Emotional Eating

I'm sure we can all relate to feeling down and drowning our emotions with food. It is the first thing that can comfort us and initially make us feel better. However, even though food might make us feel better and give us immediate relief, it does not get to the root of our problems and actually deal with the issue at hand. Instead of addressing the issue, we eat, and then get mad at ourselves for overeating. This then causes a vicious cycle of bad feelings and our bad feelings never end. More often then not, the feelings that often cause us to emotionally eat are sadness, anxiety or anger. But there are alternative things you can do when feeling these emotions rather than eating. It is just a matter of knowing what they are and actually doing them!

• When feeling sad:
• Talk with a friend. Let your feelings out to someone you are close to. Talk about the situation at hand before trying to fix it with food
• Exercise. Getting in a good workout boosts chemicals in the brain that produce good feelings
• Cry it out. Get into bed and let yourself cry until you can't cry anymore. Letting out all those emotions will help you feel much better.
• When feeling anxious:
• Take a nap. People who are well rested are less anxious and less stressed. Aim for at least 8 hours a night and if you can, take a short nap during the day.
• Do something relaxing. This could be different from person to person. Find an activity you enjoy and do it when you start to feel anxious.
• When feeling angry:
• Delay eating. Instead, sit down and take a couple of deep breaths. Think about why you are angry and how you can solve it. Eating comfort foods right away can just bury the issue and it ends up returning and causing more bad emotions.