Short answer: yes.

Overeating is completely normal.

Unfortunately, diet culture has us convinced that overeating is a negative thing and should be followed by guilt and strict rules and compensatory behaviours after the fact. Doing such, however, can turn us to overeat again. Pair this with guilt and a side of shame, and we start to feel pretty yucky about ourselves.

Why we overeat:

1. Response to deprivation

Our bodies need energy to survive. When we deprive our bodies of a regular supply of energy – intentional or not – our bodies will inevitably drive us to overeat when we do eat to compensate for that deprivation. The overeating serves as a protective mechanism to ensure that we get more food in now when it is available.

2. Emotional reaction 

Food makes us feel good. When we feel challenged or emotional, turning to food to feel better is our automatic reaction. It is important to be conscious of why we are turning to food to make us feel better, and whether there are other strategies we can use to make us feel a little better.

3. Mindless eating

When we are eating whilst distracted, it is very easy to overeat. This is both due to delayed satiation cues as well as limited sensory satisfaction.

Reducing your likelihood to overeat:

While overeating isn’t something to necessarily ‘fix’, it can make us feel uncomfortable and disrupt eating for the rest of the day.

Things that reduce tendencies to overeat include:

• Not dieting
• Eating regularly
• Attending to hunger
• Letting go of food rules
• Creating an emotional management toolbox
• Lean into your hunger and fullness cue and respond to signals it sends you

Want to learn more?

Al xx