Emotional Eating & Mindfulness

Where did it all start?

I am certain you cannot remember your life way, way back as a baby right? Well it all started with drinking milk, either in a bottle or being breastfed. This was the easy part, Just drink, no worries in the world about gaining weight.

Then came solid foods, and we were taught to eat EVERYTHING. As my mom would say in Italian, "Mangia, cosi sarai grande", Translated to "Eat so that you will grow,"

Then we were introduced to miummm... chocolate, sweets and fast foods, McDonalds in particular when my kids were little!

I have seen this so often, parents with their kids in a mall, wanting a little peace from their not so quiet child. They turn to giving them that chocolate bar or candy just to buy a peaceful moment. Have you been there or do you remember that as a child?

Did this cause a sugar addiction later in life or did this become an emotional addiction.

We are conditioned from a very young age associating foods with situations and when we become older, we find other ways that this conditioning happens.

It can be from advertisements, commercials, social media. The effects of society can sabotage our self esteem. I for one am not ashamed to say I have been there.

During my competition days, I could not stop looking at IG, and all the other girls competing. I compared, I would criticize myself, thinking I was not as good as them.

Could you imagine that pressure as a young, teenage girl going through all the comparisons on social media?

Studies show...

As per my recent studies, Did you know that girls as young as 3-6 years old are affected enough by advertising to worry about what they look like? Thats crazy!!!

So this is where it starts and we end up developing eating disorders or negative eating patterns., and believe me, there are so many. Have you ever thought to yourself what type of eater you might be?

Are you an emotional eater, a mindless eater, a stress eater, a weekend sabotager, night time nibbler, maybe just a yo-yo dieter. Are you that person that doesn’t eat all day thinking they will lose weight?

Let me tell you I had no idea there were so many types of eaters, but all of these have something in common... a Lack of Balance and Misguided nutrition.

In the past few years working as a coach, I have to say that Emotional eating is the one I have seen the most of,

Mayo Clinic describes this as “ The connection between mood, food and weight loss”

We use emotional eating to deal with negative feeling, It can be stress (personal or work), anger, sadness, anxiety, boredom even hating your body can contribute to emotional eating

Personally, I am the type that doesn’t eat when I am emotional, while others binge, The end result for either is never a good feeling.

Whatever your type may be, you need to find the reason and tools to deal. I am not a therapist and will never claim to be close to one, but I can give you a few quick tips.

Journal it

I often tell my clients to journal what they eat and analyse how they feel. So the same process I would recommend to analyze the emotional eating habits,. This is what i learned through my recent diploma. The W's, when, what and why? Ask yourself these questions:

When are you triggered to eat?
What are you triggered to eat during this state?
Why were you triggered? What happened?
What did you end up eating?

Now it's all the H's!

How did you eat? Quicky, slowly, standing, rushing.
How did it make your feel emotionally? Happy or maybe angry.
How did you physically feel after you ate? Maybe bloated.
How did you feel 2 hours later? Sleepy?
How did you feel the day after?

This is such a great starting point to understand and be self aware.

Cravings

Did you know that cravings can be associated to a lack of certain nutrients? Doesn’t that make sense? If your body is not well balanced through a healthy diet then it will Crave

Here are a few suggestions how to stop cravings. Stop and take a few minutes to Ask yourself:

Am I really hungry ? If so, how do I know if it is really hunger or a craving? Could I just be thirsty… ALWAYS drink water first before grabbing food.

Think about the type of food you are craving and Ask Yourself if it is really what you want? If you can answer no, then ask yourself what is it you actually need at that moment.

What could really make you feel better. Sometimes all you need is a hug <3

As you ask yourself all of this, time will pass and you may just forget or at least subside the craving and possibly make a healthier choice. Isn't it worth taking that time? .

Its ok to acknowledge you are craving, Accept your eating habits cause they do not define you, however talk yourself through it with the above questions, Don’t overanalyze cause that can lead you to worsen the issue, just answer your questions quickly and honestly.

Disassociate yourself! A craving is just a manifestation of food patterns and habits. It takes 21 days to change a habit. Shift your focus! Try and imagine or do other things that you enjoy!

Mindfulness

Be mindful about your choices. If you take the time to analyse what your body needs instead of what it wants, then you will make better, healthier choices, Don’t use boredom or stress as an excuse. You can change that through education, understanding and patience

Learn about Intuitive Eating. Only eat to lessen hunger: Stop eating when you are satisfied and not FULL, No food is bad food, so don’t deprive yourself, just learn about better choices for you..

I hope this made some sense to you although It goes far and beyond all I wrote. Take some of this and apply it to your lifestyle.

Honour your Health

Make food choices that respect your body and nourish you. You don't have to be perfect, but you should be as healthy as you can. One meal at time. Its progress not perfection that counts.

Would love to hear your comments.