Emotional Eating

It's hard to admit to myself, let alone the world, but I can devour a box of Vanilla Wafers in one sitting. All it takes is a little upset, anger or boredom. If there's no cookies in the house, I'll seek out ice cream or any other sugary, sweet snack I can lay my hands on. The point is that when you're feeding something other than your actual hunger, nourishing your body is not the goal - soothing your emotions is.

Emotional eating is the cause of thousands of pounds of excess FAT across our nation as recent studies indicate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. So if I'm going to win my war against FAT, I've got to get my emotions under control: a task that is easier said than done... but I will not be deterred!

The habit of emotional eating usually starts in childhood when we are offered some treat as a remedy to being sad or upset about something. This practice continues and is reinforced until we become adults, at which time, it's a habit we don't even recognize.

And that's the first weapon against emotional eating: recognizing it!

This seems pretty straight forward. If I'm eating for some reason BESIDES hunger, I'm emotionally eating. But to recognize it, I'm going to have be "present" and "aware".. I've got to be present in the moment I'm eating and aware of why I'm putting the food into my mouth.

I think for now, before I eat anything, I will ask myself these questions: Are you really hungry? and why do you want to eat?

Another tactic that can help with emotional eating is coming up with alternative activities to do when you're upset. Have a list ready, at least in your mind, of what you can do instead of eating. Take a walk, phone a friend, do laundry - something other than feed your face.

You might also try eating a healthy snack for your emotional eating. How about some carrot sticks the next time you're crying or upset? You'll still get the comfort of the food without all the bad-for-you calories.

Finally, if you know you won't be able to resist your comfort food, try then to eat it with moderation. For me, that means consuming only a handful of Vanilla Wafers instead of the whole box. If we eat slowly, we'll find that only a few bites of our comfort food are actually needed to provide said comfort.

Emotional eating - we all do it. For some of us, it's the sabotage that keeps us from having long term success in our battle against the bulge. But don't let it be yours... I know I'm not going to let it be mine anymore, sad, happy or otherwise.



Are you with me?

-- Kristin