By Ashley Bradshaw
Founder, Lead Registered Dietitian, Nutrition Coach, RYT 200
Emotional eating can stop your healthy eating intentions as soon as you try to put things into action. It comes in all shapes and sizes from frustration, to stress, joy, sadness, excitement, loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and even happiness!
Each time we turn to food to help us feel better, the deeper ingrained the habit of emotional eating becomes (think of an engraving on a tree – the deeper it is, the longer it remains), which makes it become your natural tendency or go-to set of behaviors.
It becomes your autopilot mode. This is why emotional eating can be so threatening and why it is an extremely tough habit to modify and then manage over time.
It makes sense to turn to food. Food nourishes our body and can provide a sense of comfort and relief. Of course we would feel like we are soothing our emotions, even strong ones. In the case of happiness we may think food is the one item we need to truly make us happy….or to make us even happier!
What can we do with something so ingrained that it has become our autopilot mode?!?
First and foremost, acknowledge that you have emotional eating habits and behaviors. Own it! It’s okay! It doesn’t make you any less of the awesome human being you are! Be kind to yourself my friend.
Then, we can really get to work!
If you have already acknowledged this, then what I’m about to share next will be no surprise to you! Overcoming, or rather learning to cope with emotional eating is VERY hard work.
We must stay consistent in our dedication to the work.
Be honest and true with ourself.
Forgive and have patience with ourself.
Patience not only with ourself, but also with the amount of time it takes to change an ingrained habit.
There is so much that I want to share to help on your path to understanding and coping with emotional eating. For now let’s focus on 3 steps to overcome emotional eating that you can take to help you get started.
Get your personal journal handy whether that’s a notes section on your phone, a word document on your computer, or good ole fashioned pencil and paper (my fave 😉).
If you don’t have a personal journal yet, then that’s your first step, because it is about to become your best friend and partner in crime on this journey!
3 Steps to Overcome Emotional Eating by Helping You Better Understand and Cope with Emotional Eating
Step #1
Identify the Specific Emotions. Over the next week start to identify and write down the specific emotions that lead to emotional eating for you. Is it stress? Boredom? Happiness?
When you are ready, you can take it a step further and write down what events, people, environments, etc. triggered the emotion in each instance.
This practice will help identify trends and help you become more aware of what is going on. Eventually, you will even find yourself stopping before the eating part happens.
You’ll be having a few ‘ah ha’ moments I promise!
Step #2
Identify the Intended Effect of Eating. Identify what you are hoping the food will do for you when you emotionally eat? Then, when you emotionally eat, take a moment to acknowledge if doing so actually did accomplish what you hoped it would? Did it make you feel better? Does it soothe how you are feeling? Did it distract you?
If so, identify how long the effect lasted? What feelings or emotions followed over time?
Now give yourself major props for taking the time to explore what is behind your emotional eating so you can evolve and grow from the experience! It is about learning over time. Remember, it is hard work that takes time. Be sure to be kind to yourself and forgiving along the way.
Step #3
Identify the Emotional Food of Choice. Finally, take a moment and think if there is a go-to food of choice that you turn to when you emotionally eat? That is, is there a food that you have less control over? You know, the one food item that lingers in the freezer, fridge or cupboard that’s constantly calling your name until it is gone…. so we just finish it all in one sitting to get it out of the house… yeah, that one.
Why is it in your house? Whatever thought just popped in as to why this particular food item is in your house….is….. wait for it….. a big ole excuse. I truly do not like the word “excuse”, so harsh, but sometimes we just have to call it as it is. Not having it in your house doesn’t mean you can’t have it again, but for now, put it in timeout. Have it when you go out to eat, on special occasions, or buy a single serving when you get the hankering. Do the work to get a firmer understanding of your emotional eating habits and your relationship with that particular food better. Then you can let it back into the house more regularly. After the timeout you may find some foods can come back in while others remain on your ‘no fly’ list for good.
If you feel having a real live accountability and support buddy as well as a sounding board who can help guide you would be beneficial to help you stay consistent, kind, and true with yourself, please reach out. Click here to schedule a discovery meeting with me to learn more about how we may be able to support you. That is what I do along with my team of Nutrition Coaches. We can have your back every step of the way and be someone you can open yourself to helping to make this experience more manageable. Maybe even speed up the process just a bit.
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