Emotions have an incredible power to influence our food choices – usually in the opposite direction of healthy eating.
If you’re an emotionally driven eater, you might use comfort food to soothe stress.
If you’re in a bad mood you probably don’t care what you eat – or how much of it you pile on your plate. And it’s not just negative emotions that lead us to over-indulge.
Many of us use food in a celebratory way, and any occasion can be a green light to binge.
Food can also conjure up comforting feelings and memories.
The smell of Bolognese sauce bubbling on the hob might remind you of your mum, who encouraged you to have huge second helpings of pasta as a child.
Sometimes in the struggle between doughnut and waistline, the doughnut will win because it’s impossible to manage every feeling and always make the healthy decision.
But you can learn to depend on food for comfort less often...
Be in the moment
We all eat on autopilot sometimes – mindlessly munching our way through a monster bag of crisps in front of the telly,for example.
A good trick each time you’re trying to decide on a snack is to repeat the phrase “be here” to yourself, then tune into how you’re feeling and then decide.
Are you snacking to combat feelings of stress? Or do you feel happy and want to prolong the feeling with food? Are you actually hungry?
If you do this a few times, you’ll start to recognise when you zone out and how to bring yourself back to the moment to make a smarter decision.
Cash only!
You’re standing in line to order your morning coffee and your eye falls on the glass case of sticky pastries, so you impulsively add one to your order and hand over your debit card. Sound familiar? This kind of snap decision can really undermine your long-term healthy eating goals.
Next time, try an old-school tool and pay by cash only. According to psychologists, hard cash is more “painful” to part with than using a card, which distances you from the experience, so you’ll think twice about that sugary treat.
Be flexible
Rigid dieters are more prone to a loss of control – and a binge – if their healthy eating plans are scuppered because they never have a Plan B.
It’s vital to be able to adapt to changing circumstances, for example if you’ve packed a lunch and then your boss invites you to a restaurant.
Instead of giving in to negative emotions and then having a “blow-out”, be flexible. Choose the least calorie-laden dish on the menu and make a note to adjust your portion sizes later.
Take a “time in”
Overeating can be an expression of anger turned inward. How is your eating affected when you’re irritated or angry? If you’re about to make dinner do you think “to hell with it!” and grab a calorie-laden frozen pizza instead of the stir-fry you’d planned?
Next time, acknowledge that anger and do something else to discharge it rather than make an emotional decision about food.
Manage it in a positive way – write down how you feel, call someone to talk it out or go for a run. You have options, you just need to pick one.
Rate your hunger
We should rely on our body’s cues to tell us when to start and stop eating – i.e. a rumbling tummy and a feeling of satisfaction. However, we often eat in response to external cues such as TV adverts for juicy burgers or muffins sitting on the kitchen counter. We respond to appetite – the want to eat – instead of hunger, which is the need to eat. It’s why we walk into the supermarket for milk and come out with a dozen cupcakes!
Start rating, on a scale of one to 10, your want to eat versus your need to eat before choosing a meal, a snack or even taking the next mouthful.
If the want rating is higher than the need rating, then take a pause as you may be acting on an emotional urge rather than a need to refuel.
Words that make you go “mmm...”
Food companies use words such as “silky”, “succulent” and “home-style” to evoke specific emotions such as pleasure, comfort and nostalgia. Such emotive words hit us in the gut and shape our food choices.
To find out how easily you’re drawn in, deconstruct the menu when you eat out. Make a note of enticing words that describe the dishes, such as “tender”, “flaky”, “sizzling” and so on, then delete them, stripping the description back.
For example “Home-style Sicilian Chicken Parmesan, a plump deep-fried chicken patty, lightly breaded and topped with a sauce of vine-ripened tomatoes and smothered in mozzarella” becomes “fried, breaded, processed chicken topped with tomato sauce and cheese”. Do you still want it or will you choose something else?
It’s a great way to pause in a situation ripe for an emotion-driven decision!
Refresh your “emotional status”
The pace of modern life can cut us off from our emotions and from true belly-rumbling hunger as well.
We get so immersed in everything out there – emails, texts, Facebook, Twitter, as well as staying on top of work and family life, that we forget to tune into how we’re feeling inside.
Once we start checking our “emotional status” regularly, it’s easier to stay ahead of emotional eating. You’ll start noticing patterns in your moods. If you make the clearest decisions in the morning, then buy or pack your lunch first thing.
If you’re in meltdown by the end of the day, then have an afternoon snack pre-prepared so you don’t binge before dinner.