Emotional Eating… most people immediately think about happy and sad eating… about leaning over a pint of ice cream, crying their eyes out because of a breakup. While this does happen, thinking of emotional eating only in that context discounts the real everyday story. True daily battles are normally triggered by three things listed below with some tips for combatting them.

1. Bored Eating: food becomes a time filler – something to do with your hands when you are in front of the TV or computer, or in the car. Instead of eating try:

-Knitting

-Adult coloring books

-Puzzles

-Break your routine. Do things differently for a few weeks. Your brain won’t automatically pair the new activity with food.

2. Stress Eating: When we feel uncomfortable or anxious, we want to push those feelings down or make them go away so we mask the feeling with pleasure… that pleasure being food. If you feel that way try:

-Get to the root of the stress. Figure out “Why” and “When” it is occurring. Replace eating with exercise or meditation

-Distract yourself to delay the snacking and you may not come back to it.

3. Tired Eating: grabbing food thinking it will give us energy. Before you get that exhausted try:

-Go to Bed! Your body will thank you for some extra sleep.

-Ask for and accept help. If someone offers to watch your kids, cook your dinner, put the kids to bed… say yes please and thank you.

To break it down to its simplest form, emotional eating occurs when you are not truly hungry. A great way to assess if you are actually hungry is to ask yourself. “Does any food sound good or just what you are specifically looking for”? Are you standing in front of the fridge or cupboard with the doors open trying to find that perfect selection? If you answer yes, then start thinking through the questions: Am I tired? Am I stressed? Am I bored?

Journal questions:

1. As you read through the different types of emotional eating, what resonates with you?

2. If emotional eating is something you deal with, when do you notice it happening in your day?

3. What is your biggest fear or barrier to getting help with your emotional eating?

Advice from professionals helps you to understand what you should do on your journey to health and fitness. You can create a game plan and jump into it with enthusiasm and hope. But your plans can come to a screeching halt when life intervenes. The unexpected twists and turns of everyday life trample your perfect game plan and leave you scrambling to catch up.

Interviews with real people and their struggles and successes can show you that you are not alone. Realizing that other people have the same issues can be a big relief, “It’s not just me”. We can gather tips from what has worked for others to store away in case we need them. It’s through these stories that we best learn, grow and cut through any false ideas of being perfect 100% of the time. Instead, we start to understand that we are all just human, paving our own paths and habits in health. It is trial and error as we go.

Interview: Aunt Jan

My Aunt Jan and I work closely together even though we live in different parts of the country. She writes up my show notes, does research and helps with my social media profiles. In return I am her accountability coach. We each feel like we are getting more than we are giving. Today we discuss how life style, family circumstances, changes in the season of life and everyday unexpected events impact her journey to be healthy and fit. She shares some of her struggles and give tips about strategies that work for her.

Homework:

Goal setting will always be part of your homework. Once a week write down your focus or goals for the week. Every Friday reassess them, tweak them or change them to fit your needs. It’s “Your journey, your way”.

Links:

www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com

Direction Not Perfection, Accountability and Coaching from your Wine-loving Dietician

https://braughlerbooks.com/store/books/direction-not-perfection