Stop Emotional Eating
Eating in response to sadness, boredom, or stress can increase your caloric intake.
It’s difficult to negotiate with yourself when you are feeling blue and reaching for comfort food.
Try to plan ahead for these times and before you reach out for the junk, sit for a few minutes and write out five things you are grateful for in your life.
It can be as simple as being happy for having a roof over your head, even a heavily mortgaged one.
I know the guys at the traffic stop with their hand written cardboard signs make me aware of my good fortune.
Get up and go for a walk, breathe the air and listen to the sounds around you and feel your body moving you over the ground.
Emotional Goal Planning
Beginning a diet or fitness program without a strategy after you have looked in the mirror and got mad or cried may not lend itself to the best-laid plans.
By acting on impulse it is likely you haven’t planned how you are going to mitigate your cravings, family challenges, and other things that always happen in day- to-day life.
If you find that you did run out and buy some expensive equipment or a new gym membership in an emotional response to your weight, you are still okay. Take the time now to plan your goals and find out who or what you need to accomplish them.
Stop Emotional Eating
That’s almost like saying stop feeling!
Almost.
Emotional eating is eating in response to an emotion. Sadness, disappointment, embarrassment, fear or even excitement. Either through the conditioning of our childhood or a coping skill learned later in life it is now a habit to reach for food first.
If you have this response then one place you can start is at your cupboards.
I know if I buy a big bag of chips – I will eat a big bag of chips. No metering them out, I can hear them calling to me from the cupboard. So the easiest thing to do is to stop bringing in the crappy foods.
Second thing is to replace them with a selection of healthy snacks.
Stress Eating
When you are gripped with a stress eating attack try first to do something else. It helps 100% if you have this preplanned.
Like go for a walk or call a friend.
Please do not buy a dog hoping you will want to take up walking as a new exercise. Wait until you have become a habitual walker before you invest in a canine companion.
I do think it is a good idea to borrow a dog from your neighbours though.
Or you can volunteer to walk a dog from the local SPCA. But after your walk, if you can take those big sad eyes back to the cage knowing its homeless – you are way tougher than I am.
If you do end up eating a tray of cupcakes – don’t beat yourself up.
Now that you have sated your cravings, sit at the table and write out how you will mitigate this next time. Changes don’t always happen overnight and sometimes you have to just keep trying until the new habit sticks.
By keeping your desire to overcome emotional eating at the forefront of your mind and being conscious of your alternative choice – whether it is to go for a walk or take a bath – you will soon begin to change your choices.
You may also want to talk to someone who is experienced in eating disorders. Check with your health clinic or doctor to find a referral in your area.
Emotional Eating Disorder
Do your thoughts and feelings about weight and your body put you at risk for an eating disorder? The following quiz developed by Stanford University researchers as part of the “Student Bodies” prevention program may help you find out. It is not intended as a diagnostic test. Answer the questions truthfully, then consult the key at the bottom to learn how to interpret your score.
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