10 Healthy Ways to Suppress Your Appetite when Tempted to Overeat

Hunger can come from either physical or emotional reasons. Physical hunger is meant to be fed. Emotional hunger is what leads us to overeat and it is best if we can suppress it. Here are 10 ways to naturally suppress your appetite when tempted to overeat.

Go for a walk. Even if it is just a short walk to the end of the street, you will feel energized and less prone to overeat.

Drink a glass of water. Sometimes our bodies can fool us into thinking we are hungry. The truth is that thirst can disguise itself as hunger. Before picking up that bag of cookies, drink a glass of water. Wait several minutes and you may very well find that you are no longer feeling hungry. This has always worked for me. Many times I have found that my "hunger" was actually thirst in disguise.

Do something you enjoy. Read a book. Write in your journal. Put on some music and dance. Call a friend. Work in your garden. Whatever you love to do...do it! You will forget all about having that second helping of lasagna.

Drink a cup of hot tea. Not only is it good for you, it is a great way to suppress your appetite. Hot tea gives you something to linger over for awhile so that you will forget all about that craving to overeat.

Brush your teeth. Sometimes we are tempted to overeat simply because it is a food that we love. Sometimes it's hard to have one serving of your favorite food, especially if the taste of that food is lingering in your mouth. If you get up and brush your teeth when you feel that temptation for more, the minty taste of the toothpaste will replace the taste of that favorite food in your mouth.

Sleep. Let's face it. It's hard to eat when you are sleeping. If you feel the need to overeat, give yourself the luxury of a short nap. I used to have a problem with late night eating. I solved this by changing my sleeping routine. When I began to go to bed an hour earlier rather than sit in front of the TV snacking, I lost weight just from that one change.

Have a bit of cinnamon. Cinnamon is said to be a natural appetite suppressant. Sprinkle it on your food or in a hot drink.

Make a healthy substitution. If you are craving something crunchy, like potato chips...have a handful of almonds instead. If you are craving ice cream, have some yogurt instead. Chances are you will not binge on almonds or yogurt the same way you would with chips or ice cream. I have found this to be very effective when I am craving a particular thing.

Allow yourself a taste of the food you want. Some people are able to do this, and some are not. For some people, a taste might trigger a binge. For others people, they may feel satisfied in knowing they were able to have a taste. You know yourself better than anyone else in regard to this.

Pray. There is something about reaching beyond yourself to a higher power that will help give you the strength you need to fight the temptation.

All of these tips are ways of suppressing your appetite when you feel the need to overeat. Be mindful of them, and try to incorporate them into your everyday life. The more you do this, the easier it will be to resist temptation.