindless eating. You zoned out so far you don't know you are doing it. It could happen in any of the 4 reasons above. You might be eating and not even realise it.

A couple of examples of this would be eating when you’re driving, overeating dinner after a busy day or mindlessly snacking while working at your desk.

This type of eating can lead to weight gain, as you are consuming more food without being aware of it.

Empty eating:

• When distracted
• When on the go
• Mindlessly without intent

Why is it important to know and work on the E's of eating?

The biggest problem with the last 4 reasons for eating is that they can confuse your body.

Your body is designed to self regulate it was not designed for all the stimuli we have from the modern world. Cave people did not have business meetings, TVs, a huge range of emotions or the need to numb out!

When we eat for anything other than energy and because our body needs it, the body and mind is going to get confused.

Our body is constantly playing with energy exchange and trying to balance the chemicals in our body with hormones. Send it something it does not need, not giving it what it does by restricting and it gets confused and you end up with all sorts of misfires.

Now, this happens, of course, it does, you are human but what I would like to encourage you to do no matter what weight loss program you are on is to start listening to your body, mind and soul.

Learning to be more aware of how, why and when you eat so you can become more intuitive about your food and weight loss for lasting success. It will also help you become more present in your life and make better choices for yourself.

RECAP

When you understand how your eating habits impact overeating, it becomes easier to make wiser choices.

The 5 E's of Eating are important to consider when trying to lose weight because they can lead to confusion and misfires in the body that could cause an unhealthy relationship with food.

If you're interested in learning more about this topic or want help finding a solution and weight loss program that works for you long term, please reach out! I'm here to help. :)

Want to get started on losing weight for the last time? 

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Categories: : Weight loss