Emotional eating is common. Modern day life is full of external stressors that occasionally get the better of us. We use eating to make us feel better. However most of the time we are left feeling worse than before we ate. Follow these tips to filter out those dangerous tendencies and remain on track!
Emotional eating is likely to affect us all at some point in our lives. It is easy to delve for the biscuit tin when you are feeling at war with your emotions. When we eat our brains release a variety of chemicals that provide us with a feeling of happiness and contentment. So no wonder we reach for food in times of need.
It is important to realise when you may be seeking food for comfort instead of hunger. This will enable you to stay on track with your goals and prevent the chances of over eating.
Here are ten great tips to enable you to recognise when you may be incline to emotionally eat and most importantly how to combat these situations.
My 10 Top Tips!
Have you experienced a hard day at work? Has your child tested you? Are you feeling upset about your body image? These are common thoughts and feelings that can crop up at any given time.
1. Instead of seeking the support of food, take a few moments to acknowledge how you are feeling. Once acknowledged, share your feelings with a family member, a friend or a journal instead of delving for the biscuit tin.
2. Prevent skipping day time meals. Allow your body and mind to be fuelled with the correct food to provide you with clear hunger signals.
3. Take some YOU time, has something stressful happened? Have 10 minutes to digest the information.
4. Create some new coping strategies, that could be taking a bath, calling a friend, going for a walk. Open your mind to exploring new strategies, you will find a strategy that works perfectly for you.
5. Commence the broccoli test. Simply ask yourself if you have an appetite for broccoli. If the answer is no it is likely your emotions are doing the talking instead of actual hunger.
6. A clear goal with a realistic time frame. If you are trying to combat emotional eating to lead to a healthier lifestyle it is important to have a clear understanding of how you foresee your new lifestyle. Make sure your goals are written down and easily accessible to re read.
7. Exercise can provide you with bursts of endorphins (happy feelings) therefore picking this option will allow you to beat your emotional state and work towards your goals at the very same time.
8. Sometimes feeling emotional can lead to a temptation to drink alcohol to provide a ‘release’ this may then stem into over consumption on the food front. Stop the domino affect by opting for a soft drink, allowing you to make rational, clear decisions.
9. We are likely to manage emotions in a very different way when we have had sufficient sleep, swap that late night watching films and eating chocolate for some extra hours in bed. Sleep will enable you to manage your emotions and think rationally.
10. If it happens, do not obsess or panic. It is easy to enter into a vicious cycle of feeling upset about what you ate the night before. Try to focus your attention on starting the next day with a filling breakfast and a great plan of action get you back on track throughout the day.
If you are struggling with emotional eating and want support to achieve your goals CLICK HERE.