If you ever watch a child eat there is one thing I want you to take notice of, they stop when they are full. How can a child who has not yet developed the ability to make their own decisions still have the ability to stop eating when their body is telling them they are full?? This is the innate ability to have intuitive eating in which your body dictates those feelings instead of your mind.
Let’s face it, we as American’s do not eat eat simply to satisfy hunger. Food is the basis for many events, parties and gatherings of people for entertainment, comfort, stress relief, or as a reward. Unfortunately, emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional problems. It usually makes you feel worse. Afterward, not only does the original emotional issue remain, but you also feel guilty for overeating. We are all guilty of this, eating when you are not hungry, diving into a bad of chips watching TV or simply eating because you “deserve” it. There is always an emotional response behind the why of consuming food and this might lead to an addiction if you are not able to identify those feelings and thoughts.
Emotional hunger can’t be solved with food. Eating may feel good in the moment, but the feelings that triggered the eating are still there. Often times you feel worse than you did before because of the unnecessary calories you consumed. You beat yourself for messing up and not having more willpower. Compounding the problem, you stop learning healthier ways to deal with your emotions, you have a harder and harder time controlling your weight, and you feel increasingly powerless over both food and your feelings.
So are YOU an emotional eater?
- Do you eat more when you’re feeling stressed?
- Do you eat when you’re not hungry or when you’re full?
- Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you’re sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
- Do you reward yourself with food?
- Do you regularly eat until you’ve stuffed yourself?
- Does food make you feel safe? Do you feel like food is a friend?
- Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?
The first step you need to take is learning the difference between emotions and physical hunger. Are you really hungry or do you have some emotion going on that you need to correct? Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. It hits you in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent. Physical hunger, on the other hand, comes on more gradually. The urge to eat doesn’t feel as dire or demand instant satisfaction unless you haven’t eaten for a very long time.When you are physically hungry, anything sounds good including healthy stuff like vegetables. But emotional hunger craves fatty foods or sugary snacks that provide an instant rush. You feel like you NEED and GOTTA HAVE cheesecake or pizza, and nothing else will do.
So how can you combat these feelings and choose your food for nourishment and nutrition and not for the sake of eating out of emotional stress?
Here are four tips to help you and your family curb emotional eating.
Start with the obvious: If there is no junk food in the house, you can’t binge on it. Instead, keep unprocessed, low-calorie, low-fat foods such as fresh fruits and veggies at eye level and in the front of the fridge so you can see them first. To make this even easier, make sure you cut and prep all of your veggies so you have no excuse but to eat them!
Still feel the need to emotionally eat ? The next time you reach for comfort food, ask yourself, “Why do I want this candy bar? Am I really hungry?” If not, try to identify what emotions you are feeling. Are you stressed, angry, bored, scared, sad, lonely? Keeping a food diary every day and use it as a written record of what, how much, and when you eat. This may help you see patterns in your binge eating and connections between mood and food.
Once you figure out why food makes you feel better, you can come up with alternative behaviors that can help you cope instead of emotional eating. Are you frustrated because you have no control over circumstances? Go for a walk on a path you choose. Hurt by a comment? Hit the gym and put your anger into the weights. Bored? Distract yourself by calling a friend or surfing the Internet just stay away from Pintrest and all the food boards 🙂 .
Do not feel like you need to deny yourself all treats you think you “cant” have because this can lead to cravings and binge eating. Instead, allow yourself to have your favorite foods occasionally and in smaller portions. Limit the amount of chips or candy by putting a few in a small bowl instead of mindlessly eating them out of the bag.
I use a little trick in my own home. I am just like everyone else and yes I DO crave things and eat out of emotions sometimes however I do have healthier foods that I tend to overeat which is still eating for emotions. I make a sticky note that says: “Does this bring you farther away or closer to your goals?” By doing this it makes me really take a second to think about what I am doing and decide if it is worth it or not. You can use this for anything in your life!
Focus on the positive changes you are making, one step at a time. You’ll get better results with positive encouragement than with harsh criticism and we all know we are our own worst enemy !