10 Ways to Overcome Emotional Eating

10 Ways to Overcome Emotional Eating

Let’s chat today about emotional eating. Food and emotions…ack!!! They are like oil and water and should NOT be put together. EVER! Food is meant to be your FUEL, your nourishment and what sustains you throughout the day!

Food is NOT meant to be a “filler” or a comfort for a bad day at work, kids driving you nuts, a boss who’s a moron, marital problems or sitting in traffic!! Don’t shortchange yourself into thinking that food will bring you lasting comfort for any of these issues.

What are the reasons why you emotionally eat? Is it one of these?

1. You’re Stressed: When you’re stressed, food is your friend. You have a bad day and you come home and GRAZE…eating whatever will fill the void of a crazy day. Sometimes you don’t even know what you’re doing! You just grab whatever is available and convenient. It’s times like this when having Essential Healthy Items or Healthy Snacks on hand can be KEY!!
2. Mindless Eating: Not always driven by pure emotions but can have the same effects, nonetheless. Whether it’s sitting in front of the TV and devouring an entire bowl of popcorn or picking up a handful of M&Ms in the dish at work–sometimes you don’t even REALIZE what you’re doing! One minute the giant bowl of popcorn is full….the next minute it’s gone
3. Food as a Reward: You ate well one day so you “deserve” to indulge the next day.
4. You Feel Powerless: You feel that food is the one thing you can control.
5. You Deprive Yourself. You heard that dairy is bad so you totally cut it out of your diet. Grains? BAD!! Stop eating them! Depriving yourself of certain things long term, can lead to binge or emotional eating.
6. Eating Makes You Feel Good. Plain and simple. It’s a quick fix.

Maybe you can relate to one of these but maybe you have a reason of your own as to why emotional eating gets the better of you! Whatever the reason, in order to overcome it, you need to define exactly what your reason(s) are for emotional eating. For example:

• I’m exhausted chasing around my toddler and dealing with my ‘tween, so I am just going to sit here with a bag of chips and veg out.
• I deserve this chocolate cake because I just finished a big project at work.
• I have a HUGE presentation tomorrow and I’m stressed, I am going to stop for fast food.

When you start feeling like you might be emotionally eating (or getting ready to!) below are a few things you can do. The first thing is to ask yourself if you REALLY REALLY want what you are about to eat….is it something special you have from time to time like Grandma’s famous triple chocolate cake? Or is it just empty calories to fill a void? If you decide the later, here are a few things you can do instead of eating:

1. Replace “I deserve it” with “I’m worth it:” You have the WORTH to take care of your body and feel great about yourself. Don’t let food or other vices take away from your own self worth.
2. Drink a cup of tea: The warmth can be soothing and get your mind off eating.
3. Drink 24 oz. of water: Often your body mistakes hunger with thirst. Chugging some water can help the urge to eat subside. Try doctoring it up with lemon to fruit or even drinking sparking water like La Croix. Check out these amazing ways to spice up your water: Water Recipes
4. Take a shower or bath: Walk away from the situation and do something to get your mind off of eating.
5. Have a light snack: Practice self control! Instead of binge eating, limit yourself to a little treat and be done. These peanut butter and chocolate energy bites are the perfect sweet treat.
6. Listen your favorite song: Music is therapy. An upbeat or relaxing song can completely change your mood.
7. Read: Nothing like a half hour or so of a great book to get your mind off things.
8. Call or text with a friend: Sometimes it’s just nice to pick up the phone and vent to someone who will JUST LISTEN. If no one is available, write a quick letter or email to your bestie and tell her what’s up! You may never send it, but it feels good to let your feelings out!
9. Do a little positive self talk: It may sound corny, but daily affirmations can be very powerful! There is even a Unique Daily Affirmations app you can use for positive, uplifting messages! #theresanappforthat
10. Exercise: I am not even kidding, you are always just one workout away from a good mood (or at least a better mood!). Try it. It works.

Emotional eating–we ALL do this!!! Heck, I just did it 10 minutes ago making my kids lunch and stealing a handful of chips as I was putting them into bags! I didn’t even really realize what I was doing! We make as many as 100 decisions about food every day, ranging from what to have for breakfast, to whether to eat every time you pass a candy dish. Emotional eating from time to time is OK and completely normal. However, if you make the decisions about food emotionally on a regular basis, the impact on your weight and overall health can be destructive over time.

The key is to be AWARE of when you are eating with your emotions and try a strategy to break the habit. You can do it! I believe in you.

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Original article and pictures take www.caseyrooney.com site