Dr. Foster’s damn-good diet, Pt. 4
by Mira and Charles on February 4th, 2010Emotional issues
People who are overweight often have an emotional connection with food. It would be so easy to lose weight if we ate only when we were hungry and stopped eating as soon as we started to stop feeling hungry. But in fact every single emotion can be an eating trigger. I have eaten when sad, anxious, stressed out, bored, happy, angry, you name it. And I’m not alone. But this is actually good news. It means that if you can identify your emotions you can stop the automatic emotional eating. Here’s how you do it, and it’s an essential part of Dr. Foster’s damn-good diet.
Step 1: How do you feel? You just have to acknowledge the feeling. Be aware of it. Name it. “I am sad.” “I am bored.” Whatever the feeling is.
Step 2: Block the eating response. This is actually not about will power or a decision. It’s just about seeing a truth: “Just because I am stressed out I don’t need to eat, and in fact eating will just make things worse.”
Step 3: Identify the emotional need. You weren’t completely crazy to eat because you were stressed or whatever. There was a need, a real need. It just wasn’t a need for food. It was a need for something much more connected to that emotion. Eating to deal with an emotion is like going for a drive when you are really tired: it’s a solution, it’s just not the right solution.
Every emotion has some action associated with it that will help with the emotion. (Including, by the way, the idea that you could just feel the emotion. Just sit with it. Just feel it. And come out OK on the other end.)
Sad? Maybe you need to share that feeling with someone.
Stressed out? Maybe you need to do something to de-stress.
Angry? Maybe distract yourself with exercise or vent to a friend.
Anxious? Remember: action is the antidote to fear. There is always something you can do to feel less anxious, even if it is just to make a to-do list, look something up on the Internet, or get reassurance from someone you trust.
This is a very good start, but it’s just scratching the surface. For more help, check out The Emotional Energy Factor, the award-winning book about how to regain power over our negative emotions and get more in touch with the emotional energy that we need so badly. And as a special bonus, in the book starting on pp. 97 you’ll find the emotional-energy diet, which is a way to lose weight by paying proper attention to your real emotional needs. Also click here for more information, include an emotional-energy quiz.
Next blog: personal habits and lifestyle obstacles to losing weight.
Warmly, Charles
