I’m overeating again…

What would be your go-to irresistible foods? The ones you can really go to town on in terms of quantity?

For me it was always things like Ginsters slices, cheap crisps (onion rings, anyone?), chocolate twist pastries, breakfast cereal, Nutella, white bread….

These foods have a couple of things in common.

Firstly, besides being calorie dense, they are essentially beige, a clue that what lies within is low on nutritional value.

Secondly, they are almost all high in fat, sugar, salt or all three, making them highly palatable and moreish. These foods come firmly in the category of ultra-processed foods, which aren’t all bad, but certainly aren’t great either.

Thirdly, they are all “soft”, a bit like baby food (yep, even the crisps just dissolve to mush after the initial crunch), which sounds pretty grim when you think about it.

Soft foods make weight loss harder

This is a problem for weight management.

Soft foods take less time and effort to eat, meaning we don’t really register that we have eaten them. They are low in fibre and protein too, therefore we digest them really quickly and they don’t satisfy our appetite at all.

This helps explain why I used to manage to pack in all of the above foods in a single sitting. Even if they’re something you enjoy more moderately, you can see how easily they can contribute to weight gain or can derail weight loss efforts.

For some fascinating insights into this subject, take a look at this BBC documentary, “Irresistible: Why we can’t stop eating”. (Please note, it does come with a trigger warning for eating disorders).

So, the main takeaway from this is that if you have a weight loss goal, or even just want to be a bit more mindful about your diet, keep an eye on the baby food and give your body foods with more, er, body.

Moving away from your trigger foods can be a challenge. It’s made so much easier with someone by your side (me!) who understands. Find out how 1:1 Coaching could help you leave the mushy food behind, for good.