Do you comfort-eat? Or do you skip eating completely when you feel unhappy or are stressed? Both of these behaviours are connected with emotions, and we control them through our food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My impression is that this is something a lot of people do \u2013 eat in a certain way or starve themselves due to their emotions. We all face bumps along the road in our lives \u2013 things go up and down, and when we\u2019re in the depths, it\u2019s easy to end up with destructive eating behaviours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For some, there are other underlying issues that mean they end up in that situation. This can happen when people don\u2019t have control over things in their lives and instead try to take control of something else: the FOOD they eat.<\/strong> It\u2019s easy to turn to food at such times \u2013 we all have a relationship with food and for some it is the one comfort that is always available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take me, for example:<\/strong> I was unhappy with my life situation and made a lot of challenging demands on myself. I couldn\u2019t control the situation, so I started controlling my food and exercise instead. A clear example: I had a big exam I was really stressed about and was putting a lot of pressure on myself. It sounds pretty illogical when I write it down like this, but my stress was based on the fact that I couldn\u2019t know in advance that I would get everything right in the exam. Passing the exam wasn\u2019t enough for me. I had to get a perfect score or else I was worthless. Instead of working on my thoughts and on being a bit kinder to myself, I imposed a strict controlling regime as to what I should and shouldn\u2019t eat, what exercise I should do, how long I should exercise, etc. In other words, food and exercise became a punishment<\/strong> for the fact that I didn\u2019t feel happy and because I was making unreasonable demands on myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This sort of situation may not be exactly what you\u2019re going through, but I believe that the emotions involved are quite similar for many people. You \u2018silence\u2019 unpleasant emotions with the help of your eating behaviour. Then you feel bad because you ate\/didn\u2019t eat and you\u2019re into a vicious circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What should you do to end a destructive eating behaviour? How do you stop your emotional eating?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am not a psychologist or expert in any way, but I have had an emotional journey with food, and this is my story \u2013 and these are my best tips for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tips to get yourself out of emotional eating<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0First of all, it\u2019s important to be aware of what the underlying cause of the behaviour is. Is it sorrow? A feeling of being inadequate? Or \u2013 as in my case \u2013 making excessive demands on yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0Share your thoughts and feelings with others. The key for me was to start talking to a psychologist, an external person who didn\u2019t judge me based on who I was but rather saw the whole picture objectively. I don\u2019t think one and the same method is going to work for everybody \u2013 you have to find your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0Be kind to yourself \u2013 it\u2019s important to understand that emotions and thoughts are always going to pop up. For example: \u2018I feel sad today \u2013 I deserve a bit of chocolate.\u2019 Or: \u2018I ought not to eat that, but I can start afresh tomorrow.\u2019\u00a0Those thoughts are always going to turn up in various forms \u2013 what we can do is act on the underlying emotions. What I mean is that thoughts come and go.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0Start eating with awareness. Ask yourself the question: How do I feel right now? Am I tired, sad, stressed …? Maybe food isn\u2019t the solution \u2013 there are better ones. If you\u2019re tired = rest; if you\u2019re sad = talk to someone who makes you feel better; if you\u2019re stressed = go for a walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0Replace words like \u2018must\u2019 and \u2018should\u2019 with want to<\/strong>. Instead of thinking: \u2018I should exercise\u2019, or \u2018I must start eating better\u2019, think: \u2018I WANT TO exercise\u2019 and \u2018I WANT TO start eating better\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0Then, when you\u2019re aware of why you\u2019re eating emotionally, it\u2019s easier to work on the underlying problem and acquire some tools you can use when you end up in these situations. I think I always have an armoury of tools that I can tap into and use to help me in such situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705\u00a0The most important thing of all to realise is that it takes TIME! You\u2019re not going to change a behaviour overnight, but getting going and working on it is a good start. Be prepared for the fact that it can be tough \u2013 the insights you get are not always fun, but it\u2019s brave to lay them bare and you\u2019re the only person who can change things for yourself.\u00a0You can get help, but you have to do the job yourself!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo<\/strong> iStockphoto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you comfort-eat? Or do you skip eating completely when you feel unhappy or are stressed? Both of these behaviours are connected with emotions, and we control them through our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[254],"tags":[267,133,271,272],"class_list":["post-14529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet","tag-acceptance","tag-balans","tag-cognitive-therapy","tag-eating-disorder"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n