Live For Food

I know perfectly well that you should only eat when you’re hungry. Unfortunately there is a part of my brain that thinks I should eat when I feel like it. It’s the same part responsible for “eyes bigger than stomach” syndrome – something else I suffer from regularly!

So why do people eat when they’re not hungry? There are many emotional reasons why people eat: tiredness, sadness, happiness, anger, hormones, and a need to comfort eat. I think I’m right in saying that generally women are more subject to emotional eating than men. However, the two main reasons why I eat when I’m not hungry are just boredom and simply being greedy!

I don’t mean I’m bored out of my mind, merely that a lot of the tasks I do are not terribly exciting a lot of the time: housework, commuting, my job, admin at home etc., and I find low level distraction like eating a welcome break. And as for being greedy, well I just like eating nice food and can find it hard to resist at times, especially if its there in front of me.

So here is a list, a compilation of things you can do to combat emotional eating, boredom eating, and plain old greed!

To help remove cravings:

• Clean your teeth after a meal
• Chew sugar free gum
• Eat sugar free mints
• Have a glass of water
• Have a cup of green tea or fruit tea
• Wait 30 minutes before allowing yourself a snack – the craving may pass

Physical distraction – quick:

• Move to another part of the house far away from the kitchen
• Change the activity you are doing
• Do one minute of star jumps
• Do a crossword puzzle
• Cut your nails
• Run up and down the stairs
• Reply to a few posts on an online forum
• Phone a friend
• Write in your diary or do a blog post
• Tweet
• Read a magazine article

Physical distraction – long:

• Go out for a walk
• Find an activity to get absorbed in: a book, a film, a computer game or a jigsaw puzzle
• Do some gardening
• Do a housework task
• Meditate or practice the relaxation response
• Take a long bath or shower
• Get a new hobby that will keep your fingers and mind busy – cross-stitch or a musical instrument for example
• Do some yoga
• Do an exercise DVD
• Go to the shop for a paper – cone home and read it

Preventative measures:

• Remove unhealthy snacks from the house
• Take a healthy packed lunch and snacks to work
• Keep cup a soup in your drawer in the office
• Stick a note on the fridge in large type which says ARE YOU REALLY HUNGRY?
• Don’t have “just one” – it will lead to more
• Don’t stay up late watching telly
• Keep a food diary to make your snacking accountable
• Plan treats into your diet to remove feelings of deprivation

Combat the emotions:

• Calmly consider the long term effect of too many snacks on your digestion and health – is it really worth it?
• Try and tune in to your hunger signals, are they really there, or is another emotion at the surface?
• Are you stressed? – Try to address the root cause, don’t cover it with food
• Do you have a genuine problem but don’t know the answer? – Perhaps therapy is the answer to help you address your issues

At the supermarket:

• Only allow yourself to buy the things on your list
• Don’t go into a supermarket spontaneously
• Don’t  go into a supermarket when you’re hungry
• Don’t buy unhealthy foods just because they are on offer
• Try not to browse in a supermarket
• Purposely purchase some healthy snacks if you have a tendency to snack

If you give in, go for damage limitation:

• Have a cup a soup
• Eat some vegetable sticks: carrot, celery, cucumber
• Eat some pickled onions or beetroot
• Choose a snack that involves effort to eat – nuts with shells in, satsumas, lychees
• Lay the snack on a plate, don’t eat from the bag
• Eat mindfully, slowly, and consciously

Next time I get the urge to snack when I’m not hungry I’m going to try referring to my own list – hopefully just having made the list will make my head think that I should practice what I preach!