My Story: How I Stopped Overeating

This article was originally published on my friend and colleague’s amazing website Carrots and Cake by Nita Sharda.

I used to overeat.

I’ve never been significantly overweight, so people are surprised to hear this. When you think of overeating, you think of someone who is above their natural weight range, right? Well, I used to purposefully undereat as well. I was able to keep my weight within some control, but only through a lot of physical and mental anguish.

Here’s a glimpse into my life as a first year university student:

• Friday: Go to a party and eat a lot of chips. Feel guilt and regret. Vow to wake up and run an extra mile.
• Saturday: Run 6 miles, come home and only eat a tiny breakfast. Eat like a bird the rest of the day. Feel proud of myself.
• Sunday: Study and snack on chocolate chips all day. Feel gross.
• Monday: Head to class with no snack and no money so that I can’t buy any food. Feel hungry but full of willpower. Go home starving. Overeat at dinner. Feel out of control.

My feelings were on a constant pendulum shift. I was proud and in control one moment, then full of regret and out of control the next. It was exhausting.

As I studied nutrition and human anatomy in university, I started to learn just how amazing the human body is! I started to realize that I was not giving myself enough credit!

The human body is an amazing, self-regulatory system. It knows precisely how much food it needs. The body sends the mind all sorts of signals to indicate when it’s hungry and when it’s full. When I learned this, my whole world changed. I stopped trying to manage my eating with willpower. I stopped compensating for gross overeating with difficult undereating. Instead, I started to listen to my body and respond to its needs appropriately.

[x_blockquote type=”left”]Instead, I started to listen to my body and respond to its needs appropriately.[/x_blockquote]

Instead of trying to power through my hunger, I would nourish my body with wholesome foods, so I would feel hungry less often.

Instead of mindlessly overeating at social events, I would take a small portion and check-in with my body to know when to stop eating.

This process definitely took some work and reflection, but after a while it became second nature. Maintaining this way of eating barely takes any thought now that it has become a habit!

I am now more in tune with my body’s needs. Eating has become a joyful experience, instead of a source of stress and worry in my life.

The best part? ALL my eating is now guilt-free!

You heard that right. I, Jessica Penner, Registered Dietitian, shamelessly eat “unhealthy” snacks and treats without regret. Of course, the majority of my food intake does come from whole, healthy foods that are close to nature. But when everything is in proportion, I don’t NEED to feel bad about some delicious indulgences.

I’ve done a lot of reflecting on my journey to quit overeating. I firmly believe that this happy, healthy relationship with food is achievable by everyone.  As a dietitian, it’s a passion of mine to pass on to others this liberating lifestyle! So I’ve taken what I learned, and picked out the step-by-step process I followed to get there. It’s a process that anyone can follow.

If you want to learn how to quit overeating, then join me for my 12 week online program called I Quit Overeating.

To give you a taste of what the program offers, I’ve pulled out the module on managing food cravings and am offering it for a ridiculously low price. I know it can be scary to try something new so I want to make it easy for you!

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