1. Master the art of pausing
Before you dig into a snack or meal, or simply take another mouthful of anything you’re currently eating, ask yourself, “Why am I eating this?” Is it because you’re starving? This simple accountability check-in re-establishes your control and makes you less inclined to eat when you don’t need or want to. Making food decisions on autopilot, on the other hand, can lead to emotional eating, bingeing, and choosing meals heavy in fat and sugar.
2. Have better alternatives on hand.
Indulge in other hobbies to keep your mind distracted. This includes reading a favourite author’s book, contacting a friend, or practising guided meditation. Make a list, put it up in your kitchen, and keep yourself accountable to it.
If you’re feeling a really strong urge, it’s a good idea to take a step further and make a brief pros and cons list of listening to your favourite podcast vs, say, going through a pint of Rocky Road.
3. When you’re hungry, eat well
Choose tasty, nutrient-dense meals to reduce your chances of losing control. Whole foods that are less processed, such as lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and high-fibre carbohydrates, all generate a chemical milieu in your body that makes you less vulnerable to emotional eating. This is because healthy meals assist control your emotions, and you don’t experience the blood sugar highs and lows that trigger anxiety. Making some meal plans could help you stay on track.
4. Prioritise Z’s
There’s no surprise here, sleep deprivation is linked to higher emotional eating. Get more sleep, and you’ll develop the cognitive abilities to make healthy dietary choices. Furthermore, getting enough sleep could help you remain in a happy state of mind, making you less likely to feel the emotions that cause you to resort to food for comfort in the first place.
Could an Emotional Eating Coach or a Binge Eating Coach help you get out of a bad eating habit?
Emotional Eating Coach in the UAE can teach you distress tolerance strategies that you can use to manage and shift any unpleasant thoughts or sensations that have previously pushed you to overeat emotionally.
Most of the time, emotional eating is motivated by a desire to escape a situation, a mood, or even a task. Coaching is all about learning to understand and accept the gap that exists between the stimulus (whatever sparked your food thoughts) and your customary reaction (overeating). Then, in that place, you can learn to pick better self-soothing emotional reactions to whatever comes your way throughout the day.
The good news is when you exercise these new strategies to manage your emotions, you’ll develop new emotional habits; new neural pathways are established in your brain! These new routes have the potential to replace old self-defeating, tiring patterns that fuel binge eating. This is the relief you can experience when you work with a Coach who specialises in changing emotional behaviours.
Those who prefer to maintain a connection to their life at university, in the workforce, or at home with their families can get therapy via Livlively online, we help you attain a stable mind and develop healthy eating habits.