How to Lose Weight and Conquer Overeating

If daily bingeing stands between you and losing weight all is not lost. The key is learning to feel satisfied on fewer calories. You see, we overeat because our brain tells us to.

Let me explain, our desire to eat kicks in whenever we see or smell food. What we have to do is learn how to turn our appetite switch off and control what goes into our mouth.

Following is a list of five sure-fire ways to conquer your urge to overeat.

1) Take a nap. Now, don't laugh it off. What is the first thing you do when you're tired? Get something sweet to eat to perk yourself up right?

Eating unhealthy food is the worst thing you can do. Instead take a cat nap. Current research shows that when we're tired our body's ability to burn calories slows down as well. You can rev up your metabolism by taking a 20 minute nap.

2) Down a spoonful of honey. A recent study done by some scientists at the University of Memphis has shown that a spoonful of honey taken just before eating will raise your blood sugar level into a normal range.

How does this help you ask? What happens is that the honey creates an over 80% drop in food cravings and hunger pangs. This is because cravings and hunger pangs are the direct result of out of whack blood sugar levels.

3) Studies have shown that prayers and meditative rituals activate the area of the brain that controls relaxation. This also triggers the release of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that suppresses cravings by helping you cope better with stress. One study showed that the calming power of prayers do work when it reported that 71% of people who said grace before their meals lost up to 10 lbs in a year.

4) Listening to slow music which contains 100 beats per minute or less is reported to help you eat 25% less food at every meal. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University did a study whereby 50% of the test subjects who ate along to fast-paced music asked for seconds. This was compared only 33% of people who ate in silence.

The study also reported that none of the test subjects who ate to slow, relaxing music asked for seconds. Furthermore, most of those in the easy listening group left a quarter of the food on their plates and claimed to feel more full than usual. Many also said they enjoyed their food more.

5) Turn on your taste buds by indulging in extra spices. Adding a little hot salsa or ground cayenne pepper to your meals for example can ward against overeating. Furthermore, spicy foods enhance sweating. Japanese studies have shown that eating spicy foods can actually increase your body's fat burning ability by 25%.