Top Tips to Avoid Emotional Eating
Remember life before Coronavirus?
Remember when staying home and watching Netflix felt like a treat?
When the idea of being forced to have some ‘down time’ was amazing?
For some, staying home and isolating has been a positive experience; a time of rest, family togetherness and regeneration. But for others, it is a hugely stressful experience with many losing their livelihoods, missing loved ones or feeling alone and anxious.
Either way, isolation means we’re home a lot more than we ordinarily would be, and often that means eating more because we’re cooking more or are simply bored.
After four weeks, we’re becoming more accepting of this situation and, in turn, we have begun to settle into our ‘new routines’.
NOW is the perfect time to revisit your healthy eating and fitness goals. No more socialising, dining out and also more time to exercise, prepare and plan your meals.
Here are my tips to curb emotional eating at this time:
1. Own your feelings
Stress, worry and fear, can all trigger an increase in comfort eating. Try to sit with those feelings, and don’t use food as a coping mechanism. Other than an initial, brief dopamine hit, nothing good will come of over-eating to deal with emotions.
2. Don't wait for the munchies to hit
Structure and routine are your best friends during difficult times. Plan to eat every 2-3 hours; breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner. This stops us from overeating at meal times and helps control cravings. Do not Skip meals! If you do, you will feel hungrier later and be more tempted to raid the pantry.
3. Audit your pantry
Get those trigger foods out of the house, only buy what you need for the meals you plan to make and ingredients you’ll need for healthy snacks.
4. Hunger vs appetite
Recognise the difference between being physiologically hungry as opposed to seeing food and stimulating ‘appetite’. Hunger is a physical state of being, when a growling stomach alerts the brain that food is required for sustenance. Appetite is usually triggered by the smell, sight or taste of food – but is not connected to a state of hunger. Learn to identify the difference.
5. Keep a Journal
Writing down your feelings and reflecting on your day allows you to track personal patterns of behaviour that get in the way of having a healthy relationship with yourself and with food. When food becomes our main coping mechanism a food journal can help identify any negative eating habits that need to be addressed.
6. Practise self-care
Carving out some ‘me time’ and incorporating regular exercise into your daily routine will leave you feeling healthier and more emotionally clear.
7. Eat mindfully
Listen to your physical hunger cues, avoid eating while you are distracted. Take small bites, eat slowly and chew thoroughly. By eating mindfully and engaging your senses you begin to restore your attention to the meal, making eating an intentional, conscious act, as opposed to an automatic one.
8. Set short-term realistic goals
This helps maintain your motivation to stay on track. A step-by-step, day-by-day approach can help give you a clear plan to achieve what otherwise may feel too overwhelming.
9. Drink a glass of water before and after every meal
This instantly reduces hunger levels. Often when we think we are hungry, our body is actually telling us it is becoming dehydrated.
10. Seek Support
We are social beings who crave connection, reach out to a trusted friend or a health care professional, who can help keep you accountable.
11. Believe in yourself