In my last blog I discussed what emotional eating looks like and how it plays out in someone’s life. In this blog we are going to look at ways we can combat emotional eating.
First, we have to come to the realization that we cannot “will away” emotional eating. We can’t just wake up one day and say, “I WILL not eat based on my emotions.” Because guess what will immediately come in the way? Your emotions.
Emotions have a funny way of intruding on us and by trying to rely solely on willpower; we are not going to be very successful. Sure, you might be victorious for a day or two but eventually you will be worn down.
What you have to do is replace your bad habits with good ones. Have you heard that it takes about 30 days to form a habit? Repetition is the key.
One of the most important things you can do in learning to combat emotional eating is to recognize what triggers it. You may have several triggers but try to combat just one at a time.
For instance, let’s say that everyday around 3:00 in the afternoon you begin to get tired and cranky. The first thing you do is grab a piece of chocolate or woof down a doughnut. You know that this time of the day is a struggle for you, so begin to work on this trigger first.
Replace the comfort food with something healthy. Will you enjoy it? Not likely. Will you feel even crankier? Possibly. But I can guarantee you one thing…if you continue to eat something healthy every afternoon at 3:00, you won’t feel as tired.
Day one passes and you are successful…day two and the same thing…day three and suddenly its not such a huge deal to eat a carrot instead. As each day passes, you begin to form a habit that will be much easier to stick to.
You can combat emotional eating by recognizing your triggers, working on one at a time and then replacing your unhealthy eating with healthy eating…creating a habit that will lead to better health.
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