Emotional eating is the most common cause why most diets fail. Many of us are emotional eaters. We often overeat when we are stressed, angry, or feeling lonely. We use food not merely to satisfy our hunger, we use it as a getaway from a bad feeling. What we don’t realize is that the relief it gave is just temporary, and can make us overeat and gain extra weight.
There are ways to address your emotional eating, so you can begin losing weight naturally.
One of these ways is whenever you think of eating because you don’t feel right, think of healthy things that you can do so that the urge to eat is going to pass. For example:
- Call a friend or have someone to talk to if you are bored and feeling alone.
- Listen to a music, or read some interesting stories.
- Go for a walk or a short run.
- Perform deep breathing exercises.
- Do meditation or a yoga routine.
- Play your favorite game.
- Keep yourself busy with household chores.
- Write an email or create a poem.
Keeping a food diary at hand is also useful to stop emotional eating. Make a list of foods that you want to eat, and when you are going to consume them. Write down what thoughts or feelings you have at every meal or snack.
In the long run, you are able to identify your eating patterns. For example, you may discover that you overeat for social reasons – someone is encouraging you to it, or you want to fit into a group.
Getting a mood and food journal is the best technique to keep track of the emotions that stimulate your eating habits. Make a note of the foods that you ate and what feelings did you have when eating such as bored, happy, anxious, sad, annoyed, and whether you were actually hungry at that time or you were just eating for relaxation and comfort.
The technique called “Pause and take 5” before reaching for food also helps. You may be hastening through the day and not having to check in with yourself. You’ve been too stressed, and overscheduled that you often forget the time to reflect.
Getting Help
We can’t deny that sometimes even if we understand what’s going on with our lives, a lot of us still need assistance in breaking the habit of emotional eating. The process is not natural specifically when emotional eating has already led to some problems related to weight and self-esteem. If you are one of those having trouble with emotional eating, then it’s appropriate to seek help when you can no longer bear it alone.
It’s not wrong to seek help from experts. Counselors and therapists are available to give you tips on how to handle your feelings. Nutritionists are also there to have you classify your eating patterns and let you begin consuming a better diet. Lastly, fitness experts can recommend you the right exercises to do to alleviate your cravings for food.
Speak with your health care provider if you are concerned with your current eating habits. If you think it’s no longer healthy and might lead to health problems, then it’s the best time to take advantage of an expert’s help.
Healthcare professionals can assist you in reaching your weight-loss goals and leading you to a track of a new and healthier connection with food. They can as well give you techniques to help you handle emotional stress.
As you get better at coping with emotional eating, never forget to reward yourself. By giving yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, you upturn the chance of sustaining your new healthy habits.