What do you know about emotional eating? Do you know how to stop emotional eating? Why is it always so hard to keep the weight off after we had lost so much?
Well, initially weight loss is quite easy. We started the journey because we were ready to lose weight – in our minds we had reached a point where we were determined to make changes and do things differently. We wanted to enjoy what life would feel like if we were lighter.
What we often fail to factor in is our changing emotions as we start to shed the weight. The first few kilos are quite easy – we still fit into our clothes and whilst we start to slim down, we get blasted with compliments.
However, as we get further down the track, strange things start to happen. As we are restricting how and when we eat, we become acutely aware of why we eat. So often we are eating to feed our emotions not our body. These habits that we have formed are incredibly strong and releasing ourselves from there is far harder than losing weight, making it hard to stick to our healthy eating plan.
How To Stop Emotional Eating
In our daily lives when we are living without any thought to how and what we eat, it is easy to ignore the motivators behind what we are shovelling into our mouths. But cut off the supply and everything starts to simmer to the surface.
Each one of us eats for different reasons. Over time, these reasons can change but it is fair to say, whatever emotion you feel can be an excuse to eat, be it happy or sad, tired or angry. For many of us this leads us to binge eating.
The surest way to curb this emotional eating, is to become aware of it, and be aware of what’s in your head causing you to literally eat your feelings.
Consider keeping a journal to track your emotions and your eating- this doesn’t have to mean writing volumes in a notebook – you can simply do an entry in the calendar on your phone.
Something like, ‘Had to go to lunch by myself at work, felt lonely, wanted to eat junk food’. Bringing the feelings and our reactions into consciousness is all part of the journey.
But here is the thing, once we become aware of one reaction, emotion or habit, another one seems to pop up. Be kind to yourself – don’t berate yourself for your thoughts or actions.
Be aware, be mindful and be accepting.
Remember, you took so long to become this person; it will take time to grow and change. That is why it is called a weight loss journey.
If you are ready to start your journey, why not drop us a line using the form below. We are here to help and support you.
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