Ease Emotions (Without Food)

How would you describe your relationship with food? Most of us would answer: “it’s complicated.” Sure, we need to eat to survive, but our emotional connection to food goes much deeper. We eat some foods to celebrate, like a piece of cake at a birthday party. Or we might dive into a pint of ice cream when we’re stressed, sad, angry or lonely.

Emotional eating occurs in response to feelings such as stress or sadness. Just like going to the movies and eating popcorn, emotional eating is a learned response — and left unchecked can become a habit. Science has shown that if you always turn to food for comfort when you feel a certain way, you will always feel the urge to eat when you feel that emotion. Not only that, but the unplanned eating then can lead to feelings of guilt, shame or frustration.

Of course, you can’t turn off your emotions. Instead, the key is learning to respond to them in new ways, which can help you lose weight, keep it off over the long term, and achieve your wellness goals.

Instead of turning to food when you’re feeling an unpleasant emotion, pick something else to do that won’t have an impact on your progress the way eating might. You’ll find some suggestions in your Weekly, but there are plenty of possibilities:

• Dance to your favourite song.

• Look at pictures from your last vacation.

• Go for a bike ride, walk, or try an Aaptiv workout in the WW app.

• Watch your favourite comedy or TV show.

• Practice mindful breathing, breathing in and out slowly and deeply with your eyes closed in a relaxing space. You can also try a Headspace meditation in the WW app.

• Call or text a friend to catch up.

One way to choose an activity is to identify what emotions are most likely to lead you to emotionally eat. Try to pick an activity that can respond to that emotion the next time it happens. For example, if you generally eat as a result of feeling lonely, decide to call a good friend the next time you feel lonely. When you’re nervous, you could blast your favourite confidence-boosting song.

The next time you feel the desire to eat in response to an emotion, have an alternative reaction ready to go, whether it’s from the list above or something you dream up. Keep it up! Over time, as you continue to intentionally do another activity instead of eating when you feel emotional, that response will become your new automatic go-to. You might just find that the new activity boosts your mood as well, and in a more meaningful, long-lasting way.