How to Stop Emotional Eating & Reset Cravings

One of the difficult cycles that can be hard to break is emotional eating. It is often triggered by stress, sadness or sometimes even boredom and happiness causing us to resort on eating comfort food. But by learning to manage your cravings the right way, control of them will soon be back in your hands and you can build a much healthier relationship with food. You can stop emotional eating and reset your cravings with these few tricks

There are Few Emotions in Emotional Eating

Firstly, it is important to know what emotional eating means before you can even begin dismantling the monster that has detained half of lives (I wish I would have used a metaphor other than 'monster' but unfortunately) . Emotional eating is a way to deal with feelings rather than hunger. Distinguishing when you are binge eating due to your emotions and not purely assessing whether or not you are hungry is the first step towards getting out of this cycle.

Identify Your Triggers

You may also find it helpful to track your food consumption in a journal, which can help you recognize patterns. You should record what you eat, how it makes you feel and any other detail that would help make sense of your food journal. So, with time it is expected that you begin to note the way sustained anger and eating over this prolonged period of tends to correlate. Understanding this is important when it comes to controlling your reactions.

Identify other ways to cope-

If you recognize what sets you off there are a number of healthier strategies for managing emotions. When it comes to snacks avoid these, opt for:

• Exercise: Exercise is one of the quickest ways to reduce stress and boost your mood.
• Creative Outlets: Participating in creative outlets like painting, writing or playing music can be a way to express how you feel.
• Here are a few relaxation techniques to combat emotional eating:“RelaxationWorks” Mindfulness and Meditation… Practices that help you relax should in turn reduce your want for food “junk-food”.

Practice Mindful Eating

When you do eat, practice something called mindful eating. This gets back to being mindful in your eating and actually experiencing the taste, texture, meal time. Turn off the television or set your smartphone aside when you sit down to a meal, so that food on your plate is front and center. It can teach you to understand when your body is full, and how not to over eat.

Stay Hydrated

On certain occasions, our bodies mix up thirst for hunger. Stay hydrated and drink lots of water during the entire day. Feeling snacky try drinking a glass of water and wait it out.

Build a Support System

Just ask for help. People make wonderful tools to help us along the way, our friends circles can provide support and accountability if you are trying break free from emotional eating or that therapist could show up in the nick of time. And many times bottling up your problems makes them more incredible and unmanageable to another person who could have different perception on the situation.

Set Realistic Goals

If you are going to make changes in your eating habits, start small. Rather than trying to change everything in your diet all at once, work on one thing that you can do immediately such as eating more fruits and vegetables or cutting back on sweet snacks.

Celebrate Your Successes

As you set yourself up for change, it is critical to celebrate victories that are small. Celebrate your achievements in a non-food way, such as having a nice bath or participating in an activity you enjoy.

Conclusion

It takes time and patience to break the cycle of emotional eating & reinstate taste sensations so that you can desire what is good for your health. It is about forming new habits, cultivating self-awareness and learning better coping mechanisms. Utilize the four tips above and be gentle with yourself in this process so you can form a healthy relationship both to food & your emotional well being. Take a step towards the healthy and happy new you today!