The Reasons We Over-Eat

Our sedentary, food-abundant circumstances may be a byproduct of our ‘success’ as a society, and our nutrient, emotional and spiritual deficiencies a result of our hectic lifestyles – but they clearly create imbalances, gaps and voids in our lives, often leading to overeating and obesity.

- Dr Adele Pelteret

Over-eating differs according to the individual – what is too much for one may not be too much for another. Think of an athlete carbo-loading before an event, and then a couch-potato eating the same amount. Either or neither of them may gain weight! Ideally your food intake should correlate with your energy expenditure, but as we all intuitively know, and as researchers have shown, numerous other factors are involved – biological (e.g. gender and genetics), metabolic, biochemical, hormonal, psychological (e.g. emotions and stress levels), and even morphological. We are all endowed with the ability to adapt our metabolism and energy expenditure to both over- and undernutrition, but some of us do it better than others. 

I find that most over-eating is due to a combination of conscious and subconscious factors, and there are sometimes physiological explanations as well. The combinations of reasons or causes vary widely among individuals, and can even wax and wane during a particular individual’s day, week or month. These are my thoughts on some of them ...

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT 

All decisions in life are based on choices. As we all know, some are difficult and some are easy to make. If you are an adult, the type, quality and quantity of the food you eat are all based on choices as well. As harsh as it may sound, many of us lack self-control in this department. Often taste takes priority and health takes a back seat.

Admittedly the marketplace is partially to blame, with ever-increasing meal sizes (e.g. ‘supersize’, ‘eat-as-much-as-you-like’, ‘buy-one-get-one-free’) and ‘drive-thru’ convenience, which further encourage over-eating.

There is also a misconception that healthy is more expensive, so some people choose the ‘cheaper’ unhealthy foods and then usually have to eat more to feel satisfied.