Eat to fuel your body NOT to feed your emotions
Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest when you’re lost in the trees. And sometimes, if you are lost in the forest, you might be so intent on finding your way home, that you overlook important details that could make your escape a whole lot easier.
That’s what I think happens to so many men and especially women who want to stop overeating or intend to lose weight.
This is the major reason why so many diets fail!
Eating may feel good in the moment, but the feelings that triggered the eating are still there.
And you often feel worse than you did before because of the unnecessary calories you’ve just consumed.
We don’t always eat just to satisfy hunger, we turn to food to relieve stress or cope with unpleasant emotions such as sadness, loneliness, or boredom etc.
But, Wait! After over eating, we feel even worse.
Does Emotional Eating Help us in any way?
Does Emotional Eating heal our Emotional Issues?
Does Emotional Eating satisfy physical hunger?
Does Emotional Eating satisfy Emotional Needs?
The Answer is Obviously a No!!
Because not only does the original emotional issues remain, but we also feel guilty for overeating.
Occasionally using food as a Pick me up, a Reward, or to Celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But when eating is your primary emotional coping mechanism — when your first impulse is to open the refrigerator or call for junk, unhealthy, cheesy, sugary, spicy, aerated foods and drinks whenever you’re stressed, upset, angry, lonely, exhausted, or bored — you get stuck in an unhealthy viscous cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed!
Dealing with stress in a better way is the key to breaking cycle of stress eating.
No matter how powerless you feel over food cravings, you can change your emotional eating habits that have sabotaged your diet in the past.
Once you take a breath and realize that there are other solutions to stress besides rampant snacking, you’re on your way to overcoming emotional eating for good.
Let’s identify are you an emotional eater? By identifying difference between Physical and Emotional Hunger!
You can and finally put a stop to emotional eating.
Emotional hunger can be powerful, so it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger.
But there are clues you can look for to help you tell physical and emotional hunger apart.
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly:
It hits you in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent.
Physical hunger: On the other hand, comes on more gradually.
The urge to eat doesn’t feel as dire or demand instant satisfaction (unless you haven’t eaten for a very long time).
Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods: cravings include junk food or sugary snacks that provide an instant rush.
You feel like you need cheesecake or pizza, and nothing else will do.
Physical hunger: almost anything sounds good — including healthy stuff like vegetables.
Emotional hunger often leads to mindless eating: Before you know it, you’ve eaten a whole bag of chips or an entire pint of ice cream without really paying attention or fully enjoying it.
In response to physical hunger, you’re typically more aware of what you’re doing.
Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied once you’re full: You keep wanting more and more, often eating until you’re uncomfortably stuffed.
Physical hunger: on the other hand, doesn’t need to be stuffed. You feel satisfied when your stomach is full.
Emotional hunger isn’t located in the stomach: Rather than a growling belly or a pang in your stomach, you feel your hunger as a craving you can’t get out of your head. You’re focused on specific textures, tastes, and smells.
We need to build habits that become so ingrained, you stop even noticing them. For instance, when I wake up in the morning, I walk into the bathroom and I brush my teeth. It’s not a decision. It requires no “willpower.” It’s a habit.
I believe Instead of denying your cravings (or reacting to them), start paying attention to them, if you want lasting change by beginning with a plan that is something you can and will continue to do consistently which are small enough to stay consistent.
Remember always your Diet is a bank account, Good food choices are good investments. Stop trying to fill the emptiness inside you with any Foods.
Let’s not become a person standing in front of a Salad asking it to be a Donut” instead believing in tuning your mind to Eat for the Body you want, not for the body you have.
