Tips
for Overcoming Emotional Eating with your Diet Program
If
you are tired of diet failure take heart a lot of people fail at things
they try to accomplish.
Failure of weight
loss programs probably has one of the highest failure rates and one of
the biggest problems is emotional eating. But failing is not the
important thing here, how you respond to your failure is important.
Steps that can prove to be very constructive are; identifying areas of
failure, taking steps to avoid future failure and trying again.
Identifying the Area
of Failure
When someone comes into a
weight loss diet they bring strengths and weaknesses with them. The key
to success is in knowing each. This way you can take steps to utilize
your strengths in the best manner and supplement your weaknesses with
effective techniques to minimize their effect. Let’s take a look at
some of the areas that commonly lead to diet failure.
Food Cravings - At
the root of cravings is hunger. Some have a very difficult time dealing
with hunger and so they eat foods outside of the diet plan. Depending
on the diet it can be so regimented that it takes only a few setbacks
and the diet plan is broken. Some of these cravings are due to
emotional eating. Just recognizing which cravings are due to emotional
eating can make it easier to reduce these cravings.
Discipline - Fact
is that not everyone has developed the strength that disciplined
behavior contributes to a diet plan. The more a diet plan relies on the
discipline of the individual the more important this strength becomes
for obtaining successful results.
Exercise - If you
have lived a life that has not included a large degree of physical
activity then exercise can pose a problem. Not everyone enjoys exercise
especially formal exercise routines. This area can be a problem for
many engaging in a diet plan where exercise is a major component.
Diet
Planning - A diet plan is not a spontaneous activity. In fact it
assumes that certain behaviors will be performed while others are
abstained. Failure to look at the big picture of your life and plan for
these required sets of behavior can cause the diet plan to fail.
How to Overcome Problem
Areas
Cravings-at
the root of cravings is hunger and so hunger must be eliminated if you
are going to succeed. One technique for overcoming hunger is to plan
for times when you are most likely to get a craving. Preparing some
fresh fruits or vegetables to prevent hunger is an acceptable low
calorie approach. Most cravings occur between meals and so if you
prepare for them and have a healthy alternative on hand you can meet
the cravings head on and curb them.
Discipline-fact is
that not everyone has developed a high degree of discipline, but it is
never too late to start. The key here is to begin with baby steps and
build on your successes. Don’t expect to develop a high degree of
discipline right away. One technique is to displace one bad behavior
with an acceptable one and build up from there. Instead of eating
potato chips while watching television have some orange slices
available instead. You could also sit on the floor and stretch instead
of sitting on the couch while you watch. Replace emotional eating with
action. As an example, if you are unhappy do something like watch a
comedy that will make you laugh. If you feel unsuccessful, do something
that will make you better.
Exercise-if your
life has not contained a high degree of physical activity then start
off with small steps. You could start a walking program. Take a walk
around the block after dinner or climb the stairs to your office
instead of taking the elevator. As your stamina builds you can then
consider more challenging exercise activities. It has been shown that
exercise is particularly good for those that suffer from emotional
eating. Exercise makes us all feel better.
Planning-someone
once said that failing to plan is planning to fail and they may have a
good point here. It is important to take a look at the rhythm of your
life and the challenges you may be facing at key points during the day.
Then make a plan on how you can overcome the challenge and ultimately
stay on your diet plan. Forewarned is forearmed in this case. If your
worse cravings come while driving home from work a healthy snack bar or
mix in the glove box may be just the approach to squelch the temptation
to stop at that fast food restaurant.
Related
Resources at Ideal-Weight-Charts.com
Read more
about how
to stop emotional eating.
Return to Weight
Loss Diary.