#1 Trick to Stop Overeating

Jada (@digitaljada) is a weight loss influencer who lost 40 pounds and helps others achieve their body goals by sharing videos and posts about how she did it. In one viral video, she takes a deep dive into the mental aspect of physical health, revealing one of her tricks for avoiding binge eating and losing weight. “How do I have the willpower to have these kinds of foods and snacks in my house without binging? What's stopping me from ripping through this entire box of Gushers? I have to go to the gym, so I'm packing my bag and I was just thinking, I get this comment so much. How do I stop from binging? How do I stop from overeating?” she says in the clip. We also asked The Diet Diva, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian, to weigh in on her tactics.

If You Don’t Buy It, You Won’t Eat It

“Tip number one is important until you are able to control your mind a little bit more. It's not something that's going to happen overnight. Tip number one is a philosophy called ‘If I don't buy it, I can't eat it.’ Sometimes if you know you're not strong enough, you might want to leave certain things in the grocery store,” she says. “The point of purchase is so so so critical,” agrees Collingwood. “You will not eat nutritious, healthy foods if you don’t have them around and vice versa. You will give in to the chips and ice cream if you have it in the house.”

You Don’t Eat by Accident

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But “what happens when you're at an event or in an uncontrolled environment?” she continues. “There are all these snacks and pastries and food that you know are going to kind of trigger you. She plays a clip in which a man says, “I've never eaten anything by accident, so that kind of taught me and showed me my life is a result of my choices.” She explains that he was pointing out that eating is “a very intentional choice.” Collingwood agrees that too often, we eat out of habit. “We eat because it’s there, or we just always clean our plate whether we need it or even want it or not,” she says. “Slowing down and choosing our meals and snacks carefully to fill the need of what is necessary at that time can be critical to being more mindful in our choices.”

Related: I Lost 40 Pounds By Eating These 8 Foods

Harness the Power of Self-Talk

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“We don't give ourselves enough credit. We think self-discipline and motivation in all of these things are things that we have to reach outside to get something that we have to ask someone. How do I do this? How do I get this when it's really an internal thing? This is a little spiritual, but I do believe that we were all born equipped with everything that we need. We lack nothing. We just have to unlock those things within us,” she says. “Positive self talk can be extremely motivating. No one is going to be able to do it for us,” agrees Collingwood. “In reality, we have to make the choices that affect us on a daily basis. We can make choices that will have a positive impact and make us feel good in the short and long term or we can give in to impulses and then regret them later. Dig deep inside yourself to self-motivate instead of relying on others to do it for you.”

Focus on How Your Choices Make You Feel

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She suggests looking to other people who seem “motivated” and “disciplined” for inspiration. “There's nothing that they can be that you can't be. You just have to unlock that inside of yourself and no one else has that power but you. No one else can go inside of you and do that. You are the only one that holds that power,” she continues. “When you really understand the magnitude of that and you really understand how much control you actually do have over your life, it'll shift your mindset and you're going to make better choices. You're holding yourself accountable and you're also becoming aware of the power that you have over your own life. Quite literally, no one can make you do anything. You hold all of the power. There's nothing outside of you. There's no person outside of you, no fitness coach, no motivational speaker that can unlock the things that you can unlock.” Collingwood agrees that focusing on how you feel after making certain choices can motivate future choices. “Not just thinking about the physical impact, but think about how you feel emotionally and mentally after making certain choices,” she says. “I feel better when I get up early and exercise and eat a filling and healthy breakfast. I can focus better at work and I am in a better mood. But if I sleep in and have donuts and a high sugar latte I feel guilty and sluggish and I’m grumpy around everyone.”

Visualization

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She adds that “a lot of people do have disordered eating habits” and you might need to “contact a professional and get some help” she says, “but other than that, a lot of us just don't know the power that we have over our own lives. That's when you unlock a lot of things within yourself. I can't eat over my calorie deficit. I can, but I also cannot. When you truly stand on what you believe in, it'll be very hard to go against that, and that goes for any area of life,” she continues. “If I have a belief that I'm going to be in my dream body, I'm going to be this type of person that eats this certain type of way. There's just certain things that I'm not going to do that's not in alignment with this new person that I am and who I want to be. The third thing is going to be getting rid of this all or nothing mindset.” Visualization is a powerful tool to guide motivations, agrees Collingwood. “Picture yourself not just how you will look physically but also how you will act and think and how other people will see you when you are choosing a new goal and working towards it.”

Follow the 80/20 Rules

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She adds that you can still have “fun foods” but avoid “binging” on them daily. You can “incorporate them every now” because “life is not about what you do sometimes. Life is about the consistencies,” she says. “What you do all the time. If you're on point 80 to 90% of the time, the 10 to 20% where you're eating these things doesn't really matter.” One meal, one food, one day is not going to undo you, agrees Collingwood. “It is the string of behaviors put together that create results. I like the 80/20 rule—80% of the time you are on your plan and making good choices, but 20% of the time you can have something that you know is not quite as healthy but you want it so you have it and balance it out,” she says.

Related: 4 "Foods to Avoid" You Don't Have to Avoid, Says Diet Expert

Have an “Abundance Mindset”

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“Overindulging is a sign of having a lack mindset” and if “you have an abundance mindset” you “don't find the need to binge,” she adds. “I'm not going to eat all of these or an entire sleeve of biscuit golf cookies, which y'all know I love because I know that there's going to be more tomorrow. I can just have some more tomorrow. There's no need for me to binge on all of this today.” Collingwood is totally on board with this philosophy. “I could eat all of this now but I will be really happy tomorrow when I still have some to enjoy. Plus I won’t feel good if I eat them all now. Always look forward to how you can continue to live that life of abundance, and I’m not talking about calories. An abundance of self love,” she says.

💪🔥Body Booster: Changing your mindset is a key part of being able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you are struggling with this, try meditating for a few moments every day.