Emotional Eating

Dear Charlotte,

I have been reading your blog and I know that I am an emotional eater. I eat when I am sad…or depressed, or bored. Recently I went through a divorce and if my waistline is any indication, it seems to be getting worse.

How can I take control of my eating habits and maybe lose a few pounds?

Thomas J. FL

Dear Thomas,

Emotional eating is characterized as eating to console or sooth, as a way to deal with stress, anxiety, or depression--and going through a divorce is certainly a cause of all these things! Emotional eaters often turn to junk food and high calorie, or sugary snacks. Even though your emotions can be a trigger for eating, you can take certain steps to control these cravings.

Here are some ways to gain power over emotional eating:

1) Recognize your true hunger: Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and still have a full stomach, you're probably not really hungry. Are you really just bored or sad?

2) Recognize your triggers: Keep a food diary for a week and write down what you eat, when you eat, and how you're feeling before and after you eat. Do you only eat when hungry? Or do you find that you are snacking when you are stressed. Are there patterns in the time that you eat between meals or in why you are eating? Change the pattern and you are less likely to eat when you don’t need to.

3) Take a break: If you find yourself reaching for food in a stressful or frustrating moment, get up and go for a walk. Take a break from your work, or from sitting in front of the TV or computer—just get up and go do something different, fun, or relaxing.

4) Clean the cupboards: One of the secrets of slim people is that they do not keep a lot of junk food in the house. Don’t buy the bag of chips or keep high calorie snack foods in the cupboard. If you are feeling hungry between meals, you will be more likely to grab an apple or carrot sticks if this is what is available to you.

5) Don’t skip meals: You should eat when you are physically hungry. For you this might mean 5 smaller healthy meals throughout the day, or less, but wait until you are hungry. But if it is a meal-time and you are hungry, sit down and have a good meal. If you are full you will be less likely to grab the "bad-for-you" foods later if you are feeling down.

6) Take care of yourself: Get regular exercise and a good night’s sleep. You will be better able to deal with the stress in your life when you are healthy and well-rested.

If you do give in to emotional eating, do not dwell on it. Understand why, (a trigger or a skipped breakfast) and move on and face the next day. Celebrate the positive, healthy habits you are developing and the way the world opens up when you aren’t held back by emotional eating.

Please give me a call if I can be of assistance: 800.496.7710

Charlotte Smith
Eating Consultant and Life Coach

Become The Real You will instruct you on how to listen to your own body. How to eat whatever you want to achieve and maintain your perfect body weight! No more diets, no drugs, no counting calories. It’s simple...and it works!

Become The Real You is a process is for anyone who:
--Is tired of yo-yo dieting
--Wants to return to their natural shape
--Wants to come to peace with food and their body
--Wants to lose weight permanently
--Wants freedom from food obsession

Contact Charlotte today to learn more at 800.496.7710.

Dealing with Stress at Work

Dear Charlotte,

I have been dealing with a lot of stress at work, including long hours. I used to take walks on my lunch hour and eat healthfully, and now I just snack at my desk. During the last year I have gained a lot of weight, and I don’t feel as good about myself. When I get home I am so frustrated I just eat until I go to bed.

What should I do?

Michelle J.
New York

Dear Michelle,

For many people, food is a comfort when times are tough. It keeps us occupied, distracts us from facing difficult issues and consoles and sooths us when we are down.

But emotional eating, (eating as a way to suppress negative emotions, such as stress, anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness and loneliness) can lead to weight gain. And emotional eating often leads to eating too much, especially the higher calorie, sugary or salty foods that aren’t good for us.

The good news is that you have taken the first step to ending this cycle of emotional eating and taking control of your weight. You may not be able to change your stressful work environment, but you can change how you deal with it.

Your afternoon walks are a great place to start. The added exercise will help you clear your head and be able to deal with the afternoon better. You will be more productive, less stressed and the added benefit of being a great healthy habit that may help you lose a few of those unwanted pounds.

I would like to work with you more to help work through your emotional eating habits. If this is something you would be interested in, please give me a call at 800.496.7710.

Charlotte Smith
Eating Consultant and Life Coach

Become The Real You will instruct you on how to listen to your own body. How to eat whatever you want to achieve and maintain your perfect body weight! No more diets, no drugs, no counting calories. It’s simple...and it works!

Become The Real You is a process is for anyone who:
--Is tired of yo-yo dieting
--Wants to return to their natural shape
--Wants to come to peace with food and their body
--Wants to lose weight permanently
--Wants freedom from food obsession
Contact Charlotte today to learn more at 800.496.7710

Feeling Healthy

Dear Charlotte,

I have always considered myself to be a “healthy” person—I ate right, exercised, etc. But in the last two years my weight has ballooned and I am tired all the time. I have no energy to exercise, or even cook. I find that I am binging on junk food or stopping at fast food restaurants all the time.

I am depressed and I know I have fallen into a bad cycle. How do I get out?

Marleen G.
Tennessee

Dear Marleen,

There may be a medical reason for your weight gain and fatigue. Twenty-seven million Americans suffer from a thyroid condition, and left undiagnosed, it can be very serious. My advice to you is to get yourself to doctor first to see if this could be the situation in your case. A thyroid condition can be easily detected with a blood test, and easily treated with medication.

If the thyroid is not to blame for the weight-gain (and even if it is) then we will next look at the causes of your bad eating habits. How do you feel after you get fast food? Physically, are you satisfied by these meals? Emotionally, do you have guilt when you don’t eat “healthy?” If I have the pleasure of working with you, I may ask that you keep a food diary, (not to track calories, I don’t believe in that) but rather to make you aware of how food makes you “feel.”

You are right that you are in a “bad cycle.” It is one that so many of us have fallen in to, however, it is one that can broken. And when this happens, you will be healthier—inside and out!

Give me a call at 800.496.7710.

Charlotte Smith
Eating Consultant and Life Coach

Become The Real You will instruct you on how to listen to your own body. How to eat whatever you want to achieve and maintain your perfect body weight! No more diets, no drugs, no counting calories. It’s simple...and it works!

Become The Real You is a process is for anyone who:
--Is tired of yo-yo dieting
--Wants to return to their natural shape
--Wants to come to peace with food and their body
--Wants to lose weight permanently
--Wants freedom from food obsession

Contact Charlotte today to learn more at 800.496.7710.