Ice Bath Weight Loss Three Smart Tips To Prevent Emotional Eating From Undermining Your Weight Loss Efforts.
Are you an emotional eater? Do you use food as a form of comfort or find yourself over-eating in times of stress? Is emotional eating undermining your weight loss efforts? If so, read on to learn three key steps you can use to stop sabotaging your weight loss efforts with emotional eating.
Tip #1
Identify Your Triggers
Pay close attention to how you are feeling before you eat. Are you physically hungry (is your stomach growling)? Or, is some other emotion making you want to eat? Identifying the emotions that trigger you to want to eat is a critical first step toward achieving effective behavior change.
Tip #2
Create a HAPPY List
Make a list of 6 or 7 things that you enjoy doing and that make you feel happy or less stressed. Keep your list handy and whenever you are tempted to emotionally eat, select an alternative response from your list. List items could include:
1) Take a walk;
2) Listen to some of your favorite music;
3) Light a candle and take a bubble bath;
4) Give yourself a facial, pedicure, or manicure;
5) Write in a journal;
6) Work in the yard;
7) Call a friend or relative to chat;
8) Read a book or thumb through a magazine;
9) Practice yoga;
10) Re-decorate a room or clean out your closet.
Tip #3
Stay Balanced
Consider this, when you eat something, you really only "taste" the first 3 to 4 bites. After that, your tongue adjusts and you're just eating. So, if you find yourself really wanting to try something, and you know it's NOT because of hunger, every once in awhile, give yourself permission to do so. Permission with boundaries, that is. Enjoy your treat, but only take 3 to 4 small, savory bites. That's what balance is all about!
As a nutritional coach, I often work with people who have struggled with emotional eating. For some, it's stress or worry over family, finances, or work that causes the behavior. For others, it may be loneliness, depression, or situational expectations. Turning to food is a common coping mechanism often used when dealing with these and other unwanted feelings. Unfortunately, emotional eating seldom improves any situation and often, worsens it.
Retraining yourself to make wiser, healthier choices is your answer. Next time you hear the call of a bag of salty tostado chips or you feel the pull of a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream beckoning to you, simply refer to your "HAPPY LIST" and pick something off of it to do. You'll be amazed at how quickly distracted you'll become. More importantly, you'll feel better, not worse about your choices. After all, this type of eating is rarely a result of any physical hunger and more often a symptom of an emotional emptiness. Feed your soul with some quality "me" time. Do something you truly enjoy; something that fulfills you. Make a list, keep it handy, and commit to using it. Invest in yourself. You're worth it. What are you waiting for?
Ice Bath Weight Loss.