Eating Healthy - Why We Overeat

Here we are again, smack dab in the middle of the holidays. Every poster, advertisement and well-meaning friend is waving a flag in front of our faces. What does that flag say? It says "eat more!" Healthy eating seems like an impossible task, especially during the holidays. We gain fifteen pounds without even blinking, and then whip ourselves into deprivation when the New Year tolls. What's more, our kids are not eating healthy either.

How can we make it without shirking every warm treat, but also keeping an eye on our family's collective waistband?

Why we overeat

Don't do the gorge and diet cycle any longer. New research has been released that shows why we overeat - and counting calories now and dieting later will not save us. According to expert Brian Wansink at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, we don't eat too much because we are really hungry.

Actually, we eat too much because we are programmed to eat what is put in front of us.

How many times have you opened up a bag a potato chips and eaten half the bag before you realized what you were doing? Or gone to a movie right after a big meal and eaten a lot of buttery popcorn - just because it was there? I won't tell - I've done it too.

Our eating habits are deeply governed by unconscious processes - and these processes say "if there's food, take care of it!" We are simply programmed by Mother Nature to be a member of the Clean Plate Club. While this may have worked out great for our ancestors when it was literally feast or famine, the compulsion to eat what is in front of us is causing us a lot of health problems, like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

This winter, when eating too much is the norm, consider how easily our stomachs are fooled by our eyes when it comes to how hunger. What is more, we can use this knowledge against the compulsion to over-eat.

Prevent winter weight gain at home

• Serve dinner on smaller plates. Studies have shown that the same food served on smaller plates makes people feel more "full" when they are done. This goes for glasses too - use tall skinny glasses rather than wide ones.
• Keep the serving bowl of that yummy casserole in the kitchen rather than on the table.
• When serving, serve smaller amounts of food and then encourage seconds. Believe it or not, people will eat a lot less if they are served in this way. It's the act of getting seconds that adds to that feeling of satisfaction.

How to not overeat and still be a polite guest

One of the hard parts of eating healthy is when you don't want to be rude as a guest and refuse food. How many times have you said "no" and then gotten that look from your great aunt? The trick is to take a smaller portion at first, and then accept seconds, and even thirds. You will be certain to please the cook without over-eating.

Unfortunately, if only the cook serves, you are in a pickle. Still, asking for "just a little" at first will be overlooked if you go back for seconds. If your well-intentioned cook still globs on a massive pile despite this, I suggest a well-placed dog under the table. Desperate times calls for desperate measures!

Change your habits... and your dinner china

All in all, remember that depriving yourself of what you like will not work. Instead, set up your eating habits to support smaller portions. Don't eat potato chips out of a bag - place some in a bowl. A small bowl. It sounds like a silly trick, but it works. This trick also works for kids' healthy eating.

If you want to see them make through the winter without gaining too much weight, keep an eye on portions and the size of the serving plates at meals.