I write about emotional eating because I’m guilty of it. It’s seems so easy after a stressful day or during a stressful moment to open a bag of chips or sit down to a meal and shut your brain off. Ignoring completely what the food tastes like and the texture of it! I don’t know about you but I can get in a redundant habit of chewing and actually forget I’m even eating! And just for a time, while we’re busy chewing, we’re not thinking about anything else – and it feels good. Then comes the rush (although you may not recognize it as such) from your insulin spiking and the serotonin your body releases when you eat. Whether you feel the rush or not, your stress levels drop – if only for a very short time. BUT after your blood sugar crashes – in order to feel the way you just did, you have to eat again. It seems to be a vicious cycle. One that when you start- it’s hard to stop. Especially if you’re anything like me- you beat yourself up after you eat for eating what you just did! And then you really feel crappy because you just yelled at yourself so (of course) you eat some more!

Because it’s food (something we need to live) it’s hard to point the finger at it and recognize that it’s acting as a cover up for greater problems. It’s tough because it’s not like cigarettes where you just have ONE THING you have to STOP DOING. With food, there are so many different options and varieties.  And I think people don’t take emotional eating as seriously because it is after all  just food. But if emotional eating is the cause of a weight issue- this can be more dangerous to your health and wellness than having a bad habit like smoking or drinking.

How do you stop?

• Talk to your doctor !!! Don’t be shy! Figure out how serious the problem is. They may recommend you seek counseling or they may give you some tips and tricks like I’m about to do to help you overcome it! Sometimes it’s just a once in a while thing and sometimes you almost feel like it controls you. If you’re feeling like food has control over you this is definitely a great time to talk to your doctor.
• It’s my personal belief that the best way to deal with emotional eating is to figure out why your doing it!
  

How do you do that?

START A DIARY

• Not a “Dear Diary, Today I went to work….blah, blah blah”, but a food / mood diary. You need to start to see where, when and what you eat in relation to how you’re feeling. The only way to nip this in the butt is to understand it. Yup, this diary is work. And yes- it can be a pain in the rear- but, if it’s going to help you –  THE WORK IS WORTH IT.  Knowing what triggers emotional overeating is the best place to start so that you can start to implement ways to stop it.

How to diary

1. Buy a little pocket book that you can carry around with you.
2. Whenever you eat, write down what you ate, how much, the time and your mood.
3. Happy, sad, frustrated, indifferent, satisfied or whatever you happen to be feeling.
4. You can also write how you felt after you ate if you want.
5. Feel free to record the good stuff too. Write about how it made you feel when you said no to the dessert or walked away from the kitchen at 8pm – Sometimes reading about your victories can help you have more of them.
6. You’ll start to see a pattern in your overeating – certain times of the day, around certain people (or alone), with certain foods, at home or at work ect..
7. Now you can start to come up with ways to deal with these situations and fill your time with something more productive.
8. Tackle ONE issue at a time. Once you feel confident that you can handle one issue or situation then move onto the next.
9. Give yourself time. Allow yourself to mess up and get back on your feet. No one is perfect! This is something we all have to practice for the rest of our lives. It’s not a race. The more time you give yourself and the less you beat yourself up, the better you will do!

What to fill your time with instead of eating ?

This is a toughie because, truly, it’s personal and each situation is different.  Many health professional suggest things like:

1. Paint your nails!
2. Read a book!
3. Phone a friend!

These are all good and they certainly will distract you. But I also think, the reality is – none of these ideas help you with the struggle in your brain. The REASON your eating. I do think though, that if you can walk away from the food – you’re brain has no choice but to let itself be heard. It’s scary, I know. Figuring out why your upset or angry is not easy – but it will help not only with your eating but also with your daily moods and how you choose to live!

Here are the two things that really help me when I want to reach for the ice-cream instead of the Kleenex box :

1. Workout. Even if I don’t have a gym handy, I do things like jump rope, push ups, squats, jumping jaxs (even for just 10 minutes). The workout gives me an endorphin rush – kinda like the rush I would have gotten from eating AND it clears my head the same way eating does. The difference is, I walk away from my workout feeling like I had time in my brain to sort through my problems. Going for a walk at lunch can also help clear my head. Look, even though I suggest this – I know it’s not easy to do. Donuts or run? It’s never easy to pick the hard thing over the easy one. But once you start to make these changes, you’ll feel so much better.

One good choice helps put you on the path to the next!

And even if you’re successful with this tip 50% of the time- that’s way better then always giving into the food.  Baby steps people.

OR

2. I write in my diary. I literally write what I want to eat and why. It always seems to come out kinda like a rant. I literally just barf out words – like the conversation I would have had in my head at the fridge door – but I write it down instead of silencing it with food. And this rant can sometimes lead to why I’m upset and sometimes not. I also try to write what I think eating will make me feel like (good and bad) and how walking away from the food will also make me feel (most of the time all good). The diary really lets me sort through my problems and I focus in on one thing in my brain. Most of the time (I’m not perfect) I walk away from the kitchen.

Overcoming emotional eating takes time and it’s not easy. You’ll have good days and bad days. Days where YOU win and days where the ice cream does, but it’s all part of the process! PLEASE be patient with yourself and give yourself time. This is not an issue that can be solved in a week. But one that you can overcome and it’s so freeing to do so!!!