Are You an Emotional Eater?
Do you eat more when you’re feeling stressed? Do you eat to feel better hoping to calm yourself when you’re sad or anxious? Stress, isolation, and sadness are often sources of emotional eating.
Emotional Eating Tips
- Triggers. Begin by identifying your triggers. Do you eat late at night, after a disagreement or when you get anxious? What are your triggers?
- Alternatives to emotional eating. When you feel like eating choose another behavior such as taking a walk or doing some yoga stretches. Email or text a friend or play with your dog or cat. Watch a show you love or a wonderful video.
- Keep inventory. If you really need to eat keep healthy choices on hand. Some great choices are almonds, popcorn, apples, carrots or bananas.
- Stop ignoring your feelings. When you experience powerful emotions sit down, take a deep breath and become aware of your feelings. Listen to a guided imagery you love that you can keep on your phone. I love Belleruth Naparstek’s guided imagery downloads and have used them for years. She has guided imagery tapes for every imaginable emotion.