For the love of God, please kill Corona. Not only has she turned life upside down, but this heffa has the nerve to make me fat too! OMG the emotional eating is real over here bruh! I might as well have opened the newest soul food restaurant in my house serving all the fried, smothered in gravy, cornbread filled meals, equipped with the best full service bakery in town! But this has to stop TODAY!!! If not, I’m going to fall into the land of no return!!
Emotional Eating is the devil!!!!! But there is a reason that we do it. All the uncertainty we are living in can trigger anxiety, fear, and a loss of control and we eat to cope with it. The food tastes good, but more importantly, it feels good! Food reminds us of events and times in our lives that bring us comfort. Whether that’s Big Mommas house or the 1st time your girl cooked for you, food brings comfort and a way to relax and release. Food causes actual chemical reactions in our bodies leading to increased release of dopamine and full blown alteration in moods. Unfortunately, all these cascades of chemicals can cause fatigue, anxiety, and moodiness in the long run, not to mention the guilt you feel afterward for having gorged on all those excess carbs!
So what do you do? How do you stop?
- Figure out what is triggering the emotional eating
Are you bored, sad, fearful, anxious, or lonely? There’s always something that triggers the eating. There is an underlying emotion we are trying to avoid or cover with the good feelings food provides for us.
- Track the time of day you are more prone to eat emotionally?
It may be mid morning, late afternoon, or late night. There is typically a lull in activity or maybe something stressful that tends to happen that leads to comfort eating. Take some time, pay attention to yourself and figure out when you are more likely to seek comfort from eating.
- Find something to do to fill that time.
Late night is THEE worst time for me. I find that I often indulge due to boredom, so instead of getting in the kitchen and whipping it up, I try to write, visualize an episode for a podcast, or take my hungry self to sleep!
- Out of sight, out of mouth!
Avoid buying packed junk food like cookies, whole pies, Sam’s sized bags of chips. Instead, buy cookie dough that you can use to bake one cookie at a time. Buy slices of pie so you have to actively open multiple packages to get more than one slice. Buy individual chip bags to keep your serving sizes to a minimum. Remember, you’re less likely to mindlessly eat if you can’t see it or if it’s inconvenient.
It’s hard out here! It’s ok to have a cheat day. Pick one day a week to celebrate making it through! Eat what you like, how you like, when you like! Remember not to go overboard or you’ll end up Fat AF! Just be kind to yourself. You deserve it!
Peace and Love! Dr. J