Emotional Eating
We can easily find dozens and dozens of diets and exercises today, from the conservative: Atkins, to the futuristic: P-90X. They promise instant results and six-pack abs with big smiles on the beach. But planning and doing are two different things.
The problem I have and see far too often is motivation to start a program and the discipline to stay with it (forever). Since we were 13 years old I can remember my friends and I discussing diets, exercises and quick fixes to look “better”. My mother and her social circle were yo-yo dieters, always looking for that new way to shed 10lbs in 10 days. They would lose the weight but eventually complacency returned and with it the lost weight.
Health must be maintained every day; it is both emotional and physical. I find the emotional aspect is neglected too often, and I had to find a way to stop this.
I started with changing my relationship with food and recognizing what emotional eating is. Growing up in an Indian home there was no education on nutrition until I was much older. I was always told to finish my plate completely, even if I was full. On many occasions I would be forced to eat. There was no such thing as declining food.
Last year I realized that I was a yo-yo dieter, just like mom. I would either fail to motivate myself to start a health routine or if I got started it would only last few months. I started to discover my love-hate relationship with food. My mind would run in circles. I wanted to eat but eating meant gaining weight, gaining weight meant the gym, and the gym meant I needed to eat less to avoid gaining weight. It was a pattern that reared itself before every meal; it consumed me. Food became my therapy and medicine for stressful situations: exams, relationships, money, work issues and, ironically, when I felt horrible about my body. Last August I realized that I was wasting my efforts in the gym because of my unhealthy relationship with food, and I had to drill down further to save my sanity.
What did I learn?
Managing appetite and cravings is incredibly important to health and fitness goals. Learning to feed the body with the correct nutrients and to stop overindulging is a truly difficult task. Ask yourself what motivates you to eat. Is your hunger from a need for calories or other reasons? Often someone eats because of boredom, stress, cravings or social reasons. This is emotional eating, and it is one of the primary reasons why some find weight loss so difficult.
Our days, especially in this age, are filled with stress, from traffic to money to our bosses to our family. Managing it while focusing on health can be a struggle. Stress increases if ignored, and along with it your midsection.
What to do?
Learn your behaviors regarding food. If you are someone who always goes for seconds, ask yourself why and tune in to the emotions. I can almost guarantee it is either mindless eating or an emotional reaction.
Changing the relationship to a positive is tough but achievable. It requires you to notice the poor habits and negative patterns that have been ingrained since we were children. It is practicing self-discipline, restraint and learning that a healthy mind is the first step to a health body for the rest of your life.
Stress kills and it will be the biggest impediment in your weight loss journey. Once you learn to recognize and manage stress, the yo-yo dieting will be a thing of the past.
Here are some tips to help you discover you relationship with food:
- Always eat at a table;
- Fill your plate with the correct portions.
- Do not watch TV while eating, as you won’t feel full because you are not paying attention.
- Eat slowly and recognize when you are full.
- When having intense cravings, stop, drink a glass of water and give your mind some time to think about why you are having the craving.
Try them and see how it works. The journey to a healthy, happy, lighter you could be as simple as recognizing stress triggers and confronting it.
It worked for me and I am sure it will for you too.
