Emotional Eating

This week, I am going to talk about mindset around eating! 

When it comes to binge eating, we need to analyze the underlying emotion that lies under what we do and why we do what we do. Binge or emotional eating is a secondary response to a primary emotion. It is rarely hunger, but it definitely feels like it.

After some time, your brain start to associate food with being comforted or numbed from the pain, stress or discomfort that is going on. So in order to make you feel comforted, the next time you are suffering it tells you to eat. However, this is a stress or panic response. It is your response or your body’s response of band-aiding over what is going on under the surface.

Now, you may not want to delve deep into what is really going on under the surface every time you feel hungry because you will avoid the issues even more, and probably emotional eat even more.

 

The aim of exercises for this week is to take away the need for food as a coping or distracting mechanism. The beauty is that because you have conditioned you body to respond this way, you are able to teach your body to respond in a different way!

 

Please note that it won't happen right way, as this is often a habit that has been created, and habits are by nature, subconscious patterns that are hard to break. But it is doable! The more consistent you are with changing your behaviours around eating, the faster they will become new habits and the faster you will stop using eating as a coping mechanism for underlying feelings. 

This week, I am going to break this topic down into 3 modules, and for each module you will have tasks to complete. By the end of this, you will be able to identify where you can increase your self respect, and you will notice why certain things haven’t happened for you yet.

 

The first thing you need to do is to commit to working on these tasks. Even if it may take several attempts. Practice makes perfect, and the most important thing is that you continue to put in the conscious effort until it becomes subconscious.

Don’t get caught up on how many times you slip up. That is almost inevitable. Acknowledge that a habit often isn’t broken overnight, and you wont feel so down if you have one or many slip ups. Beating down on yourself for a slip up will make the way back to your path of recovery harder.

This is just your subconscious mind’s pattern making you do what you have always done. It’s not something to feel angry at yourself for. Patience is king.

YOUR

 MINDSET 

TASKS

 

TASK ONE

Create a time-out moment when the cravings arise. The reason 
people give into their cravings is because it feels like such an 
intense and overwhelming feeling that is taking over their every 
thought, so in order to get back to behaving and thinking normally 
they just must give into their cravings. They feel consumed. But the 
mind and body cannot sustain these intense feelings for a prolong 
period of time. It takes too much energy to do that, so instead it 
happens in waves. Understand that when you are going through an 
intense craving, that is a temporary wave, and you should ride it.

 

ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING........

1-HAVE I EATEN ENOUGH TODAY TO SUPPORT MYSELF?

2- IS IT POSSIBLE TO WAIT 10 MINUTES BEFORE GIVING INTO MY CRAVINGS?

3- HAVE I HAD ENOUGH WATER TODAY?

 

TASK TWO

Replace the outlet

Find something that can be a replacement or a distraction from these intense 
feelings and cravings. Everyone is different and each day something different may 
work for you. It could be a simple 10 minute walk outside, calling and speaking to a 
friend, putting on your favorite playlist / podcast, Netflix show and just sitting there 
for 10 minutes, or even 10 squat jumps. All these things I just mentioned will release 
feel good neurochemicals that will soften the intensity of the cravings, and because 
you are feeling better, you are not as likely to need the bandaid in that momenT.

 

In order to tame the intense cravings and even overcome them, create a list of at least 5 replacement behaviours you can practice. Have this list accessible at all times so you can access it when you most need it.

1_____________________________________

 

2_____________________________________

 

3_____________________________________

 

4_____________________________________

 

5_____________________________________

 

TASK THREE

Mindful eating

If you find that when you do emotional eat, you eat much larger quantities than necessary (i.e. you eat past 
the point of hunger but only realize after) then try engaging in mindful eating. Break it down into steps. 
 Before eating, remove all distractions (tv, phone, reading, games etc.) make it 
JUST you and the meal. 
 Serve the portion and put the rest of the food away BEFORE you start eating. 
(Create barriers to you eating more without thinking) 
 SIT down to eat. Do not stand as it gives you a false sense of urgency, where you 
feel you need to rush through it. 
 When eating, try to keep your focus on the meal. Keep checking in, noting all 
the smells, taste, texture and temperature of the food. 
 Put your cutlery down in between mouthfuls to give you more time. 
If you can implement these things your awareness will be heightened around what 
you are eating and how it is making you feel. By eating slower you will allow yourself 
to listen to your body’s signals of hunger and you will learn when to stop. Because 
the process of eating is now a conscious one, you no longer hijack the experience by 
unintentionally eating twice the amount. Create these boundaries and see if it helps 
you control your portions and minimise binge or emotional eating.