Almost everyone, at least once in a while, turns to food for some reason other than being hungry. Recognizing what spurs you to eat when your body doesn’t need nourishment can mean the difference between bafflement when the scale won’t bulge and finally losing weight. Take a hard look at yourself and your eating habits to see if one of these reasons is why you’ve packed on pounds.
1) Your emotions are in an uproar.
Instead of coping with uncomfortable feelings of anger, sadness, stress, boredom or loneliness, many of us turn to food. “Mood eating” accounts for 75 percent of overeating and diet failure, according to the Cleveland Clinic and its nutrition program studies. When we use food to comfort ourselves to our own detriment, it’s time to work on the emotional side of overeating, says Lisa Dorfman, a licensed psychotherapist, sports nutritionist and adjunct professor at the University of Miami.
What you can do: “Simply being aware of which emotions trigger overeating can help you stop it,” she says. Try keeping a food journal to see which moods accompany you to the pantry. Once you see a pattern of using sweets to soothe stress or nostalgic foods like Aunt Barb’s noodle casserole to remind you of your far-away family, you give yourself the opportunity to respond to those feelings with something other than food. Turn to something you enjoy that keeps you busy – and away from the kitchen. Try playing fetch with your dog, knitting or calling a friend. By finding a positive outlet for your negative emotions, you’ll not only avoid weight-loss setbacks, but you’ll also accomplish something.
2) Your bad habits run your life.
You open the refrigerator door every time you enter the kitchen. You snack throughout the day and almost never sit down to eat real meals. You finish every morsel on your plate. You grab a bag of chips when your favorite TV show comes on. When it comes to food, bad behaviors can be life-threatening at their worst and wardrobe-wrecking at their least.
