4 Signs You are an Emotional Eater

I have yo-yo dieted for most of my adulthood!

Every diet was the same thing:
* The first two days went great;
* The third day I got really hangry (hungry + angry) ;
* By the fourth day I’d be on seated in my room with a box of chocolates.

What was my problem?

If this is you, dieting will probably be a complete waste of time.

You need to first understand if you are emotional eater and deal with that first.

1. You eat when you’re not hungry.

Hunger is our body’s way of telling us we need physical nourishment.

When you want food and you don’t have the growling, rumbling feeling in your tummy, it means you’re craving emotional nourishment.

For many of us, food is the fastest, cheapest, simplest way to feel entertained, loved and comforted.

I can’t tell you how many times I ate a whole packet of crisps or went through an entire tub of ice cream at 4 p.m. because I was bored.

I was never actually hungry in those moments — I just wanted to be filled.

2. You have food FOMO.
[“FOMO,” aka “fear of missing out,”.]

Food FOMO is when we’re watching a friend eat a cookie and want one too, or watching all of your friends have a third glass of wine and feeling the pressure to join in.

We subconsciously believe that the magic, the happiness, the satisfaction is in the food, and we want our share.

3. You don’t want other people to really know what you eat.

Have you found yourself secretly eating so that you could eat whatever you want without feeling embarrassed?

When we hide our food it perpetuates our belief that there’s something wrong with us and that if people really knew what was going on, then they’d think we’re “funny”.

4. You feel guilty for eating.

You know when you dive into a chocolate lava cake at a restaurant and every time you put a spoonful of chocolatey heaven in your mouth you’re thinking,

“I shouldn’t be eating this…. I shouldn’t be eating this… I shouldn’t be eating this”?

What a buzz kill!

When we do this, we’re completely robbing ourselves of the eating experience, which leaves us craving more and more of the “forbidden” food to feel satisfied.

Is this resonating with you? Let me know in the comments….

Before you go into this place of “I’m more messed up than I thought!” I need you to know that there’s nothing wrong or broken about you!!

3 Simple Steps To Overcome Emotional Eating

It’s important to remember that it can take your brain change your emotional eating. It will take time and practice.

1.Practice mindful eating.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you’ve finished a meal and not remembered actually eating the food? Where eating is done on autopilot?

Mindful eating is an important tool to help us become more aware of:

What we’re eating.

How much we’re eating.

Why we’re eating it.

This can help with weight loss by controlling our portion sizes and staying in tune with eating for nourishment.

Mindful eating means turning your full attention to the process of choosing, preparing, and eating your food or having your drink.

Removing distractions when eating helps us stay more in tune with our feelings of hunger and fullness.

2. Slow down… Take time to eat your meal.

We often eat food in a hurry while focusing on something else like watching TV.

The ’20, 20, 20′ strategy is a helpful tool to increase mindfulness around food and eating.

At each meal:

Chew your food for 20 seconds.
Put your fork down for 20 seconds between mouthfuls.
Take 20 minutes to eat your meal.

Concentrate entirely on your food.

You’ll likely find that you need to eat less as you become more in tune with your body’s hunger signals and more aware of what you’re eating.

3. Be prepared.

Being prepared for emotional cravings ahead of time can help you better manage them in the moment.

If I’m bored at home and get the urge to visit the pantry, then I’ll listen to a podcast, so my mind has something else to focus on

If I had an awful day and feel overwhelmed, then I’ll call my friend for a chat.

Write down a full list of all the possible scenarios that you foresee as being a potential challenge.

Then, when you’re faced with these situations in the future, you’ll feel better prepared with a plan to manage them..

Was this helpful?

Please share what your biggest take home on emotional eating has been.

But Before You Go…

Have you ever tried Intermittent Fasting? Did it work for you?

Take a look at this video on Intermittent Fasting, and how it’s supposed to work for weight loss.

Let me know what you think!

Talk soon!
Liz!