An excellent tip for overcoming your emotional weight gain binges:
Create a list of 50 things you can do instead of eating when you’re feeling in need of a boost.
Source: Think Slim: http://smallchange.typepad.com/thinkslim/2008/04/emotional-eatin.html
Often times,
- When we’re down, we reach for food.
- When we’re excited, we reach for food.
- When we want to celebrate, we reach for food.
- When we want to meet friends, let’s meet for dinner (we reach for food).
- When we’re sad, we reach for ice cream (food).
Here’s my suggestion:
Do not reach for food.
My friends who do not have weight problems or who are constantly in shape, they don’t do this. They don’t reach for food. They have built up mechanisms to curb their emotional eating.
Sometimes these weight management oriented friends:
- Exercise or reach for the runners’ high
- Have a big social open support network of people to call when the doldrums hit
- Hike or camp
- Garden
- Clean the house
- Rearrange the furniture
- Heck, some even design/build furniture
- Play a musical instrument
- Write in a journal
- Play a game
What’s the common thread among these slim friends?
They do anything and everything to try to involve physical movement with activities that are away from food.
In other words, my friends who have no problems with weight Do not reach for food.
I suggest we all could do like Think Slim Suggests: Make a list of 50 things we can do instead of eating when we feel we need a boost.
What do you do to overcome your emotional roller coaster?
One suggestion: Join the Simple Weight Loss Club today, and visit everyday.