Emotional Eating

Food provides me with instant gratification which temporarily relieves the frustration, anger, pain, loneliness ( or myriad of other emotions) I may be feeling.

Unfortunately this leads to more frustration because I've now blown my healthy eating plan and I still have not solved the original computer problem that lead me the fridge in the first place. The cycle continues for most of us if we do not learn to get control over it.

If you're trying to lose weight then you know that emotional eating plays a big role in your weight loss success. In fact, experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. And since I can't remember the last time that I felt like eating because I was actually hungry; I think it's a pretty accurate statement.

Acknowledge Emotional Eating

There's not much benefit to admitting that I'm an emotional eater so I will share with you the strategies that I use that keep me from using food to make myself feel better or numb the pain that I'm experiencing.

1. I acknowledge that I am eating emotionally. Dr. Phil always says, 'you can't change what you don't acknowledge'. Like 'step 1' in any 12 step program, you must first admit that you have a problem. Once I acknowledge that I am eating emotionally then I empower myself with a choice to decide if I want to continue eating or not.

2. I introduce a delay. Today for example I delayed 'bingeing' by drinking a big glass of water. This served two purposes. It filled me up and also temporarily broke the pattern of frustration = eating.

3. I feel what I'm feeling. I stop and put my hands on my stomach to actually feel the anxiety in my stomach; I listen to the beating of my increased heart and feel the nausea that wants to overtake me. When you actually learn to feel your feelings instead of feed them with food you begin to take away the raw power of the feelings. You realize that they are not as bad as you think and you can actually begin to learn the lessons that your emotions are trying to teach you. Food and eating is as much a spiritual issue as it is a physical one.

God has made us so intricately and perfectly which means that everything has a purpose. Every emotion is a cue that our body is in need of something. That something might be the need for a mental break, some physical exercise, water or a conversation with someone.

So the next time you have the urge to repeat your emotional eating cycle, I challenge you to stop and try one or all of my 3 strategies I just shared with you to significantly decrease your emotional eating and help you maintain a healthy weight forever.