Thread: Emotional Eating: How to break the habit

Experts say that 75% of overeating is caused by our emotions. Our feeling of stress, boredom, loneliness, depression, frustration, anger, anxiety, poor self-esteem and problems with relationships could lead to overeating and weight gain.

To break free from this habit, first, you need to identify our eating triggers:

Social - eating with other people. Example: overeating could result if encouraged by friends or may overeat in order to fit in.

Emotional - eating because of stress, tension, boredom, fatigue, loneliness, anger, depression and anxiety

Situational - eating because the opportunity present. Eating while watching TV, movie or a sports event. You may eat at a restaurant after you were drawn by their advertisement for a new dish or low priced meals.

Thoughts - eating as a result of negative thoughts about yourself so you make it an excuse to eat.

Physiological - eating as a response to your body's cues like hunger due to skipping meals.


If you already identified your eating triggers, next time you eel like eating, distract yourself by doing activities like:

Reading a book
Go for a walk
Talk to a friend
Do house chores
Clean your car
Play board games
Do Relaxation Exercises
Meditate
Other activities that doesn't involve food


What you need most is self control All these techniques are useless if you do not have the willpower to create a distraction to stop yourself from eating. If you make it a habit to substitute emotional eating to physical activities, you will eventually stop craving for food.


Source: WebMD

I've been struggling to gain control over my emotional eating for years!
I recently found 8 great tips on how to stop emotional eating on Shape.com, like rating your hunger and finding comfort behaviors other than eating.
I’ve been using them for the past couple weeks and they’ve really been helping me stay in control!

Has anybody else tried any of these strategies?

Here are the strategies on how to control emotional eating:

1. Tweak your treats - replace high calorie dishes with healthier versions

2. Use the buddy system - to have someone support you will help control emotional eating

3. Give Yourself Time - when you eat, wait 30 minutes between you and the food. This will help stop food bingeing.

4. Reprogram yourself - when you're upset, stop reaching for food. Instead, do healthy activities such as walking or yoga.

5. Consider the consequences - you feel regret everytime you eat the foods you shouldn't have so when you get the urge to do it again, think of the consequences of your actions. Think of how your body will react and how you would wish you didn't gave in.

6. Keep Things in Perspective - Think before you eat. You know you'll feel bad after you wolfed down those foods. Ask yourself, "Is it worth it?"

7. Don't Be So Hard on Yourself - If you failed to control yourself from devouring a slice of cake, it doesn't mean you can have another slice as an excuse. Dr. Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., the author of The Complete Beck Diet for Life, said "If you went through a red light and got a ticket, you wouldn't go through red lights for the rest of the day,"


Source: Shape.com - Control Emotional Eating

Chewing food 30x before swallowing works for me. I also drink at least a glass of cold water before and after meals. Sometimes, I eat a fruit before or after my meal. It helps me feel full and I had no cravings.