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Disrupt emotional eating habits with a 5-minute break

Follow these steps the next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed.

By Weight Watchers
Published 16 August 2021
Disrupt emotional eating habits with a 5-minute break

Try this!

Do you feel overwhelmed and want to eat? Pay attention to your emotional eating patterns and follow these steps when you recognize that urge.

1. Set a timer for five minutes—do whatever you want with the time. 2. Check in with yourself when it goes off. How do you feel? No longer feel the urge? Carry on with your day! Still feel the urge? Is there anything you can do to change how you feel, like taking a walk or calling a friend? 3. How do you feel about your response to each step? Did your desire to eat change as time passed? Take note of solutions that may work next time!

Let’s dive a little deeper...

If you tend to reach for food when you’re sad, lonely, or straight-up angry, it may be an emotional eating habit. In fact, about 40% of WW members say it’s a common obstacle they face when they’re stressed (aka you’re not alone).

Waiting five minutes when you feel the urge to chow down gives you the chance to respond more intentionally (even if you spend the time checking Instagram or folding laundry). Remember, if you grab a snack when the alarm goes off, it’s totally OK. The goal isn’t not to eat, but to become aware and work on interrupting unhelpful habits and form more helpful ones.

Week 2 of our monthly theme: Obstacle Breakthroughs.