- Share This Post
- 2
- submit
- 16
-
Sparkle (0)
Are you an emotional eater? If it's any consolation, you're not alone. I have to confess ... I am an emotional eater. When I'm upset, I eat. When I'm stressed, I eat. When I'm worried, I eat. And let's be clear, these are the times I have uncontrollable urges to eat junk (candy, cookies, ice cream) -- all the stuff I know is bad for me. I could be eating healthy for months, then something upsets me, and it's all over.
The crazy thing about being an emotional eater is that you know that eating isn't going to make what you're upset about any better, but you do it anyway. In fact, you know that eating the junk that you're craving is actually going to contribute to making you feel worse, but you do it anyway. You even know that once you start it's going to become a vicious cycle of craving, eating, and then feeling guilty about it. Even so, you still do it. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result? Maybe so, but I still try not to be too hard on myself when this happens to me. I sometimes think it's worse when I try to fight the urge to eat through my emotions, it just seems to make my cravings even stronger.
Emotional eating is something we do in an attempt to suppress negative feelings in our life. There are many triggers that accompany emotional eating, here are a few ...
- Relationship or marital problems
- Financial worries
- Unemployment
- Health problems of your own or family member
- Stress at work
- Bad weather
- Fatigue or lack of sleep
So what's an emotional eater to do? This is what I try to do ...
I try to recognize what it is that's upsetting me. Is it a big problem or a little problem? Is it something I can make better, or is it totally out of my control? Is there a way I can look at what's troubling me and see a silver lining in it somewhere?
For me the reason isn't what's important, it's more about acknowledging that there is a reason, and then giving myself the permission to eat the thing that I'm craving. Yes, you heard right. I don't fight my craving, I actually give in to it. Doing this gives me a degree of control over my emotional eating. This way, after I eat whatever I think it is that will make me feel better, and it doesn't help (cause it never does), I can at least stop the cycle by not feeling guilty about it.
Don't let the emotional eating control you. Instead, make an attempt to control the emotional eating. Before you blindly go through the kitchen or supermarket and put every sugar-filled item you can find into your mouth. Take a moment and make a quick plan by asking yourself a few questions.
What are you going to eat?
M&M's? Chocolate chip cookies? Brownies? Ice cream? Ice cream topped with M&M's, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies?
How much are you going to allow yourself to eat? Putting a limit on it is key.
Is it going to be a one pound bag of M&Ms? Is there a chance that half the bag might be enough?
How are you going to comfort yourself when eating this stuff doesn't make you feel better?
A quiet bath? A walk? A swim? A good book? Take some time for yourself that doesn't include food.
Then, after you put this bout of emotional eating behind you, make a conscious effort to eat as healthy as you can for the next few days (longer if possible). And if you're feeling like your emotional eating is happening too often, try journaling what you're eating and why. Make sure you journal the days that you eat healthy too, you might notice you actually feel better on those days. It's all about awareness.
So that's what I think. Here is some of what other bloggers are saying about emotional eating ...
From New Jersey Moms Blog - In Defense of Emotional
