- Emotional Eating

Have you heard about those folks who head straight for the kitchen when they feel emotionally unsettled? Typically, they don’t grab an apple or ¼ cup of almonds, they reach for the potato chips, ice cream and Twinkies. Filling the belly with food won’t satisfy the emptiness in the soul. Learning to cope with what triggers emotional eating is the best way to work out of emotional eating.

If you tend to eat when you’re emotionally unsettled, try this. Sit down and write down what you’re feeling while simultaneously munching on that box of double chocolate fudge donuts. Yep, keep a spiral notebook in the kitchen. Promise yourself that until you’re able to work out of emotional eating, at least you’ll keep a record of what triggers it. I’m not saying to skip the teat - at least not a first. Also, don’t be concerned with feeling guilty about what or how much you’re eating. Just get into the habit of writing down your thoughts and feelings during that time.

So, when you feel the need to feed reach for that spiral notebook! Write down what you’re feeling at that moment and then read all of your previous entries. If you still want the not so wholesome foods, go for it. But I believe that by the time you write down what's currently bothering you and then read a few of your entries, you’ll have a good idea as to what triggers your emotional eating. Odds are you'll then have the "umph" to skip eating and go do something productive, or you'll at least choose a wholesome food.

This practice simply affords you the time to reason before you reach for food to feed your soul. You'll have a few moments in which to read about what has unsettled you, and thus consider ways to genuinely cope with your emotional issues. It helps towards making a lifestyle change to kick the emotional eating habit. If you try this, I’d like to hear about it!