5 Tips To Reduce Emotional Eating During COVID-19

Snacking, snacking, and more snacking! 5 tips to reduce emotional eating during COVID-19.

Do you find yourself walking around the kitchen, opening and closing the fridge or cupboard doors a million times a day hoping a tasty snack will magically appear on the shelves? 

You’re not alone! Millions of people just like you are doing the exact same thing at this very moment. Human beings are wired to seek food and nourishment in times of stress and panic.  We are also wired to seek pleasure in times of emotional pain. This is why you find yourself turning to highly palatable foods like chips, pizza, cookies, or ice cream and saying "fuck-it" to salads and broccoli. 

There's good news! There are things you can start doing today to feel more in control! 

Here Are 5 Tips: 

#1: Before you eat, ask yourself: Am I physically hungry right now?" 

If you answer "yes", your strategy is to eat. What do you feel like eating? A sandwich, stew, or pasta? How Hungry are you? Do you have enough food in the house? 

• Eating "healthy" is hard. Allow yourself to have frozen meals, take-out or frozen vegetables. This is totally ok!  
• LISTEN to what your body wants, this can be hard, but your body will tell you what it feels like eating.  
• GIVE your body what it wants - it may want carbs instead of a salad.  If you chose the salad because it's "healthy", you may find yourself eating a second meal because the first one was NOT satisfying.  
• Let go of trying to eat perfectly. Perfection is stressful and triggers emotional eating. 
• Let go of the "should" statements - "I should be meal planning" or "I should be eating fresh vegetables". Should statements are stressful and trigger emotional eating.  

#2. OK, you're not physically hungry. Are you bored and have nothing to do but eat? 

Boredom eating is REAL! So many people are eating to fill this void. When we are out of routine, our eating habits are also out of routine. Routines are extremely comforting - granted, it can be hard to figure out a routine when you don't have many options to chose from. 

• Create a new routine. Have a lose/flexible structure to your day. 
• Set a somewhat flexible eating routine/schedule: set a time for meals and snacks which can make you feel like things are "normal". 
• Have a flexible wake-up time and bedtime - a bedtime of 2am and a wake up time of 12pm is totally OK. Just make sure you're getting enough sleep.  
• Change out of your PJ's into some comfy clothes so you can separate your morning from your night.  
• Take breaks, sit outside, make a coffee, play a game on your phone, call someone.
• Practice acceptance: COVID times require you to change your normal routine/daily structure and the same applies to your eating habits.  

#3. OK, you're not physically hungry. Are you stressed, anxious, or worried? 

Eating calms our nervous system and comforts us in times of panic and stress. You are not defective and you don't need to be fixed - you are wired this way. 

• Highly suggested: Do your best to let go of the things you can't control - like what's going to happen when all of this is over. Worrying, trying to predict the future, won't change the outcome - it's a false sense of control. Worry and stress trigger you to seek comforts foods, and it won't be a salad!  
• Don't judge your emotions, they are simply communicating that something is bothering you. 
• Relax and do some deep breathing before bed - being tired is a humongous trigger for stress eating. 
• Put your worries down on paper, or in your phone, and get them out of your head. 
• If possible, get out of the house, take a walk, and breath. 
• Accept that you will do a certain amount of stress eating - this is totally normal and it will pass. 

#4: OK, you're not physically hungry. Are you pleasure deprived?

Eating is Pleasure! Yes Ma'am it is! You are wired to seek pleasure in times of  pain (being trapped, isolated, and anxious). Highly palatable foods like pizza, poutine, pasta, chips, cookies, for example, hit the pleasure center in your brain and make you feel goooooood!

• Buying or eating too much pleasure food? A common reason for this is because of the food police in your head telling you it's "bad" and you "shouldn't" have it...and out comes your inner rebel to say "screw it, I'm eating it all". 
• Don't deny yourself the things that make you feel pleasure because you "should" be doing something productive. Not true. 
• DO NOT feel guilty for eating foods that bring you pleasure. It's about balance. 
• You're allowed to feel pleasure even in times of when so many people are struggling more than you are. 
• Accept that food is pleasurable. There aren't many pleasure options in the world right now other then ordering-in and hitting up the grocery store. 

#5: Give yourself permission to eat!

This sounds counter-intuitive because most people think "if I allow myself to eat, I'll be out of control". The truth is that restricting yourself of certain foods and feeling deprived will make you feel out of control and trigger overeating. Try giving yourself permission to buy chips next time you're at the grocery store - you might be surprised to find 2 bags of chips in your cart instead of 5, or maybe no chips at all!  

• If you eat something you "shouldn't", or if you eat something on your list of "bad foods", don't feel guilty. ENJOY IT! Don't shame yourself for being "bad". 
• Remind yourself: you are a human being seeking nourishment in times of stress, panic, and feeling scared. We all do!
• Don't beat yourself up - you're already beat down. It's enough.  

MOST IMPORTANTLY: give yourself a darn break. No one is perfect. Most of us are trying to figure out our new normal during all of this uncertainty and chaos. 

A virtual smile and hug are being sent your way:) Breath my friend.