Gain Control of your emotional eating

To lose weight, you have to control how much you eat plain and simple. That may be fine and dandy 90% of the time time, but what about the other 10% which are times of stress. Your strongest food cravings may come at a time when you’re weak emotionally. That’s when you might turn to food for comfort.

Emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts by triggering you to turn to high-calorie sweets or fatty foods. You can tame these cravings by recognizing them and alleviating the stress that brings these temptations on, according to the Mayo Clinic.

First, you need to understand what emotional eating is. It usually comes on when you feel stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness or loneliness. It doesn’t contain itself to major life events; daily life can trigger these emotions and emotional eating. Triggers can be as huge as unemployment and financial problems or work stress and fatigue.

When emotional triggers make you want to eat, turn to these tips to keep yourself working on your weight-loss goals.

• Tame your stress. Try yoga, meditation or relaxation techniques to alleviate stress instead of turning to unhealthy snacks.

• Check your hunger. Before you grab for a snack, figure out if your hunger is physical or emotional. If it’s a craving, give it a little time to pass before caving in to a sugary snack.

• Keep a food diary. I encourage everyone of my clients to keep a food diary and submit it to me weekly. Write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you’re feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. You can see patterns emerge that reveal the connection between mood and food.

• Don’t be bored. Instead of snacking to occupy time, take a walk, watch a movie, listen to music, read, surf the Internet or call a friend. Your urge to snack will pass.

• Take away temptation. Don’t keep supplies of comfort foods in your home if they’re hard for you to resist. Replace them with healthy snacks like fruits, vegetables or string cheese. Avoid going to the grocery store when you feel angry or sad.

• Don’t deprive yourself. When you’re trying to lose weight, you may limit your calories too much, eat the same foods frequently and avoid the treats you enjoy. That could increase your food cravings. You can allow yourself reward meals 10 percent of the time, or if you’re eating five meals a day, seven days a week, you can have rewards three or four meals every week.

• Make it healthy. If you do snack between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie snack such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. You can also try low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.

• Get enough sleep. When you’re constantly tired, you might snack to try to give yourself an energy boost. Take a nap or go to bed earlier instead.

When you do end up eating emotionally, the best thing you can do is forgive yourself and start fresh with your next meal. Try to learn from the experience and make read through these tips again to help you prevent repeating in the future. Focus on the positive changes you’re making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that will lead to better health.