Organise Your Kitchen To Prevent Overeating And Cravings: Here's What You Need To Do

Overeating at night can sometimes be fun. But most of the times, it is accompanied with regret and guilt. You can learn the art of controlling yourself but tempting food and sugary treats, especially when you have midnight hunger pangs, can be too difficult to control. As far as you are eating a balanced and nutritious diet, overeating at night or midnight hunger pangs should not be much of a problem. But there are many people who opt for following restrictive diets to lose weight, and sometimes, even deal with obesity, thyroid issues, diabetes, etc.

Tips to prevent overeating

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Celeb nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar recommends 3:2:1 ratio of a meal, which is "the time-tested proportion". This proportion allows for maximum nutrients, enhances taste and even looks visually appealing to our eyes.

So, you need 3:2:1 ratio between grains, dal/sabzi and pickle/salad/curd.

• 50% of your plate should be rice or roti or millets (grains)
• 35% should be dal and sabzi (and meat if non-veg)
• 15% should be papad/ pickle/ salad/ curd, etc.

This is one way effective way of feeling satiated after having a meal, practicing portion control and also preventing overeating.

Eat healthy, home-cooked meals in controlled proportions to prevent overeating and cravings
Photo Credit: iStock

Also read: How To Stop Overeating And Five Diet Rules Meant To Be Broken

Overeating: How organising your kitchen can help

Other way of controlling your cravings is by organising your kitchen.

1. When experiencing cravings, one feels like eating the first thing in sight. In this case, having a kitchen organised in a way that not many unhealthy or fattening foods come to your sight the moment you open the fridge, can really help.

2. Healthy snacking options like puffed rice, nuts and seeds, roasted peanuts etc, can be stored in glass jars and kept at a drawer or shelf that ca be easily reached.

3. Chips, frozen foods, processed ready-to-eat meals, biscuits, cookies and instant noodles, etc, must all be stored on the top most shelf, or hidden in difficult-to-reach drawer.

Stay away from junk food, sugary food items and aerated drinks when experiencing cravings
Photo Credit: iStock

Also read: 7 Healthy Late Night Snacks To Beat Those Hunger Pangs

4. Stack your fridge with pre-cut vegetables. You can instantly prepare a stir-fry dish and have it with some leftover rice.

5. Drink a cup of milk along with some nuts. This serves to be a satiating and healthy drink.

Apart from these tricks, it is important to understand that midnight hunger pangs occur because of depriving yourself of food on times when your body needs it. Once you learn the art of eating all your meals in controlled proportions (here's how you can do it), cravings and overeating will not be a problem.

Stay away from restrictive and fad diets if you want to prevent cravings. Also, when you are eating your meals, make sure that there are no distractions like TV, newspaper, a book, phone or laptop. All your focus should be on your meal. Doing this helps you stay in sync with your satiety signals and prevents overeating.

Also read: Here's How Mindfulness Can Help You Curb Cravings

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.