The most common factor preventing weight loss is emotional eating. I know that learning about emotional eating isn’t all that exciting. Most of us would rather have a quick fix, and looking into our emotions sounds plain difficult. But this is crucial, so continue on.
What is Emotional Eating?
The difference between healthy eating for physical necessity and eating for emotional reasons can be hard to see.
Emotional hunger is related to things that happen during your day, causing you to eat to relieve stress or mindlessly between meals. For me, I emotionally eat when I’m trying to do too many things at once or when I’m working on something that I’m having a hard time with. I eat to give myself a treat or relieve stress during these times.
Guilt and shame are often a clue that you’ve been eating for emotions reasons, and you’re often left feeling sick or still hungry rather than satisfied. Recognizing emotional eating will help you lay down the law with yourself and stick to your healthy eating plan.
Some Strategies To Limit Emotional Eating
There are a few different ways to approach emotional eating, and they work really well together but you can also just pick the one that is most effective for you.
You first have to figure out what that trigger is, and it could be anything from a mean boss, to an unhappy relationship to stress from your daily commitments.
1: Eliminate the Triggers
You can take drastic action, or more moderate action. For instance, you don’t necessarily have to quit your job to avoid the stress of your boss. You can minimize your interaction with him or her, ask for a transfer, or maybe just get satisfaction by talking to someone about the problem.
2: Change your Reaction to your Triggers
If your daily commute is too long and causes you stress so that you feel a need to eat, use it to do something you enjoy instead. Listen to audio fiction or personal growth books, or a podcast on a topic you’re interested in.
3: Replace the Food in your Reaction to your Triggers
If you eat as a reward, think of some things that you would enjoy other than food. Go out to a movie, read a book, get a massage or just spend some time enjoying yourself. If you eat out of stress, find other ways to release the stress or anger. Write in a journal, take up kickboxing or get in a bubble bath.
These strategies will only work if you’re aware of your motivations for eating, and it will take some time to develop the habit of changing your situation or your reaction to your emotional triggers. Don’t get discouraged, just keep working at it until it becomes a habit.
Breaking Food Addictions
Food addictions are another form of emotional eating. They’re based on an uncontrollable craving for specific foods. The best way to break a food addiction is by replacing the bad food with a healthy one.
If you crave potato chips, make your own french fries at home – even better if you make them out of sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. If you crave cookies or ice cream, make your own healthy cookies or puree a frozen banana for easy, healthy and delicious ice cream.