I was consulting with 1 lady who had just finished her 4th training session that week in the gym. Her activity levels were off the chart too. She would casually walk 40 minutes a day too-and-from the train station to work.
Her diet was structured, by and large, determined by regular meals of good whole food choices, a little of what she liked and largely consistent.
And she was in a good place. Her children were happy and healthy. She was in a supportive relationship and managed her time well enough to get stuff done for herself.
The issue was, she wasn’t losing weight or body fat.
‘Is there something that is missing?’ I said.
‘I think I eat when I really I don’t need to. I just get a compulsive urge to eat!’ she said.
Her trigger was her environment. There were two. On the way to work she would walk past the donut shop that had just opened. She would always grab one. The smells reminded her of her childhood when she would hit the farmer’s market with her parents on a Sunday.
‘One wont hurt’
Then there was nighttime. She loved a glass of red with her husband at night. As the kids went to bed she would grab the chocolate with this from the fridge and, in her mind, have a ‘small bit’.
Except it was never a small piece. More often than not she would forget that in the last day and a half a full bar had been devoured. It was mindless and something that she would chastise herself over. Except the pattern would continue. Same time, same place.
She was too in the moment with it to really notice.
This is the common story of emotional eating. All in all it becomes an enabler for eating far more calories than you actually need.
We all know what to eat. We know what we should eat more of, less of. Which foods are energy providers and which are energy robbers. We know. Except there are other more motivating factors which determine what and how we eat.
Behavioral science has produced enough studies to examine this. From looking at eating regimes when couples move in together to looking at using smaller size cutlery. From eating mindfully, to arrangement of your food cupboards and having treats out of eye line (or not in the home at all).
From food manufacturers meddling with combinations of fat and carbohydrate (nothing in nature appears with this) and the effect on our palette and happy hormones, this is real. Very real.
It is the reason why you hit the Ben and Jerrys and finish with the clunk of your spoon at the bottom of the can. It is the reason why you mindlessly eat food whilst you prepare your dinner. It is the reason why you just can’t have 1 or ‘lash’ on just the thicker portion of Nutella – just like you did as a child.
So how can we address it..
1. Recognize your triggers
A trigger is something that flicks the switch and begins the process of an emotional eating episode. The important thing to do in this step is to realize when, what, where, how and bring it to a level of conscious thinking.
If you have just partaken in an emotional eating episode grab a journal and write down what happened preceding the episode.
Is it habitual? Are you eating because you always have at this time of day, in this situation? Were you stressed by something and turn to food for that feel good fix?
The important thing at this stage is to do the work in finding out why it happened in the 1st instance. Most of us are blissfully ignorant until it is too late.
Once you have this information you can then focus on the tools beginning with..
2. Eat mindfully
Mindful eating has become popular as a way to engage more with our food and eating patterns. The 20 minute meal time signal is real and the longer, more deliberate we can be with our meal times the more likely we are to feel satisfied and fulfilled.
Here are a few ways to eat mindfully:
- Put your knife and fork down between each meal
- Eat more meals that have been prepared from scratch by yourself
- Chew your food more throughly take longer
- Make sure you are consuming adequate protein (eggs, meat, fish, poultry) and fiber (vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fruit) at each meal time
- Savor the taste and enjoy it for longer!
3. Powerful distractions
Distractions will draw your attention away from the meal / snack you are consuming and may even reframe the situation you find yourself in e.g. stressed and ready to dive into the biscuit tin
There are plenty of distractions including
- Going for a walk
- Phoning a friend
- Drinking a large glass of water
- Exercising
- Head to the gym
- Snacking on fruit instead of high calorie items
- Practice a hobby
- Play with your kids
- Knock up a salad from scratch (if you are genuinely hungry you will eat it)
4. Hunger or thirst?
Is there genuine hunger or is it thirst? Try it! If you have eaten recently a good, balanced meal of protein, veggies and some carbs 3-4 hours ago it may be hunger. If not then you are looking at something which is triggering a feeding episode.
Try drinking a large glass of water and see how that makes you feel or making a hot drink. This will do two things 1) Stop and slow the process down and 2) distract you from what is going on.
5. Portion Control
If you are under eating for your caloric requirements and training excessively it could also be a trigger for hunger. Likewise if you are purposely dieting and feeling hungry – I am not surprised! You are deliberately eating under your calorie requirements!
There is nothing wrong with this if this is your goal and expect to be somewhat hungry. This is something you need to discuss with a coach if this is a constant issue and energy levels are suffering.
So there you have it, emotional eating is not an easy fix and may need further intervention from a qualified professional if it persists.
