Something that we have all likely done in our lives.
After a conversation with a member of our gym the other day I thought I would expand on it here as it is a really interesting topic.
When life feels hard we as humans will usually turn to a vice to help us cope.
Today, I want to reach those who turn to food. Let’s be honest, food both feels and tastes good.
As a result, food offers an amazing, though temporary solution to life's problems.
It may not seem it or make sense but binge eating or turning to hyperpalatable serves a purpose in the moment.
It may be that you are trying to solve a discomfort or pain. However it is important to remember food can NOT fix this.
Then sets in the worst bit. The guilt.
Once you have eaten the food the feeling of guilt kicks in which then perpetuates the behaviour further.
Every action will have a trigger and overeating or stress eating is no different. Stress eating can be so automatic that you don’t even know what is triggering it.
So if it is so automatic and you may not even realise you are doing it what can you do about it?
Allow yourself to overeat.
I know, I know you are here to learn why you overeat, NOT to be encouraged to do it but there is good reason I say this.
You need to be aware of your triggers and resulting behaviours to be able to change them. Allowing yourself to overeat can help you to identify your triggers.
Certain sights, smells, events or emotions that trigger you to lose control and overeat are really important to be aware of.
Just picture it, you are watching a film with your family and before you know it a full tub of Ben and Jerry's or packet of biscuits have been finished.
You’ve “fallen off” the diet wagon again despite feeling in control all day.
You feel guilty, ashamed and wonder how it happened AGAIN.
This cycle may continue for years, in some situations 20+ years.
So allowing yourself to overeat now can help start to piece together your triggers and by creating this awareness you can start to take control of your environment and change your behaviours and habits.
How do you allow yourself to overeat?
Next time you find yourself stress eating or having the urge to stress eat treat it as an experiment.
Giving yourself permission to overeat at first will likely feel wrong and counterintuitive BUT view it as a learning experience and take notes.
Write down how you feel, describe the situation and environment that you are in.
Write down how you feel before, during and after the event.
What is vitally important for you to understand is that this should be judgement free. This is not an opportunity for you to make yourself feel worse and/or put yourself down.
This is all about learning.
About yourself, your automatic habits, behaviours and triggers to stress/overeat.
So observe and write those down NEUTRALLY.
If it helps, just pretend you are a friend reviewing the habits for a close personal friend.
You wouldn’t start berating them would you?
No, you would treat them with empathy and respect.
All you are doing is looking out for patterns of behaviour and any a-ha moments you can spot.
As you move forward you may notice that you still overeat.
That’s ok.
This is an ongoing process and it may take you multiple times before you even notice certain habits and behaviours.
So don’t obsess over overeating. The goal is to learn and therefore change your eating habits overtime.
Once you are aware of the triggers you can now decide what to do about it.
So what are you waiting for?
Go and get a notebook and start making notes about your habits, behaviours and the triggers that set them off with NO judgement.
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