How to Recognise Emotional Eating and Proven Strategies to Help

How many times have you eaten something for another reason other than because you were hungry?  I’d hazard a guess at quite often.  I’ve done it too.  I’m bored, so I eat.  I’m stressed, so I eat.  I’m tired so I turn to sweet things.  I want a treat, so I open a bottle of fizz which then makes me eat tonnes of nuts – and then I eat my meal, duh!

When you’re angry, upset, stressed, tired, bored do you eat? Even when you’re not hungry?  This is emotional eating. And thankfully, there are ways to overcome emotional eating. One of the most powerful ways to combat emotional eating is to become aware of when you’re eating for any reason other than hunger.

I wonder how many of you were given a sweet by your well-intentioned parents to help soothe a cut knee, or taken to the ice-cream parlour to celebrate something you succeeded at in school?  Don’t get me wrong, it’s WONDERFUL to celebrate, and most celebrations around the world involve food – and drink!  But when we begin to associate food with rewards, to make us feel better and to change our mood, that’s when it can become a tricky issue.

Are you an emotional eater?

Ask yourself these questions to find out if you’re an emotional eater:

• Do you eat between meals, even when you’re not hungry?
• Do you graze without really thinking about what you’re doing?
• Do you cope with stressors by reaching for a pack of biscuits or the nearest chocolate bar?
• Do you spend a lot of your day dreaming about your “treat” foods?
• Do you eat in secret?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you may be an emotional eater.

Healthy alternatives to emotional eating

Next time, before you do any of these behaviours, ask yourself if you’re hungry or not.

If the answer is no, try these alternatives:

• Drink a large glass of water.  It will help fill you up, hydrate you and help to keep you going until meal time.
• Take a break from what you’re doing and change it up a bit.  Often boredom makes us reach for food we don’t need.
• Take a few moments to recognise what the negative emotions are. How are they making you feel?  Express them by either writing down how you’re feeling or talking to someone you can trust.
• Take a short walk and get some fresh air.

When you can deal with your emotions in a functional and productive way you’ll feel so much better about yourself. You’ll find you’ll start to control your emotional eating and begin to recognise the feelings of true hunger.

If you feel that your emotional eating is out of control, get in touch.  I can teach you how to:

• Eat the foods you love and still lose weight..
• Learn proven strategies to help conquer cravings and survive everyday food temptations.
• Choose the RIGHT foods to eat – at the right times – to help maximise energy and weight loss.

Learn how to adopt the RIGHT MINDSET to finally take control of your eating and your body, so you’ll forever know how to lose weight.

I’m here to help!

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