Dealing with Emotional Eating:

People feel hungry due to many reasons other than a lack of food.  How many times did you feel hunger pangs when you saw a food ad on television or drove past a bakery and smelt freshly baked bread. People who eat when feeling bored, sad, stressed, excited or scared may have a hard time stopping and end up overeating.

Ways to manage emotional eating:

• Make a list of activities that you enjoy doing, such as walking, reading, gardening, etc. Keep this list with you and refer to it when you get the urge to eat.
• Call up a friend or family member who can take your mind off of eating.
• Wait for a while. Give yourself 10 minutes. Then, after 10 minutes, if you still feel hungry, have a small portion.
• Drink a glass of water or a cup of tea.  Sometimes if you are thirsty, you may mistake it for hunger.
• Keep healthy snacks around, such as baby carrots, low fat crackers or cut up fruit.
• Don’t deprive yourself. It’s not uncommon for people trying to lose weight to completely cut out all favourite foods, but then end up bingeing on them later. Allow yourself to have an occasional treat.
• If you think your eating is due to depression, anxiety or stress, seek out help from a mental health professional.