Emotional Eating: Suggestions for Identifying and Eliminating Emotional Eating Habits

Many people are emotional eaters. Possibly one of the best ways of dealing with this problem is to first keep a journal of when you eat what you should not be eating. Many women especially find themselves consuming "comfort" foods and drinks such as pasta, chocolate, and alcohol when they have PMS, for example. I suggest keeping a detailed journal for at least a month, detailing what you are eating, when you are eating (late at night? mid-afternoon?), and how you are feeling / what context the food is being consumed in at the time. For example, did your spouse just say something hurtful? Are you up late waiting for your teenager to get home? Is the baby sick? Are you dealing with unusual work stressors?

Once you know the triggers, you can then consider what you can do to replace the eating binges. What will work best will differ for everyone. Maybe yoga, tai chi, or meditation will calm your nerves, and make you less impulsive about food. Or maybe you need a more strenuous exercise alternative like kick boxing or jogging.

If you are social, calling a friend may be a better alternative. Or you could scrapbook, or work with crafts. Anything that you can do with your hands in place of eating is a good alternative.(Unless it is smoking, which will only create other problems).

If you must eat, have on hand healthy alternatives instead of a half-gallon of ice cream. Keep cut up veggies and low-calorie dip in your refrigerator. Drink some hot tea and eat a small handful of nuts or a little bit of cheese. Or eat an apple.

Some other ideas . . .Take a bubble bath. Make love to your husband. Toss a baseball with your pre-teen. Go for a bike ride. Window shop. Feed the birds. Take the dog for a walk. If it sounds as if all you are doing is distracting yourself, in a sense, that is true. The cravings will pass if you focus on something else for a while.

Mark in your journal your successes with your food cravings. Indicate what you wanted to eat, and what you chose to do as an alternative. Plan a reward for overcoming your cravings after a week, or a month. Just make sure your reward isn't food related! How about a new outfit in your now smaller size? Or a special weekend trip?

If this article sounds as though it is geared toward women rather than men, I will add that even though some men are emotional eaters, the odds are overwhelmingly greater for women to be than for men to be. But male or female, if you keep track of what sets you back and moves you forward on your desire to break an emotional eating habit, you will discover a great deal about yourself, and learn to prepare ahead for these emotional food triggers.