Are you an emotional eater?

Reaching out for that bar of chocolate or juicy burgerwhen you’re feeling low, upset or tired is a situation that most of us are familiar with. Food has the uncanny ability to make you feel better but to depend on it to cheer you up every time will do you more harm than good in the long run, say studies. Emotional eating stems from different things and needs to be checked before it takes over your life.

• Ask yourself why you want to eat when you aren’t physically hungry. Is it to fill a void or are you genuinely low on energy? It has now been established that cravings are most often triggered by emotions, which include anxiety and even boredom.
• Some people eat mindlessly while sitting in front of the idiot box without even realising how much junk food they are plying their body with. In the long run, these calories pile up and lead to a number of health problems.
• One of the first things you need to do is to accept the fact that you are an emotional eater. To curb emotional eating, maintain a food diary where you jot down everything you eat, the time you eat and the emotions you are feeling at that exact moment. This will help you identify a pattern and deal better with your overeating.
• Replace all unhealthy food in your kitchen with healthier options. Swap calorie-laden items with their healthy counterparts so that if you absolutely must eat, you’re eating healthy stuff. The next time you reach out, stop and ask yourself whether you really want to eat. While it may take time to get over emotional eating, with practice, it is possible to overcome it.