STEPS TO END EMOTIONAL EATING

 

Step One:  Identify Your Triggers

The first step to handling emotional eating is to identify your emotional eating triggers. We all have different reasons for giving in to emotional eating. While you may never eat when you're happy, your best friend may celebrate each small victory with a binge. Some people clam up and subsist on water and saltines when she's depressed; I eat anything within reach.

By identifying what triggers our eating, we can substitute more appropriate techniques to manage our emotional problems and take food and weight gain out of the equation. One way to identify your triggers is to put it in writing. By keeping a journal where you document your food and feelings you'll be able to record how you're feeling and how much, how often, and what you eat. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a plain spiral notebook will do the trick, Simply write the date at the top of the page and then jot down what you're eating and how you're feeling before and after you do. Also identify what stressors, thoughts, or emotions you identify as you eat. You should begin to identify patterns to your excessive eating fairly quickly. In time, you will find that your emotional eating has a pattern to it. When you see it in black and white you will begin to understand the true measure of your own personal emotional eating triggers.

In short, every time you put something in your mouth, write it down. It's helpful to write down more than just the food item itself. Record the following information:

§ Date, including both day and month.

§ Time of day.

§ Where you were at when you ate (in your car, at your desk, etc).

§ What you were doing when you ate? Were you working? Driving?

§ How did you feel before and after you ate?

§ What prompted you to eat? Did something in particular happen that day?

§ Who were you with? Were you alone?

§ What did you eat?

§ How much did you eat?

§ Were you hungry? How hungry?

§ Rate of eating. Did you eat quickly? Slowly?

 

Be honest — the diary is only for your eyes. Plus, it won't be helpful if you're not truthful. Record the information for a few days. Afterward, you likely will see patterns. Perhaps every time you get angry or upset you find yourself reaching for cookies. Or perhaps you can't resist the sight or smell of tempting foods, no matter how recently you've eaten. Whatever your patterns, once you become aware of them, you can work on changing them.

 Step Two:  Recognize Hunger Signals

An important step in dealing with emotional eating is to get to know your body’s hunger signals. Have you ever noticed that we eat when we're "supposed to” from early on? Starting from when you were a child in elementary school, lunchtime at school meant that's when you are supposed to eat. Same goes for work lunch break. Instead of eating when you are “supposed to”, try listening to your body and eat when you're hungry. True hunger actually feels like a mild gnawing sensation in the gut. Have you ever noticed when your stomach growls loudly?

That’s a sign of TRUE hunger.

To find out if you're feeling a craving or getting hungry, give the urge to eat a 10-minute waiting period. If you've moved on to doing something and you suddenly realized you're not hungry, it was a craving; if the urge to eat is still there, chances are you're getting hungry.

Learn to recognize true hunger. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not really hungry. Give the craving a few minutes to pass.

 Step Three:  Limit Trigger Foods

STOP stocking your fridge and pantry with the foods you binge on!

§ Don't keep unhealthy foods around. Avoid having an abundance of High-calorie comfort foods in the house. If you feel hungry or blue, postpone the shopping trip for a few hours so that these feelings don't influence your decisions at the store.

§ Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy you’re craving.

§ Eat a balanced diet. If you're not getting enough calories to meet your energy needs, you may be more likely to give in to emotional eating. Try to eat at fairly regular times and don't skip breakfast. Include foods from the basic groups in your meals. Emphasize whole grains, vegetables and fruits, as well as low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. When you fill up on the basics, you're more likely to feel fuller, longer.

 Step Four:  Don't Skip Meals Skipping

Skipping meals almost always leads to over-eating.

 Step Five:  Create Alternatives to Eating

The only way to put this record to use effectively is to plan alternative activities to eating so you'll have another option the next time the situation and/or feelings arise in your life. Whether it's a bubble bath or curling up with a good book, planning other activities will help you relax and avoid binges.

Look elsewhere for comfort. Instead of unwrapping a candy bar, take a walk, treat yourself to a movie, listen to music, read or call a friend. If you think that stress relating to a particular event is nudging you toward the refrigerator, try talking to someone about it to distract yourself. Plan enjoyable events for yourself!

 Step Six:  Exercise regularly and get adequate rest.

Your mood is more manageable and your body can more effectively fight stress when it's fit and well rested.

 Step Seven:  Believe in Yourself and Don't Give Up

Give yourself some credit! When you trip up -- because we all do, don't give up! Forgive yourself and start over the next day. Learning from your mistakes and focusing on the positive will go a long way in ensuring your continued weight loss success.

 Here is a helpful list of ways you can break habits:

Usually, by the time you have identified a pattern, eating in response to emotions or certain situations has become a habit. Now you have to break that habit! Developing alternatives to eating is the second step in this equation! The next time that those cravings come on and you start to reach for that cupcake in response to a trigger, try one of the following activities instead.

• Read a good book or magazine or listen to music.

• Spend time with a loved one

• Go for a walk or jog.

• Take a bubble bath.

• Do deep breathing exercises.

• Play cards or a board game.

• Catch up with an old friend

• Be productive around the house- do housework, laundry or yard work.

• Wash your car

• Do some charity work