Emotional Eating

Are you trying to stick to a healthy eating plan, when along comes a situation or problem that totally stresses you out. Suddenly, you intensly crave a piece of chocolate cake or that extra helping at dinner - or perhaps half a bag of Doritoes or potato chips...sound familiar?

This is a food craving; however, it has nothing to do with genuine hunger. Genuine hunger is a biological need, whereas food cravings are based on emotion. As humans, we are all prone to these cravings and everybody responds differently. Below are a few tips to help you deal with sudden stress related cravings.

1. Get in touch with your emotion. Be prepared to deal with food cravings anytime you find yourself feeling upset about something. The mere act of anticipating the urge can often help you avoid giving in to the temptation to splurge.
2. If you still must eat something, make it a lower calorie snack. While it is best to do your best to learn how to control impulsive eating, we all run into times when we just say, "to heck with it!" and give in. Keep some favorite low-calorie snacks handy at all times for this situation. Here are a few suggestions:
   • Ritz whole wheat crackers with 2-percent cheese atop
   • Fat free potato chips
   • 1 cup of low fat chili
   • Meal replacement shake (Slim Fast) or a healthy smoothie
   • Low fat or non-fat ice cream
   • Non fat / sugar free yogurt
   • Light microwave popcorn
3. If all else fails: If you have a very strong craving for a particular food that just will not go away - eat it and be rid of the temptation. Sometimes it is best to do this and NOT eat a lot of other foods while trying to curb your appetite for the food you really want. This is where you will have to be the judge AND jury!
4. If you are a frequent emotional eater, seriously consider getting some emotional help. There may be underlying issues you need to deal with before you can learn to control emotional eating.

1. You experience suddent pangs of hunger (physical hunger happens gradually)
2. You crave a specific food and cannot imagine eating anything else
3. You feel like you need to eat immediately and cannot wait
4. You continue to eat after you feel full, or you eat absent-mindedly, eating a whole bag of chips, for instance, without realizing it
5. You feel guilty after eating