Tag Archive for: emotional eating

Resources and Support for Yo-Yo Dieters and Emotional Eaters

Help is HereHow do you feel about seeking help for things that aren’t always going so right in your life?

 

Whether it be relationship tension, marital problems, school issues, work-related problems, do you suffer alone and try to figure it out by yourself, or do you seek the guidance of a professional who can be objective and help you work through the difficult times?

 

There is often a stigma around seeking help and many people feel like they should just be able to handle it on their own.

 

Are you one of those people?

 

I’m specifically talking here about getting help to overcome emotional eating and years of yo-yo dieting. One of my clients recently confessed to me that she had my phone number for a long time but didn’t call me until recently because she was embarrassed. She felt that she should be able to lose the weight and keep it off without having to seek professional help.  When she realized that time after time she was unsuccessful with dieting, she finally called me and made an appointment.

 

As she reflected on the experience, she realized that she wasted so many years and wished she had started this journey a long time ago. But even so, she is so glad that she finally called me and got over the shame she felt for not being able to do it by herself.

 

You are a strong person and probably accomplished in many areas of your life. But if you are struggling with yo-yo dieting and emotional eating, give yourself the gift of seeking the support you need to jump over the hurdles. You may even know where your specific struggles lie, but you just need the strategies and the right partner.

 

You don’t have to go it alone!

 

I have a number of Free Resources to help you.

 

  • E-book: 5 Steps to a Body You Love Without Dieting available by putting your name and email in the boxes to the right of this page, or at http://DietFreeZone.com

 

  • The Diet Free Zone Show™ on my YouTube Channel, released on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Each episode discusses another aspect of intuitive eating and breaking free of dieting. Check it out here and subscribe to my channel.

 

  • Private Facebook Support Group – The Diet Free Zone™ with Bonnie R. Giller. Request to join for free here.

 

  • To Your Health e-Newsletter – published twice per month. To subscribe for free, send an email to bonnie@brghealth.com and write “Subscribe me to your newsletter” in the Subject line.

 

I look forward to having you in my community. Please comment below and let me know how I can best support you.

 

How to Manage Your Emotions without Turning to Food

Sad woman eating donutOne of the things that come up often in my work with my clients is how they deal with emotional eating. We all experience different emotions throughout a given day. For some, there might be more than others. Such emotions include anxiety, loneliness and sadness. Other more subtle emotions that often might lead you to turn to food include boredom and stress. It is totally normal to experience these emotions from time to time, but how you cope with them is key. (Note: if you are experiencing intense sadness and depression, please see an appropriate mental health professional.)

 

So the question here is: do you find yourself reaching into the food cabinets when these emotions arise? If you do, how do you feel after you eat the cookies, candy or whatever your “go to” mood fixer food is?

 

I know that deep down you realize that food is not resolving the issue at hand. Yet, you still find comfort even for the moment in the box of chocolates. But you know what? After you eat them, you now have to deal with the guilt, physical discomfort of overeating and the original emotion you were trying to numb. You are now worse off than when you started.

 

Does this sound like you? How do you get out of this viscous cycle?

 

The first thing you need to do is acknowledge that you turn to food to comfort negative feelings, even to numb the emotional pain you might be feeling. Then, you need to commit to learning a new way. Before immediately turning to food, STOP and ask yourself what are you really feeling. If you can honestly say you are hungry, then by all means you should eat….a well-balanced power snack or meal. But if you are being true to yourself and really want to help yourself, you won’t automatically say “I’m hungry”. Instead, you will think about what you are feeling and how you can comfort yourself without turning to food.

 

If you are unsure what you need, seek out the support from a friend, counselor or therapist. Talking through your emotions instead of eating through them is an amazing feeling.  If you are not ready to face your feelings, then engage in an alternate activity.

Write down some things that you enjoy doing that can distract you during these times. Take a walk, do a puzzle, read a book, go for a ride etc.  Figure out what works for you.

 

I’ll tell you what works for me. When I am feeling overwhelmed, stressed or upset about something, I remove myself from the area I am at that is causing me distress. I then take several deep breaths and count down from 10 to 0. It really helps me clear my head, and prevents me from heading to the peanut butter jar:)

 

What works for you? Please let me know in the comments section below. And if you need help sorting through your emotions, I am here for you. Just click here and request to speak with me so you can get clear on your challenges and have a clear path towards dealing with your emotions without turning to food.

The Many Voices of Hunger

peace with food programThere are many facets of intuitive eating…thus the “10 principles”, which are what I call your empowerment tools to help you acquire and understand your internal cues that drive your hunger and satiety.  If you are unfamiliar with the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating, read more about them here.

 

One of the intuitive eating principles is Cope with Your Emotions without Using Food.  There are many emotional triggers that can lead you to emotional eating.  Identifying those triggers and finding ways to cope without turning to food is key to overcoming what might be plaguing you for a long time.

 

Sounds easy to say, but not so easy to do, right?  Yep, I agree.  I work very closely with my clients on this principle and it can take a long time to overcome, especially if you have been using food to cope with your life for many years.

 

I have recently come across a book called The Emotional Eating Rescue Plan for Smart, Busy Women.  Now, it’s not to say that men don’t experience emotional eating, but this book happens to focus on women who have a lot on their plate and tend to put their needs on the back burner.  Sound familiar?  Yes, I’ve discussed this before, the need to practice self-care, and make yourselves a priority.

 

The Emotional Eating Rescue Plan for Smart, Busy Women helps to define hunger in ways that you may never have thought of.  The definition of hunger as “a strong desire or craving” has the reader starting to think that hunger might be experienced for something that is not actually food.  Utilizing the tools in this book, you will begin to differentiate between hungers.  The reader is guided through a series of questions to help figure out what she is really hungry for….love, companionship, fun etc.   You are not given answers, but you are encouraged to explore and journey on the path of self-discovery.

 

This book is a great resource to complement your intuitive eating journey.

 

“Comfort Foods” Making your Clothes Uncomfortable?

There is nothing wrong with foods being a source of pleasure.  In fact, the more your relationship with food can be a positive one, the better you will feel about your eating habits.  However, confusing a positive relationship with eating your favorite foods with the notion of seeking “comfort” from certain foods can lead to problems with your relationship with food.

If you are eating something to gain a sense of comfort, this begins to connect your eating to emotions instead of satiety.  There is a difference between eating a food you love because you are enjoying the taste of it or the ceremony for which the food represents and eating to soothe emotions.

If you are eating for comfort, you are expecting that food to solve a problem for you.  It’s important to figure out if you are turning to food when you are frustrated, sad or bored.  If you are, then more than likely you need something else, other than food.  For example, if you are up late working on a project for work and you wander into the kitchen, stop and ask yourself if you are truly hungry.  Most likely you are tired, not hungry.

Let me encourage you to move away from using the term “comfort foods.”  Use food as fuel rather than therapy.  It is not to say you can’t consume foods you previously considered to be “comfort foods”; simply redefine their place in your eating plan, and make them a part of your healthy lifestyle, not a part of your mental well-being.

Your turn to take action: How will you work on banishing the phrase “comfort food” from your vocabulary?