Eliminating Emotional Eating
Emotional eating can be a huge hurdle when it comes to losing weight. That's why you were asked to evaluate your relationship with food when you first started the Best Life Challenge, and why you were introduced to the Hunger Scale, a tool that can help you distinguish true, physical hunger from emotionally driven cravings. If you've been using the hunger scale, you may be getting a feel for when things like stress, boredom or loneliness drive you to eat. When you find yourself in these situations, it can be helpful to find a healthy distraction. Need some suggestions? Try one or more of these techniques whenever you have the urge to nibble for emotional reasons:
• Punch in. Set a timer for five to 20 minutes and during that time, think about how you're feeling, and even jot it down in a journal, says Best Life Advisor Adrian Brown, Ph.D., a psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, D.C., and associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center.
• Make a list. Jot down five relaxing things you can do instead of eating, such as taking a bubble bath, reading a book, calling a friend, surfing the Web and doing a yoga video, says Brown. Keep the list on hand, so you can engage in one of these activities when you get the urge to eat when you're not truly hungry.
• Talk to yourself. The next time your stress levels soar and you find yourself en route to the vending machine, try to reason with yourself, Brown suggests. Say, "If I eat that bag of candy or chips, I'm going to feel good for a few minutes, but then I will feel guilty, disappointed and frustrated. If I can deny this craving, it will hurt for a little while, but I am strong. It won't kill me. When the feeling passes and I return to my desk empty-handed, I will feel really good and happy. My confidence will improve, and I will feel that I have control of my weight and health." Basically, you have to remind yourself that it's OK to feel a little deprived because you've forbidden yourself from having something. It's better than the alternative: Feeling discouraged and hopeless because you can't achieve your weight-loss goals. It will get easier to say no to tempting foods once you get used to the feel of success.
• Remind yourself of your goals. It's a good idea to keep a written list of the reasons you want to lose weight with you in your purse or wallet. They can serve as a powerful reminder when you're tempted to go off track. So jot down a quick list of a few things (I want to be around to see my grandkids; I want to look nice at my son's wedding; I want to have enough energy to keep up with my children) and refer to it whenever you need.
Remember, switching from food to other outlets isn't easy or seamless. Reaching for food has become a deep-seated habit; you have a well-worn groove in the brain that responds quickly to food. Now, you have to create a new groove by practicing these coping techniques over and over again. At first you may not get the emotional pay-off that you get from food, but eventually these techniques will work, so keep at it!
