Emotional eating is such a trigger for many of us. We eat when we’re sad, we eat when we’re glad, we eat when we are lonely, we eat when we are tired, we eat when we are frustrated, we eat when we’re stressed, we eat when we are bored and the list goes on and on and on. The cycle of emotional eating can seem never ending. We know we do it. We want to stop doing it, yet the minute our lives are out of whack we reach for the nearest comfort food.
One thing I’m working on is putting into practice, simply pausing to collect and settle myself. What I have found is that if I can pause my reaction for just a few moments I can usually talk myself in off the ledge. In those paused moments I ask myself some questions:
- Are you really hungry? Of course the answer is usually no.
- What’s really bothering you? I could be feeling anxious about a deadline or stressed about a conversation. It could be any number of things, but the point is to stop long enough to figure out what’s triggering me to want to eat.
- Will eating XYZ make you feel better? If I’m really honest with myself the answer will be no. In fact nine times out of ten it will probably make me feel worse, because after eating it I will feel guilt or shame.
- Is it worth it? This is the 10 million dollar question. If I can pause long enough to ask these questions and answer honestly to this one, I can stop myself from eating out of anger, fatigue, loneliness, etc. etc. etc.
Here’s what I’ve learned about pausing:
Pausing Brings You Into The Moment
When it comes to emotional eating I’m not even consciously aware of what I’m doing. I know this is true because I often find myself digging into an empty bag of potato chips only to find crumbs to then realize that I sat there and ate the whole bag without being fully aware of what I was doing.
If I allow myself to pause I would be able to bring myself into the moment and recognize that I am not hungry at all and that potato chips and nothing else that I might potentially reach for will be able to solve the thing that caused me to reach for the munchies in the first place.
Pausing Gives You Time To Reflect
In those moments when I actually pause long enough to ask those critical questions, I can usually pinpoint exactly what the real problem is and zero in on fixing it without the aid of food. What really helps me in this case is to write my feelings out and in the process come up with solutions other than food to fix it.
Pausing Prevents You From Reacting
Practicing building in a pause whether it’s in the case of eating or responding to a situation or circumstance will allow you to pump the brakes on acting on your first instinct. Many times we react without thinking. Pausing allows us a moment or two to think, to reason with ourselves and to talk ourselves out of doing something that we realize in the moment of pausing that we should not do.
Your Turn To Share
Have you learned the power of pausing? How do you use “pausing” to keep you from making a decision that you may soon regret?