Emotional eating is a trap that anyone can fall into. If you find yourself eating when you aren’t hungry, it might not be because of boredom. You may be stressed or lonely. A lack of affection, love, and quiet time can drive even the strongest people to indulge in emotional eating.
How to Prevent Emotional Eating
While these tips won’t deal with the emotion behind your eating, it may help you reassess the way you think about eating.
Are you really hungry?
Close your eyes and rate your hunger, using a scale of 1 to 10. Unless you’re hitting a seven or an eight, you shouldn’t eat. Instead drink a glass of water. Ask your why you were feeling hungry. What is it that you’re craving, because if its comfort food there’s likely an emotional reason driving it.
Are you thirsty?
This is frequently the most frequent reason we feel hungry; our bodies are actually in need of hydration. How much water should we drink every day? Half of your body weight. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water a day.
Are you lonely?
This is the biggest drive toward overeating. We turn to food to nourish ourselves and it’s the most obvious way we can fill ourselves up. When you’re lonely you are craving intimacy, interaction, or friendship. One of our most basic needs is human interaction.
WebMD suggests that discovering the emotion that is triggering the problem will assist in reducing the problem.
Healthy Choices
You should always take time when eating- slow it down so that your body has time to let you know when its full. This will prevent overeating and leave you feeling satiated. Additionally, multitasking increases stress- so at meal times, focus only on your meal. Allow yourself to enjoy the aroma of the meal, and the texture of the various foods on your plate.
Think about what you’re eating, because fatty foods aren’t the only ones that make us feel better. The Mediterranean diet is associated with less depression and revolves around olive oil, vegetables, and fruits.
Other mood boosting foods include walnuts, salmon, tuna, herring, and any food containing Omega-3 fatty acids. According to WebMD, we should surround ourselves with healthy options.
Lonely or Alone?
Before other people can make you happy, you must learn to make yourself happy. Putting pressure on someone else to make you happy is overwhelming, so listen to your body and learn about you. That is the difference between lonely, and alone.
You should surround yourself with uplifting and inspiring people and focus on building friendships with people that naturally build you up. Essentially, you should build a community of like-minded people.
You may feel that you are hungry, but you could be devoid of energy- getting a good night’s sleep is vital to healthy eating. People who have a struggle with sleep are more likely to choose fatty, comfort foods the following day. Taking 15 minutes out to lay down could be all you need. You may need physical affection; you can find that through acupuncture or massage.
If, after all of that, you still find yourself feeling hungry, consider what food your body needs versus what your mind or emotions desire.
Eating Mindfully
Preparing your own food is a great act of self-love, because you’re investing in your health. Once you’ve prepared your meal sit down to eat it. It’s good for your digestion, and increases your pleasure in the experience.
Take time to enjoy the sights and smells on the plate in front of you. It’s vitally important that you take your time- eating too quickly can cause overeating and indigestion. If you struggle to take your time, try putting your fork down between bites.
If you live alone and don’t have company to enjoy, don’t be tempted to turn the TV on. Instead choose to eat in silence and pay attention to the food you are eating.
