7 Tips to Reduce Emotional Eating

Emotional eating creeps up on us and, before we know what’s happened, it dictates our lives, calling the shots on when and what we eat. It’s a phenomenon which I think is far, far more common than anyone knows. It often goes on behind closed doors or in parked cars or when everyone else has gone to bed. People find themselves imprisoned in a destructive cycle as they eat privately and silently, often without the knowledge of their loved ones. Read on for 7 steps to reduce emotional eating.

{ Healthy, No-Oil Sauteed Apples }

So, what’s going on here? 

Well, we often try to nurture ourselves through food when what we really crave is affection, love and attention. Boxes of crackers or a daily fix of sweets make for a hollow crutch – one that is harming you in every way, both physically and emotionally. The tension builds, you succumb to the urge to eat (maybe promising yourself this will be the last time), you get a brief “release” or momentary satisfaction…followed by an assault of negative emotions, ranging from disappointment and remorse to guilt and self-disgust.

From a young age food has been seen as comfort.

When we fell over we were given a treat. Even at happy times, food would be a comfort, so we have trained our habits to turn to food when we are emotional. When things get overwhelming, sad and stressful we often turn to food to fix.

{ Healthy, White Chicken Chili Crock-Pot Recipe }

What I firstly want to say is; you are not alone, loads of women (and men!) suffer from emotional eating. Yes, we don’t talk about it, but so many people are doing it.

It’s important to acknowledge that, whatever emotional hurt you are trying to soothe, food can never be the answer. Emotional eating simply diverts your attention from whatever it is you don’t want to feel. We have a tendency to suppress unpleasant emotions but it’s important to recognize that your emotional eating is telling you that something needs your attention.

Here are my top 7 tips to reduce emotional eating:

1. When you get home don’t go straight to the fridge and look inside

There is nothing in there that will make you feel better. Go upstairs have a shower, wash off the day and relax in bed doing some deep, noisy breathing, have a bath or light a candle and nourish yourself. Food doesn’t really fix it.

{ Always sharing simple, easy recipes like this one over on my instagram! Are you following along? }

Showering gives me a great shift in perspective. It feels like a fresh start! Sing to yourself and enjoy this time out, away from your inbox and your to-do list. When you’re feeling a bit wobbly and the cookie jar feels tempting, having a nice hot shower can feel more comforting than chocolate chip cookies. And you can’t mainline Oreos in the shower, right?

2. Scribble out your stress!

What is stressing you out? Write down a list, let it all out, write everything down. Then make a to-do list. Is there something you can do right now to help it? If so, do it now, it will make you feel so much better. Even if it’s a broken heart then make a list of lovely things you can do for yourself, book in a date night with a girlfriend and spoil yourself.

{ Healthy, Vegan Black Bean Brownies }

Next time you feel down and desperately in need of cake, grab a pen and scribble down 3 steps you could take to make you feel better. It might be to call someone, send an email or I find that just writing down what’s going on and how I’m going to solve it can be very therapeutic!

I love using my bullet journal to de-stress!

3. Switch your inner dialogue

What sort of things do you tell yourself? I’m a pig… I’m always unlucky… I’m always stressed. What you tell yourself, you become. Make sure you are kind to yourself, turn off that self-loathing tape and switch to kind nourishing words like; I am good enough, I eat mindfully, I am relaxed and calm. Having a positive inner dialogue will make you happier and make you less likely to succumb to emotional eating.

4. PRACTICE SOME SELF-LOVE

I wrote a whole post on practicing self-love and knowing your worth. It’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself!

Do something because you love your life, not because you hate it. Dance in your kitchen, think of something you did well today at work, or scroll through your phone to re-read nice message from a friend. Doing something positive, even for only a minute, will shift your thinking in a more positive direction.

5. Eat in front of people!

Emotional eating often happens secretly. Eating in front of people makes a big difference. It makes you slow down and it makes you happier. Try and have meals with friends, family or partners; sharing food with people makes you less likely to binge or suffer from emotional eating.

6. Hydrate Instead of reaching for the ice-cream

Reach for some water, coconut water or fizzy water. Hydrating will make you feel like you are filling yourself up with something and stop you from overeating and cut cravings. A cup of herbal tea does wonders!

Hot drinks can be wonderfully comforting emotionally. I like a cup of Camomile and Manuka Honey – the herb is proven to calm the nervous system and the honey adds a dash of healthy sweetness.

7. FUEL YOURSELF PROPERLY

As much as emotional eaters eat when they’re not hungry, they often don’t eat when they are actually hungry…which only fuels the urge to binge later on. Make the switch by ensuring you’re sitting down (not picking at leftovers while standing up) to three nourishing, delicious meals a day (including lots of healthy fats which will make you feel full and also improve your mood). Try to eat protein with every meal, reduce sugar intakes and DON’T skip meals.

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We all emotionally eat here and there, but hopefully these tips will help combat it for the future. It’s all about carving new habits into your life, believe in yourself and you will be able to do it.

x, elizabeth