Posted on October 23, 2012 by Jenny Cromack

How to overcome emotional eating

Unfortunately the majority of people i know are in some way affected by emotional eating, it could be as small as reaching for a bag of crisps when you’re bored, or that chocolate bar when you feeling stressed. This is the main problem for anyone looking to achieve any goal, how can you fuel your body efficiently when your been told what and when to eat by a mischievous chap in your head.

Just take a second to think do you eat because your thinking i need this food to help my body recover for next session, or are you more along the lines of ill go and look through the cupboards for something to eat because I’m bored?

There is a massive range of factors that trigger emotional eating including;

• Anxiety
• Sadness
• Boredom
• Anger
• Loneliness
• Relationship problems
• Poor self esteem

If you find that you fall into the category of emotional eating, fear not follow these six tips and improve self control. Eat with your stomach and not your head!

1. Learn to recognize hunger, next time you eat something rate how hungry you are and write it down. 1= starving and 5= stuffed. If you are honest with yourself you shouldn’t be eating when you’re at a 4 or 5.
2. Find alternatives to eating– prepare a list of things to do for next time you get a craving, this can be anything from calling a friend who is training with you to walking the child or dog.
3. Keep a food journal– At motive8 our most successful clients are the ones that record what they eat, this makes you accountable for everything you eat. There really is no excuse not to do one, if you want to be successful write it all down!
4. Three food interference– If you have the will power of a poorly trained dog in a bone yard, make the commitment to eat 3 small healthy snacks before indulging yourself, i.e some baby carrots, an apple etc
5. Exercise regularly– This is the body’s natural way of reliving stress, do it in a structured manor daily and watch those cravings melt away. Email one of the motive8 staff for training advice
6. Get enough sleep– Sleep deprivation is a well know factor in the reduction of the body’s leptin levels  (this is the apatite regulating hormone that signals fullness)