Simple Tips to Overcome Emotional Eating

Let’s face it…we all eat emotionally; the challenge is how we manage it?

The holiday season often brings many challenges on how to quell the urge to give in to over-indulging on all the culinary temptations holiday gatherings bring. And of course we want to enjoy ourselves and partake in the holiday fun, although I want to share with you some tips that you can use not just for the holiday season, but for the New Year to come.

1) Slow Down, Drink Water and The 80/20 Rule. The two biggest challenges for people is portion control and managing cravings. A lot of people might tell you that it’s all about willpower, although while in “the eye of the storm” this might be easier said than done.
Some of the tips we recommend are to drink plenty of water throughout the day, to eat slow and implement the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule dictates to eat until you are 80% full. This allows your digestion to catch up, and within 20 minutes after eating you will be noticeably satisfied, but not overly full.

2) Stay in Touch With Your Feelings…Stay Present. Especially in the hurried and stressful holiday season, we tend to go through the day in a blind blur, not keeping in touch with our feelings and emotional reactions to events of the day. This is one of the biggest reasons for ‘emotional eating’ where before we know it we have taken a ‘simple snack’ past the point of no return.

Check in with your feelings throughout the day; ask yourself how you are feeling. Allow this to become a new pattern and with implementing any new pattern we could use a little help. Utilize your schedule to help out; maybe when you are driving to work, having a meal, hopping in the shower – pick consistent things you do every day and couple these times with an emotional check in.

3) Examine Your Cravings. Cravings are one of the biggest challenges, and we often give into them without even giving it a thought. Well, think about it. Before acting or reacting to a craving, ask yourself what the source of the craving is. By just the time it takes to examine the source, often separates you from the emotional connection.

4) Shift Your Focus- Don’t allow yourself to become a deer in the headlights, with that temptation locking you in. When you find a craving or temptation grabbing a hold of you…get out of the headlights, walk away or visually change your focus to something else, a picture on the wall, a scene out the window, or begin a new conversation, far removed from food.

Let’s make this a healthy and happy holiday season, preparing ourselves for an even greater and healthier New Year. For more information on how we can help you cruise through holiday temptations poised to take on the New Year, give us a shout.