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Emotional eating

EMOTIONAL EATING: HOW TO OVERCOME IT?

Do you find yourself indulging in unhealthy food when you’re feeling down or stressed? Finding comfort in food is common and it is called “Emotional Eating”. A majority of people struggle to lose weight because of their lack of control on what they eat when they feel stressed, sad or anxious. But it doesn't mean that it has to consume you and control you like a robot.

In this post we'll explain what is "Emotional Eating", what are its signs and symptoms, and how you can overcome it in 3 easy steps.

What is EMOTIONAL EATING?

Emotional eating is when you unconsciously eat depending on your feelings and not in response to your hunger signals. You might find yourself indulging in unhealthy food although you promised yourself to stick to that diet. In fact, in moment of sadness or stress your brain just wants to find something to let you feel good, so it starts playing games on you and convinces you to eat to feel better, but this will only make your situation worse.

Signs and Symptoms

You eat when you are stressed
You eat as a response to your emotions
You eat when you are not hungry
You use Food as a reward
Your eating is out of control
You describe food with emotionally charged words

3 Easy ways to overcome it

1 - Identify your emotional eating triggers

Keep a food journal and write down when and what you eat. Also write down what you were doing and feeling before you started eating to identify the reason behind it.

2 - Use a hunger scale and wait for 5 minutes before you eat

When you start feeling like you want something to eat, rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 (1=Starving/10=Full)

If you feel like eating but your hunger level is a 6 or higher, stop and check your emotions.

3 - Distract yourself

Whenever you feel the urge to eat due to a specific emotion, do something that you enjoy doing other than eating like listening to music, dancing, going out for a walk, calling a friend...

Don't let your emotions take over your intelligence, emotional eating is common among a lot people and especially dieters, but remember you are in control of your reactions. Always remind yourself of these 3 easy steps mentioned above and you'll overcome it like a pro !

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