Buy Meal.com - Guide to Good Food

20 Ways to Overcome Emotional Eating

Email 50 Million Daily - FREE!

Do you find the minute you?re at home alone you reach for the chocolate bars or tub of ice-cream? When things get stressful at work do you find yourself eating more take away and comfort food? You could be an emotional eater which means that instead of eating out of hunger; you eat in an attempt to soothe your emotions. Interestingly these habits can become so unconscious that you may not realize that you may be eating for emotional reasons such as boredom, loneliness or anxiety.

In our society ?having a pig out?s is often associated with festivities, celebrations and fun. However, many studies suggest that 75 per cent of overeating is due to emotional eating.

Here are 20 top ways to overcome emotional eating:

1. Well known Australian Medical Herbalist, Miriam Young says that emotional eating is often fear-based and may be connected with low self-esteem.

For example if you eat lots of sweet food you may be trying to avoid your feelings and compensate for the fact that your life is ?sweet less?. Miriam says ask yourself, ?What is it that you are thinking before you open that packet of biscuits? What is the emotion you are trying to avoid? What if you sat with the feeling and allowed it to surface, and observed the sensation/feeling without judgment.?

By accepting those feelings a shift usually occurs.

2. Young says eating junk foods or comfort foods deplete the body of nutrients so that you end up craving more of those types of foods but are still left feeling unsatisfied and malnourished. Regularly detoxifying the body, eating from a wide variety of organic whole foods and taking organic colloidal mineral deficiencies and food cravings.

3. From a psychological perspective you can also observe your behaviours and increase you awareness. Does you emotional eating follow a pattern? Do you eat ?junk on the run? at lunch or do you fast all day and feast at night?

4. Ask yourself: Am I stuffing my face in order to stuff the feelings down as well? Look at what is stressing you out. Can you resolve the issue right now? If not, then what can you do in the mean- time to deal with those feelings? It?s time to creatively brain storm.

5. When you let yourself feel the emotions rather than reach for the comfort foods you are also delaying the immediate gratification of food. This is like retraining the body and mind. Get to know yourself by asking: What am I feeling right now? Where do I feel that in my body? Can you draw a picture or play a song to describe what it feels like inside?

6. Create a food journal (you can even use your creative ability to decorate it) so that you can work out what times of the day and in what situations you feel strong emotions or comfort eat. Write with a pen to express from your heart or you can type up a journal on the computer.

7. Assess whether you are you emotionally or physically hungry? Ask yourself if you?re really hungry. Rate your hunger on a scale of 1-10.

8. Oprah?s personal trainer Bob Greene says to help distinguish emotional hunger from physical hunger, you can ?delay your eating past your normal meal times to experience the actual sensation of physical hunger?. You may feel anxiety to start with but say with it and over time it will pass. He suggests consulting a health professional first if you have a condition such as diabetes.

9. Once you have increased your awareness and assessed the situation, you can work on some self-soothing tips. Before you go to the fridge or a fast food joint, stop, breathe and listen. Slow breathing can help you to tune into how you are feeling and help to let go of tension.

10. Create a pleasure list of all the things you like to do or have always wanted to do in order to build a connection with you. Go out to see a musical show or play, treat yourself to a massage, buy yourself a bunch of flowers, learn a new activity like playing an instrument or horse riding.

11. You could call a friend. This may sound like a game show crisis strategy, but to start with just calling someone you know who is supportive can be helpful and may develop into a reciprocal buddy system.

12. What things help you to relax and tune in to yourself? What about an aromatherapy bath and some soft music? If this isn?t your bag, then what about getting outdoors in nature?

13. What helps you to let go? Do you find that you?re always trying to be the perfect family member, parent and employee? However, dealing with emotions requires the opposite of trying it requires an ability to let go and let the emotions wash over you.

14. Start taking a stroll and build up to a longer walk. Walking releases endorphins (your body?s natural happy drugs). Once you?re out there walking, you may find that you feel energized and less emotionally distressed and may even forget about eating.

15. There are also some basic tips if you are starting to use food as a crutch. Try not to eat in front of the TV to prevent the ?hand-mouth phenomena?.

16. Chew your food, eat slowly and mindfully, which allows the stomach to register that it feels full. Bob Greene believes that TV denies us the pleasure of the actual eating experience.

17. Similarly, don?t buy food in bulk, or have high fat, sugary foods in the house all the time, because you?ll eat in bulk and that may lead to weight gain and health problems over time. Make sensible snack choices, such as popcorn instead of chips, yogurt instead of ice-cream or herbal tea instead of a hot chocolate.

18. Give up the overeating dieting cycle and find a happy medium. Don?t go to the extreme, which is often based on ?all or nothing? thinking patterns.

If you just eat carrots for weeks you may eat more junk over time and send yourself packing on a guilt trip. Find healthy and realistic foods to eat and enjoy some foods that you find tasty in small amounts.

19. After putting these strategies in place for few weeks review your behaviours.

You?ll know when you haven?t really dealt with the issues associated with emotional eating when you swap food for something else like alcohol or gambling.

Counselling or other holistic therapies can assist when you feel stuck in this addiction cycle.

20. You could also join a support group to make you more aware of links between emotions and binge eating on the comfort foods. You may be able to support others too once you?ve managed your own eating and emotional behaviours.

It?s the simple things that matter

At the end of the day, breaking old patterns requires making a commitment, turning into yourself and being consistent.

Think before you open the pantry, lolly jar or fridge.

Pre-plan nutritious and satisfying meals and you will be less likely to spiral out of control when life throws a challenge your way. Don?t beat yourself up if you fall back into old habits, instead try and identify the patterns in your behaviour that led you down the binge-eating path in the first place Don?t be afraid to ask for help from those around you. As a wise teacher once said, ?A journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step?

If you would like more in depth ideas about women lifestyle, please visit my website. ( health care beauty - Women lifestyle )

Email 50 Million Daily - FREE!

MORE ARTICLES:

Copycat Restaurant Recipes - Great Recipes At Your Fingertips
When you have had enough of lining your favorite restaurants pockets with your money, you can serve the same food at home using a copycat restaurant recipe. Instead of putting your hard earned cash into their coffers, you can add it to your savings for something special that your whole family can enjoy for longer than a quick meal. You will be amazed at the savings you will accumulate when you use a copycat restaurant recipe instead of dining out.

BigHoller Inaugurates Online Ordering Restaurant Dining Guide - I Must Eat
With a robust directory of over 600,000 restaurant listings and the ability to contour search results by details -- including geographical area, cuisine and whether the restaurant accepts online orders and online reservations -- I Must Eat (www.IMustEat.com) offers something for everyone looking to discover new meal experiences, while simplifying the search and order process.

Italian Restaurant, Antonino's, Ranked Top In Inland Empire By Major Food Critic
?Antonino's in Rancho Cucamonga is one of those fine dining restaurants that lots of the locals know about but those outside of the area are not familiar with. It is one of the top Italian restaurants in the Inland Empire,? states Allan Borgen,

New Ice Scoop Ensures Safe Handling, Food Safety at Restaurants and Bars
The new San Jamar Saf-T-Scoop? & Guardian System ensures safe ice handling at restaurants and bars. Food safety in the food service industry is a legitimate concern, as a recent study found more than one out of every five samples of ice contains high levels of bacteria.

Authentic Northern Vietnam Cooking Recipes in Hanoi?s High-end Restaurant
With fluorescent lights bleaching the steel surfaces and plumes of scented smoke rising from shing copper pots, this could be anyone of the bustling kitchens in Hanoi?s high-end restaurants But at KOTO (which stands for Know One, Teach One), creating tantalising dishes is only one of the restaurant?s aims

Healthy Cooking Does Not Mean Eating Bland And Boring Food
Eating healthy should always be a priority. Healthy eating can be accomplished by simply changing eating habits and changing the methods you use to cook. There is no need to cook bland or boring dishes, many options are available. Understanding the flavors your dishes use means eating well and feeling well.

More Fast Food Restaurants Are Using Security Camera Systems To Protect Their Business
Often, a thief or a robber would like to attack a place, which is easier to be looted easily. Because, even these evils also know that most of the places now are covered with round the clock surveillance through security cameras. Moreover, they would not want to select a location, where they are likely to face difficulties in running when the police alarm goes on. Therefore, these thieves are contemplating new options and ideas to accomplish their evil task.

From Food Software, To Restaurant Software, To Catering Software
Running a catering business or a restaurant is not a small task. Being in this industry not only includes cooking food but much more than that. A good caterer needs to possess distinguished qualities of an accountant, a manager, a marketer, a sales person, and a bill collector. Being an expert in all these fields is simply impractical for any single person. And this is where catering software tools come in and play multi purpose tasks for a caterer. According to one estimate, catering industry in the US alone is at around a whooping $5 billion per year. As a caterer needs to perform a number of tasks such as cooking, serving and managing, catering software will generally range from all types of food software to restaurant accounting, and ge...

Organic Food Recipes And Your Eating And Dietary Lifestyles
Although some people would like to go organic and lead a healthier lifestyle, they find themselves stopped by a few things. Among these little stumbling blocks in their paths to going organic, are things like the cost of organic foods, the ready unavailability of organic foods, as well as the little fact that they will also need to find organic food recipes to go with their new lifestyle.

Historical Restaurant Mirrors Change In Los Angeles' Food And Drink Scene
Los Angeles' noted Brown Derby restaurant played host to many stars during Hollywood's 'Golden Age.' The eatery was an example of novelty architecture, as it was built to resemble a brown derby hat. The Brown Derby was the first restaurant to serve chiffon cake, a recipe invented by an insurance salesman and later given wide distribution by Betty Crocker.

Toronto Restaurants Famed for Best Food Styling
Toronto is a place famous for its unique food styles and eminent eating out places. One can take the utmost delight in trying out its popular cuisines namely Italian, Chinese and Greek cuisines. For one thing you would not have to take any pains or put in extra effort looking out for the food you are interested in. Besides this, here you will not have people telling you the must try delicacies, as one can easily plan out and enjoy ones own little food hunt. While on a trip to Toronto there are certain places you should not miss out on. Toronto restaurants are known for their ambience, tranquility and their own different styling of food. To start with, Pangaea restaurant on the famous Bay Street is a must visit place, beautifully struc...

Food Poisoning in Fast Food Restaurants
With the advent of fast food chains, and the ever-increasing pace of our lifestyle, it has actually been very much convenient to order food to go on any fast food establishments.

Healthy Eating And Super Food - 3 Food Categories That Help Burn Fat
I'm wondering if you're already aware of what I'm about to share with you? There is some good news for people trying to lose fat and slim down to a healthier and more attractive lifestyle: there are actually foods you can eat with will burn fat for you with any effort on your part. Even better, they can easily be assimilated into any diet; in fact, you may already be eating them on a regular basis and not even know it.

Restaurants And Food Allergies...a Problem?
Why don?t restaurants know what ingredients are in their food?