13 Tips To Overcome Excessive and Emotional Eating

December 31, 2016|Food & Beverage|Caroline Sarda3

I don’t know about you but I’ve struggled with excessive and emotional eating for years.  The good news is that I’ve learned some tricks along the way that have helped me. I hope they can help you too!

My excessive and emotional eating

To give you a little glimpse into my past, I used to wake up wondering what I was going to eat that day. I also consumed way more than I needed to just because food can be so delicious. Portion control was a concept I understood but had no idea how to implement.  In addition, I’ve struggled with emotional eating. I found comfort in food when I was stressed out or just feeling down. My friend Allison is the exact opposite. She tends to eat excessively when she’s happy. Thank goodness that’s not  been the case for me! Since I am generally a happy girl, that would mean I would have been eating all the time! 😉

Tips for a healthier relationship with food

How is your relationship with food? Do you eat when you’re bored, stressed, angry, sad…. If you struggle with emotional eating or don’t eat as healthy as you’d like, here are some things that I’ve done that have worked very well for me. I know it’s a hard habit to break! Trust me, I’ve been there.

1. Be aware of your habits and emotions – Awareness is half the battle. Just knowing that you are going into the cupboards and about to start emotional eating because you just got bad news or are really worried about a project at work can help you overcome that need to eat for comfort.
2. Meditate, do yoga, or deep-breathing exercises – They will help you relax and center yourself and be more aware of your emotions and actions.  This will go a long way to curb emotional eating.
3. Journal – Keep a food diary and write down how you were feeling throughout the day. Thanks to the great detox I’ve done by Sharon Otness, doing, Rev Up Your Radiance Summer Detox, I have started journaling about my eating habits for the first time in my life. It’s amazing how much I’ve realized in such a short time. I am learning to truly listen to my body.
4. Don’t let temptation get the better of you – Only have healthy food and snacks in your kitchen. If you are craving something unhealthy, you’d probably think twice before going to the store to buy it.
5. Do not wait until you’re hungry to start preparing a meal – Doing so can led to excessive eating. You know how easy it is to snack on the first thing you find just to ease those hunger pains. Even if it’s a healthy snack, you might over do it. I know I have!
6. Plan out your meals and snacks ahead of time – This will not only save you time, it will save you money.  Emotional eating can be an expensive habit!
7. Drink water – Often times we think we are hungry but we are dehydrated. Make a habit to drink a glass of water as soon as you start getting hungry.
8. Going out to eat? Tell the server that you don’t want any bread but that you need a doggie bag. When your food arrives, portion out half of your dish into the doggie bag and enjoy the rest. This is great for us overeaters!
9. Go for a walk or go to the gym – Exercise is a great de-stresser and one wonderful way to get your mind off of things.  Physical activity helps to bump up the production of endorphins, your brain’s feel-good hormone.  If you’re about to engage in emotional eating, it will help relieve the stress you are feeling and give you some alone time to work things through.
10. Watch a funny movie – Humor is therapeutic in so many ways. Norman Cousins who was suffering from an “incurable” degenerative connective tissue disease cured himself of the “incurable” disease by watching funny movies all day long.  Norman Cousins’ story is by far the most well-known but there are others such as the story of a woman who cured herself of breast cancer by watching comedies every day for months.
11. Get a hair analysis done – Cravings are often the sign of a mineral deficiency.
12. If you’re craving something sweet, eat a piece of fruit or drink a fruity tea. I used to always go for a piece of chocolate after a meal until I detoxed. Now, I don’t crave sweets and haven’t in years.
13. Use Bach Flower Remedies – I have been using these flower essences for years with amazing success. I often call them “shrink in a bottle”. There is even a kit for emotional eating that incorporates three of the flower essences.

You can do this! Just be patient with yourself, don’t judge yourself, and remember to take it one step at a time, one day at a time.