Stress, yes we all experience that. Food, we all need that. But stress-eating is not quite a good thing to become a habit.
We eat when we’re hungry. But sometimes, eating is away to ease and relieve the not-so-good feeling we have. Emotional eating is our way to to turn to food for comfort, stress relief, or as a reward. But we should all be mindful about this because sometimes, it doesn’t fix the emotional problems. Instead, it may make you feel worse. It may lead to overeating that can be a culprit for worse and more serious health issues.
The next time you feel like you will turn to food to subside your emotion, you can use these tips to soothe yourself without food.
1. Prepare for the situation. Anticipating that a certain event or situation may lead to emotional eating is the best way to prevent it. To do this, keep your health and yourself in balance by eating regularly and eating the right food such as having a meal plan.
2. Be mindful. You’re mad and you feel like that bowl of cookies can be a way to loosen up the pressure. But before you grab it, recognize what is happening and spend just a little time to think about it. Your brain is a critical thinking organ, use that power when this situation arises.
3. Breathe deeply. Address the feeling in the basic way. Relax and try to subside that emotion first. Once you’re less affected by the emotion, it cannot affect your action that much.
4. Distract yourself. Never underestimate the power of distraction. It can be considered as a blessing in disguise guiding you to another situation or thing that can make you forget for a moment the emotion. When you are distracted, your brain spends time to process the present moment. Try looking outside and enjoy the scenery, or look for that jewelry on line that you’ve been wanting to buy. Even the simplest thing matter here even that smell of the perfume that your coworker wears.
5. If you can’t resist, at least be on the healthy side. Emotional eating is a way to vent that negative vibe, and sometimes it is the best and only way to ease it (just sometimes). But when you’re caught in this no-other-way situation, make a choice to at least turn to the healthy foods. Bring with you a lunchbox full of fruits and eat them whenever you’re overwhelmed with situation.
