Do you eat to relieve stress? Out of boredom? Or for any other reason outside of hunger? Emotional eating is one of the most common reasons women struggle to lose body fat.
Do you ever feel like you have no control? You know you aren’t hungry, but you keep eating anyway. It makes you feel better until…
it doesn’t.
Instead, you just feel worse.
Feeling bloated, stuffed and wondering “why did I eat all of that?!?
New here? Thanks for stopping by or welcome back. After you read this blog, be sure to check out some of my other articles for women over 50 who want to lose body fat, build muscle, create phenomenal bodies they love.
What is emotional eating?
Keeping it simple, emotional eating is about eating for any reason other than in response to hunger.
We all eat for reasons other than hunger from time to time. It’s normal. Occasionally eating to relieve stress or celebrate and even just because IT TASTES GOOD is normal and it isn’t harmful to your fitness goals.
What if it happens every day or several times a week?
What are common signs of emotional eating?
- Eating to deal with a stressful situation
- Using food as a reward. Thinking “I deserve this for completing the big assignment at work” or “I deserve this for getting through this rough day”.
- Eating to fill a void, like to soothe feelings of loneliness or boredom.
How can you stop emotional eating before it starts?
Do you know what triggers your emotional eating?
Is it more likely to be brought on by stress, boredom, loneliness or even feelings of happiness?
Once you know your triggers, you can devise a plan that can help you “stop” emotional eating before it starts.
Know your trigger
For most of us the same triggers send us on this rollercoaster of eating to feel good which only ends in…
us feeling bad (often physically and emotionally).
For me, two situations are almost sure to send me to the pantry looking for something to eat.
- a stressful situation
- lack of sleep
What are your triggers? Knowing what those situations look like and when they are likely to strike is the first step to stopping them from taking control.
Have a plan
Now that you know when you are most at risk of that uncontrollable urge to eat, you can create a plan so you are prepared.
Let’s take a look at an example.
Karen eats when she is stressed
Karen knows stress is a major contributor to her emotional eating. She has a big project due at the end of the week. She also knows she’ll be up late working diligently to meet that deadline.
The combination of stress and late nights (ie. lack of sleep) is sure to turn into an emotional eating scenario…
if she doesn’t prepare for it.
Karen's plan
Karen decides to:
- prepare healthy grab and go snacks that she can eat throughout the day so she doesn’t get too hungry. With a lack of sleep, she knows she will not have the willpower to say no to those quick “junk food” snacks in her panty.
- prepare several dinners for the week in advance so all she has to do is heat and eat.
- keep all junk food out of sight and out of reach – no temptations!
- do her best at getting 7 – 8 hours of sleep. She knows she’ll be more productive if she is well-rested. She’ll also be able to control those urges to eat “junk” better when she is more rested.
- ask her family for support
What if emotional eating sneaks up on you?
You may be thinking, “Well, these are all great if you can really plan for that stressful situation. What if you don’t see it coming?”
You’re right. More times than not, we don’t know we are going to be stressed tomorrow. So how do we plan for those days?
In these cases, your plan is more general.
For example, think about what you can do if you feel stressed NOW.
The leftovers from dinner, still warm in the refrigerator, and you’re already reaching for that bowl of chips. Sound familiar?
You may even say to yourself, “I’m not really hungry. I just want this.”
Stop. Do something else. If we can walk away from the situation, we have a better likelihood of not turning to food when we aren’t hungry.
- Walk to the mailbox.
- Do a load of laundry.
- Read a book for 15 minutes.
- Call a friend or family member.
Even things as simple as brush your teeth, or wash your face can help. The more you can establish a routine or habit the easier it gets.
I hope some of these ideas make you better prepared for the next time you find yourself about to embark on an emotional eating binge.