Tips to Avoid Comforting Yourself by Overeating

Emotional overeating has been cited as a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic in America. Many people "eat their feelings", binging when they are sad, angry, stressed, bored, lonely, etc. Eating is a pleasurable activity and can serve as a distraction when we are feeling low.

The first step to avoiding emotional overeating is recognizing the problem. For many people, the act of emotional eating is unconscious. Once you realize that you are using food as a way of comforting yourself, you have the ability to take control of the situation.

Here are some tips to help you avoid emotional overeating:

-Keep a food journal. Write down everything you ate, when you ate it and how you felt at the time. Do this for a week or two, until you can start to see a pattern emerge. You might find that you are more vulnerable to food at certain points in the day or when specific events occur. Keeping a journal helps you understand how much your food intake is tied in with your emotions.

-Learn to differentiate real hunger from emotional hunger. If you just ate, you're probably not really hungry. Take some time and try to distract yourself with something else.

-Call a friend. Talking to someone about what is bothering you is often a great way to make yourself feel better. You'll find that once you've had a chance to express your emotions, the urge to eat many not be as strong.

-Don't keep unhealthy foods in the house. Unfortunately, when we eat to comfort ourselves, we not only tend to overeat, but we tend to eat some of the most unhealthy, calorie-packed foods, such as sweets and salty, fatty foods. If these types of foods aren't convenient to you, you won't be able to turn to them in a moment of weakness.

-If you must eat, eat healthy. Keep some healthy snacks pre-portioned and available at all times. If you can't resist the urge to eat, at least eat something good for you. You won't be doing as much damage to your health or your waistline.

-Live a healthy lifestyle. If you eat a balanced diet, exercise and get enough sleep, you'll feel better physically and emotionally, and you'll be more in control of your mood and better able to handle stress.

Most importantly, realize that when you overeat to comfort yourself, the comforting feeling usually doesn't last very long. Even before you finish eating, the guilt may begin to creep up on you. Not only will your problems and negative emotions still be there, but you will most likely feel even worse than you did before you binged.

Old habits take some time and for many, avoiding emotional overeating might very well be a life-long battle. Be patient with yourself and keep working at it.