Emotional Eating: Exploring Your Relationship with Food
Have you ever felt stressed?
If I was face-to-face with you right now, I should hear an astounding and emphatic ‘YES!’
In our current state of the world, we are asked to do more with less. We are asked to be more but made to feel lesser. We are reprimanded when we don’t reach goals that are assumed we could reach. We may feel neglect at work, at home, and in our heads. We may feel like there’s more that we could do but not enough resources to get the job done.
Just me?
I don’t believe you.
Women report higher levels of stress than men (not discounting the feelings of men but we’re focusing on women). Women are also more likely to report physical and emotional symptoms of stress than men including headaches and upset stomachs. So naturally how do we, as women, take care of this?
Then there’s the topic of willpower. While men and women report willpower as the #1 issue to change, women are more likely than men to say that lack of willpower also has prevented them from changing their eating habits. But of course remember when we talked about willpower?
Unfortunately, we choose easy ways out, like eating our feelings to feel control. It’s an immediate relief when we stress eat. It becomes something to do. For those who feel empty, it’s a way to try to fill that void with something yummy and physically filling. Women tend to emotionally eat to help with stressors. Women also report eating too much or more unhealthy foods far more than men.
Well let’s think about when we start feeling this sudden urge to eat. When you start feeling bad, you may feel like you need to consume something-anything. Kind of like a smoker feeling that urge to smoke at the onset of a stressful situation. You get this craving that’s hard to stop.
So how do we take care of ourselves and prevent this issue of not being able to heal our relationship with food? It’s not a quick and easy process but these tips will help you on your journey:
Food Diary: keep one. Write down what you eat. Write down how much you eat. Write down when you eat. Most importantly, write down how you feel when you’re feeling that craving. After awhile, you’ll see patterns of behavior and even triggers to your emotional eating. Being aware of your emotions will help you make connections between how you feel and what you eat.
Take care of your stress: Feeling that stress? Try to find a way to divert the negative energy by doing yoga, breathing exercises, meditation. The trick is to find something that works for you and your schedule. Please don’t get overwhelmed by trying to manage your stress. Take it slow and try something on a consistent basis for at least a month. Frequency doesn’t have to be every day, just consistent so it works for your life.
Mindful hunger checks: if you just ate, do you really need to eat again? Do you feel hunger pangs or are you just bored?
Find your support system: is it family? Is it friends? Maybe even co workers? No matter who, even just reaching out to vent your stress can help with emotionally eating.
Boredom: Find something else to do instead of snacking. Are you literally in the kitchen as you’re reading this? Maybe take a quick walk instead. Is it raining so you can’t walk? YouTube some yoga, have a dance party, watch a movie, do a load of laundry (because you know you have a pile stacking up).
Take away the super-tough-to-put down foods from your pantry.
But don’t go hungry: choose satisfying amounts of food.
Healthy snacks: fruits and veggies are givens but did you know choosing something like unbuttered popcorn and nuts are good choices too?
Don’t be so hard on yourself: did you cave? Don’t worry about it. We’re all human and slipping up and eating to take care of your emotions happens. Positive changes happen when you realize that you’ve diverted from your path and learning from those instances can help you move forward.
S.O.S.: I will always say this. ASKING FOR HELP IS OK. If you can’t recover and you’re finding yourself in a much deeper place, ask for help.
If you’re feeling like you are ready to ask for help with managing your stress or enhancing your emotional wellness overall, reach out to Kerri! She offers free 30 minute calls that are just for you!