How to Defeat Emotional Eating With the Best of Life Diet

Emotional eating simply means that you are eating because you are stressed; not because you are hungry. There are a few strategies for dealing with emotional eating. This article will examine why food is important, how to cope with stress, emotional triggers that lead to overeating and basic strategies to help you defeat emotional eating once and for all!

Instructions

• 1

  Commit to change your entire life. Emotional eating is a problem that requires great courage, strength of will and positive thinking to defeat.

• 2

  View food as fuel for the body. Because emotional eating is brought on by feelings of sadness, loneliness, fear or anxiety, it is important for emotional eaters to take away the "best friend" quality of certain foods. To do this, emotional eaters should stay away from seductive phrasing like, "Fatty foods makes me feel good." By understanding that food, at its most basic purpose, provides the body with energy, you can begin to develop a more healthy relationship to food as nutrition ("This vegetable or that fruit provides me with the energy I need to get through my day.") To appreciate food as nutrition (instead of food as "best friend") you must first create a greater sense of value for why you eat. By this I mean food must function as a way to recharge and rejuvenate your body, rather than serve as a way to numb and calm it. Choose to no longer arbitrarily reach for "feel good" food items during periods of fatigue, anxiety or discomfort. Instead, choose to include foods that help to energize your mind, body and spirit throughout the day. To remove the "best friend" quality from certain foods, it is important to appreciate the textures, smells, flavors, and appearance of many foods. This technique will diminish the overwhelming "feelings" you currently associate with certain foods. By taking the focus away from how food makes you feel emotionally to how food makes you feel physically, you will begin to see food as fuel and not as a way to self-medicate.

• 3

  Find an appropriate outlet for your stress, instead of eating. This can include anything from taking a brisk walk, journaling, running in place, squeezing a stress ball, meditating or lifting weights. Depending on your lifestyle, you can choose the stress buster that works best for your needs. If you keep a journal, it is important to focus on what you are thinking and feeling during moments of great stress. It is also very important to make observations about food cravings. These observations will identify your triggers as well as your drug of choice--the "comfort food" you typically desire.

• 4

  Identify key high-risk events and/or people that commonly escalate your stress levels. According to the Best Life Program, emotional eaters use food as a coping mechanism. Knowing who or what triggers your emotional eating will allow you to create a plan of action. For the office, try using a stress ball or going off site during lunch to enjoy a more neutral environment. At home, try sectioning off a quiet corner of the house to use for meditation and journaling. Emotional eating is not just attributed to big events like weddings, funerals or even birthdays. Emotional eating can also be triggered by the thought of spending a Saturday night alone. Dealing with a break-up. Or feeling overwhelmed by a project at work. You can also turn stress energy into an impetus for action! The next time you start to feel stressed, use that energy to rev you up for a 3 mile run on the treadmill!

• 5

  Keep a journal. Getting to the root of emotional eating can be a painful journey that causes great discomfort. It is important to process this discomfort in a safe and healthy way. Most people find that writing in a journal is a great way to face these negative and painful emotions without feeling overwhelmed by them. Try writing down observations about your mood, stress level, and the people or events associated with the pain or stress. This information will help you to uncover hidden issues as well as discover your common triggers for emotional eating.

• 6

  Replace feelings of sadness, inadequacy or loneliness with more positive affirmations. The next time you find yourself starting to eat because of boredom, ask yourself what you are really feeling deep down inside. If you are sad, try to imagine what could make you happy. The goal is to aim for something small that can be achieved right there and then. Give yourself a reason to find happiness in the moment (without the use of food). If you are feeling inadequate, try to focus on your accomplishments (personal, professional and spiritual). Make a list of 5 great things about who you are as a person or your life. Be patient and remember to give yourself credit for even the smallest of life's miracles. (Your world famous peach ice tea is certainly worthy of a spot on the list!) Lastly, if you are feeling just plain ol’ lonely, try ringing up a close friend or relative. The call does not have to be long, but it will certainly provide a sense of connection and intimacy. If you still feel disconnected and lonely, try going for a walk. It is difficult to feel all alone when you are surrounded by all of nature!

• 7

  Own up to the fact that, if left unchecked, emotional eating will lead to serious weight problems! There is no way around it!Simply put, emotional eating is the number one saboteur of weight management. Because everyone at one time or another has used food as a coping mechanism, it is important to understand that emotional eating is a very real problem. Whether you eat to avoid boredom and loneliness or to medicate stress and anxiety, here are the key steps to defeat emotional eating: 1) Connect your weight, self-image and eating patterns to the quality of your life, 2) Commit to exercise, healthy eating habits and change in perception and 3) Choose not to wear you pain (e.g. unwanted pounds).

• 8

  Find a social network. It is important to find a direct and intimate connection to the outside world. Simply put, it is important to talk, sing, dance, run, sew, collect or interact with a group of people who offer support and encouragement for your life and weight management goals. Do not stay home locked in a stand off with the pantry. Get out, get involved, and get active! Talk, sing, dance, run, sew, collect or interact the stress away!