Emotional Eating – Is Food Your Only Source of Pleasure?

 

While I usually talk about diet delivery services, I wanted to talk today about something that can sabotage any diet – meal delivery service or not: Emotional Eating.

Emotional eating is basically eating to make yourself feel better, happier, more relaxed, less stressed, more energetic, less depressed, etc. Food can be used when we are lonely, when we’re sad or even when we’re happy.

In fact, I once read a nutritionist estimate that 75% of overeating was due to emotions.

So what can you do if emotional eating is a problem for you? Well, ask yourself if food is your only source of pleasure. For many people it is.

It’s the one area that they allow themselves to relax and ‘go crazy’ if you will.

But if you ask them what else they enjoy, they probably will have a problem answering you.

If food is your only source of pleasure or fun – you will inevitably have problems with emotional eating. Human beings aren’t robots. We all need areas that we can ‘make a mess’, let go and have fun. The problem is that when the only are is food – we will overeat on a consistent basis.

So instead of trying to force ourselves to diet and then beat ourselves up when we fail (due to the natural need for pleasure after a particularly rough day), why not focus on building OTHER areas of pleasure.

I know it may sound revolutionary but stick with me here: take a day and just let yourself ‘have fun’. Whatever you feel like that you would enjoy (within reason and budget), let yourself do it – as long as it has nothing to do with food.

For example, what about a brisk walk in the woods if you love nature? Like a good romance novel? Go to the library and load up! And then spend as many hours as you like reading them.

How about a luxurious, decadent bubble bath? I personally like a magnesium salt bath since it makes me feel so relaxed and warm afterwards. The point is to start developing pampering rituals and other sources of pleasure other than food.

You are a human being and you have a need for pleasure – even decadence. The thing is that for many people that need gets filled by food – and they end up overeating. But if you honor this need for pleasure and relaxation with things other than food, you will find that emotional eating isn’t as much of a problem for you.

Then it will be easier to lose weight on any diet plan that you choose! Remember you deserve some pleasure today!