It’s just a fact: when it comes to emotions, we will have them the rest of our lives. Happy, sad, angry, frustrated, jealousy, depression, excitement, etc; we deal with emotions everyday, it’s quite the emotional roller coaster and food usually plays a role. Will we ever catch a break? No wonder weight-loss can be so challenging!! Good thing we’re covering all these bases in week one huh?
How do you deal with your emotions? I typically deal with my emotions through exercise. Nothing feels better than a long run on a Sunday morning to clear my head from the stresses of life. In college though, I used to eat pretzels late at night after a long evening of studying. I guess I was taking my frustrations out on the crunching. Plus, I was lonely. I would finish studying late at night and have nothing else to do but mindlessly chomp on pretzels and watch TV. Mindless munching…those pretzels were helping to fill a void of stress and loneliness.
If you feel that you are an emotional eater, believe me, you are not alone. Many people live a life revolved around food. Happy? Let’s go out to dinner or get ice cream. Sad? Let’s buy a pint and wallow in self-pity. Angry? Let’s go binge on the box of crackers in our cupboards. Food is used to fill a void that is missing in our lives; instant gratification, if you will.
Afterwards? The guilt sets in; Why did I eat that? How could I have done that? My thighs are going to be HUGE tomorrow. Where’s the scale? SOMEONE FIND THE SCALE!!!!!! Exercise. I. Must. Exercise. I hate myself.
It’s a cycle that seems never ending. How do you change? How do you deal? How do you end emotional eating?
To become your BEST self, you have to look at food with a new perspective. Food is not there to help you cope with your emotions. Food is not going to solve your problems. Food doesn’t even HAVE feelings, so why are we turning to it in time of need?
I learned long ago that when you have a problem, you HAVE to deal with it immediately. Find someone to confide in; whether it’s your mother, father, grandma, best friend, sister, husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend. If you don’t have ANYONE…get a pet.
Seriously, my dog was the best person to confide in growing up. He always knew just what to do. He would lay his head in my lap and let me cry about the latest boy that didn’t like me. In college, it was Brandon. Instead of crunching on pretzels to relieve stress, I got to speak to my new boyfriend. That was the end of my relationship with pretzels.
I want you to cope with your emotions in a different way this week. Living by the principles of natural eating, when you are on an emotional high or low, avoid turning to food as your solace. Don’t use food to reward yourself for losing 5 pounds, don’t use food to comfort yourself when you’ve had a bad day, and don’t use food as your crutch. Your stomach is not hungry…so don’t turn to food. Instead, get creative:
- Go for a walk.
- Call a friend.
- Hit the gym.
- Read a book.
- Cry to your pet.
- Cry to your boyfriend or girlfriend.
- Scream at the top of your lungs.
- Take a shower.
- Do your hair.
- Take the time to doll yourself up.
- Do 100 sit ups. 10 push ups.
- Hit a punching bag.
- List 100 reasons why you like yourself!
- Go shopping with your friends.
- Go for a swim!
- Celebrate with a new outfit vs. 500 calories from cake.
- Take a deep breath and let it go!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If every night you flip on the tube and watch TV from 8-10 pm, only eat a snack if you are truly hungry for it and go sit at the table! Late night snacks can be a challenge to your weight-loss, so be sure to read up about how to deal.
In conclusion: Eat naturally. Fidget-cize. Get rid of the all or nothing mentality. and STOP emotional eating. (feel free to click on any one of those links to catch yourself up!!)
Remember: Nothing tastes as good as FEELING good feels. So what is that cookie really going to do for you when you’ve just flunked an exam?
FIDGET-CIZE!! Don’t forget: 5-8 this week!! Also, have you been squeezing in your 30 minutes of exercise??
Do 2 sets of 10-12, tricep dips! Great for the back of those arms!!
- Have you check out Eating Well’s Tijuana Torta yet? The name’s a little funky but it’s SO delish!!
- Tina from Faith, Fitness, and Fun wants you to enjoy your vacation!!
- Have you entered to win a FREE 30 minute nutritional phone consult yet??
I’ve always wished I had a punching bag! Great post Erin.
Exercise has always been the best way for me to cope with stress. It’s amazing what even as little as 10 minutes of pilates can do for your mood. I’ve been cutting back on carbs the last few months and noticed a huge improvement in my mood, so that’s what I’m trying to stick to these days – less calories and craziness
I’ve totally gotten into the cycle of emotional eating. And it is NOT fun. I’ve been so much better about it lately but I think a really important thing is to try not to berate myself TOO much the next day (otherwise it can just start the thing all over again) but to move on and make better choices.
Thanks for posting this! It’s nice to know we’re not alone!
This is a great post! I like to work out as well when I’m upset about something. Yoga helps me relax and running also helps me expel my anger or frustration. But to keep from working out too much, I also like to paint my nails
Weird but, calming because it forces me to sit still and not touch anything while they dry. It’s good time to think things through.
Another great post, girl! Loved all of your creative ways to avoid emotional eating. I’ve never really been an emotional eater, but I’ve used some of the creative methods you mentioned to cope with stress or anxiety. It’s definitely the best to deal with emotions when we experience them as opposed to bottling them up inside until they build up so much that we explode. Dolling myself up or hitting the gym are my favorite ways to take my mind off things
I am an emotional eater but usually only when I’m depressed. When things are going well in my life, I don’t feel the need to binge and eat emotionally.
I like the positive attitude in your posts
I’ve never been much of a emotional eater, I tend to lose my appetite when stressed / sad etc. but I used to be an emotional smoker until I quit. The more upset I was, the more I smoked. UGHHHH.
I love all the ideas of other things to do! Going for a walk or reading a book always helps me
“Food doesn’t even HAVE feelings, so why are we turning to it in time of need?” So true!
This post strikes a chord with me this week. I’ve been totally an emotional eater due to stress. It’s a beautiful day out. I think I’ll take a walk today, instead.
Hey girlie! I stress eat sometimes, but I’ve made huge strides against it. I’ve found that crying to Molly makes me feel so much better. With stress eating comes the yucky physical feelings from being stuffed.
Great post, once again! Going along with that…I always tell my clients not to reward themselves with food because then you are putting way too much power in food. No food is bad so therefore don’t put it on a pedestal and make some foods more important that others. I think a healthy diet is one that includes indulgences in moderation.
How perfect! My next Intuitive Eating post that I plan on doing sometime next week is about Emotional Eating. Such a hard thing to deal with. I used to be a huge stress eater. Now, I still do like to do things like go out to eat when celebrating something, but I don’t have to have food to cope with difficult things.