Listen to a radio interview I just did with Leslie Evans at Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling, which will help you to identify emotional eating habits and learn ways to combat and eliminate emotional eating in your life. The intro is a little long, but hang in there! There is at least a half an hour of this show, where I talk about the exact tools I teach to help people overcome years of emotional eating.

Angela Pifer, MSN CN Bellevue Nutritionist

Bellevue Weight Loss Programs – I work Nationally through Skype

www.NutritionNorthwest.com

Most of us experience eating triggers every day. It may be the smell of coffee brewing in the morning, or that Mrs. Smith’s apple pie commercial on television, or even the sight of the Golden Arches as we drive home from work. Eating triggers are everywhere and they are real. Each of these triggers can cause your mouth to produce saliva and your stomach to begin to secrete juices important to digesting food.

As America becomes more and more media-rich, the number of eating triggers we are exposed to each day likely will increase. This makes it tough when you’re trying not to overeat, because any of these cues could send you straight to the refrigerator or pantry for a snack.

So what can a person do to help reduce the risk of overeating? Well, one solution is to avoid the triggers as much as possible. For example, limit the time you spend in front of the television or get up during commercials and do something else so you aren’t tempted. One healthy alternative is to exercise during commercials. Do a few sit-ups, light jogging in place, or jump rope.

A second suggestion is to identify your strongest triggers and see if they are associated with particular emotions or times of day. Keep an eating diary. List all the food you eat and the amount, and note what time it is, any triggers you’re aware of, your emotional state, and what you were doing when you got the urge to eat.

Boredom, depression, anxiety, nervousness, and loneliness can trigger inappropriate eating. Try to deal with these emotions in ways other than eating. Exercise, for example, or call a friend, go for a walk, do some needlework, read a book, join a bowling league, or find some other hobby you enjoy.

Angela Pifer, Certified Nutritionist

Seattle Nutritionist– I work Nationally through Skype

www.NutritionNorthwest.com

We must eat to survive and yet year after year billions of dollars are spent on diet books looking to restrict us from the foods we love, reduce our calories and remove us from the patterns that were giving us comfort. We know diets don’t work, but since we weren’t taught healthy relationships as children, most people don’t know how to listen to themselves.

“I was taking on too much responsibility, doing too much for others, working too hard, not taking care of myself. I was eating too much and rarely exercising. Most days I’d rush out the door in the morning without breakfast. By the time the evening rolled around I felt out of control with my eating. I would snack and snack and then feel guilty about not being able to stick with a plan. I didn’t think my appearance mattered much, but I was definitely in denial about how heavy I had gotten. I used the excuses we all make: "Well, clothing sizes aren’t what they used to be." It wasn’t until I got on my doctor’s scales that I faced the numbers and realized, "I am close to 200 pounds. That’s obese."

Does this sound familiar? It is never too late to develop that sense of connection and trust. It can be reestablished, it just takes practice.

Mindful eating is the first step toward experiencing a healthy relationship with food. Whether you are a person who deprives yourself of foods and eats highly regimented or the slightest bit of anxiety or sadness kick in your carbohydrate cravings, there are ways to stop the cycle of emotional eating.

The first is to gain awareness of your current patterns: How can you get to point B if you don’t know what point A is? This is where most diets fail, because they don’t take into account what a person is presently doing. They don’t address “why” you are eating a certain way before they go and drastically try to change habits and behaviors. The fist step is to identify your patterns, triggers, and eating style.

This goes beyond simply writing down the foods you are eating. You will also need to check in with your feelings every time you reach for food. I am not suggesting that you are an emotional eater 100% of the time. What I am suggesting is that we each need to get in the habit of checking in with ourselves. “Fine” and “ok” will need further probing. We are so used to offering this reply to others when we are asked, “How are you doing?” that we have started to believe it ourselves. Gaining awareness of your eating and emotional patterns is the first step to freeing yourself from the daily restrict-binge cycle.