Common Reasons for Overeating - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Janet Brill: In our society, it would probably be because we love to eat out and restaurants just serve gargantuan portion sizes. I mean, typically a restaurant dinner could serve three people. And so, I think that people tend to eat what you put in front of them, and that’s actually been proven in studies. For example, at the movies if you were to order one of these, you know, bathtub sized popcorns, the odds are that while you’re sitting there eating mindlessly, you will eat what’s put in front of you. So, I think that overeating is a lack of consciousness by a lot of people as to how much is too much. And so we need to learn portion control. Another cause of overeating would be from emotions. Many, many people eat, um, are emotional overeaters. So, I think that that’s another problem that people need to understand and need to track what it is in their own lives that caused them to overeat, or to eat in an unhealthy manner. Many types of behaviors that people participate in, again, that contributes to mindless eating, like driving in the drive-thru and eating while you’re driving, is not conducive to weight control because you’re not paying attention to the food. And so… Or eating while watching TV or, as I said before, at the movie theater. So, we need to learn how to monitor and to enjoy the food, to sit down at dinner and, you know, have beautiful food, a set amount of food, and enjoy every bite.
