Focus On Weight Loss Success: Eating To Distraction
A lot of overeating is about avoidance, escape, or just plain habit.
Do you automatically open the fridge when you have a bad day? Or mindlessly munch potato chips while you watch TV?
You’re not really hungry. You’re not even thinking about or enjoying what you’re eating.
Boredom, sadness, depression, loneliness, disappointment, stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, avoidance of work or school tasks, and habit are all reasons we distract ourselves with mindless overeating.
Habit is the one that you’re most likely to overcome with just a few changes.
First, make sure that when you eat, you do nothing except eat. No TV, no reading, no working, no multitasking of any kind.
Concentrate on what you’re doing.
Don’t shovel the food into your mouth. Eat normal bites at a normal pace and really taste the food. As a bonus, if you slow down, you’ll fill up with less food.
No more eating over the sink or on the run, either.
If you go to a fast food restaurant, either eat inside or park the car before eating. But concentrate.
It’s trickier with emotional eating. You can still use the suggestions above to eat without distraction.
But you need to deal with the emotional issues as well.
If you’re escaping with food because of a serious problem like clinical depression or sexual assault, then you need to get professional help from a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Even if you just feel powerless to control your situation, seek help. Only you and your doctor can determine if you need therapy.
It’s not a sign of weakness; it’s the first step toward healing. The weight loss will follow.
Then there’s the gray area between breaking a habit and needing therapy.
You’ll have to resolve the situation that’s causing your overeating or cope with it in a different way.
Find someone to talk to, exercise, pound out your frustrations on a keyboard instrument… just stop overeating in response to emotional issues.
Not easy, I know.
But the first step is to acknowledge what you’re doing.
Then you have a decision to make. Will you continue to blame other people or your situation for what you’re doing? Or will you take personal responsibility for your eating habits AND commit to changing them?
Not to shift blame to yourself.
But to take back the power to lose your excess weight, especially when you reach the rough patches I described in “Focus On Weight Loss Success: You Will Fail.”
Until you do, you probably won’t succeed with weight loss. No matter which program you try.
This is the third article in the series, “Focus On Weight Loss Success,” from ILoveToCheatDiet.com.
Technorati Tags: diet, dieting, weight loss, lose weight, weight loss success, focus on weight loss success, emotional eating, overeating
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:00 am
[…] Focus On Weight Loss Success: Eating To… […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Hee hee hee. Written like a woman who doesn’t have four small boys! I HAVE to multi-task while I eat. I eat standing up in the kitchen while I read or blog. I read while I eat at the table. I eat in the car. The only difference is now I have a serving in front of me instead of a bag. I used to do this with fast food or tortilla chips. Now it’s an apple or some broccoli. If it’s my meal, it’s all served out on the plate.
I’m not arguing with your tips. I actually totally agree with them. But if I don’t read while I eat…I won’t get to read!!!! And reading is almost more important than eating!
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:55 pm
This is how I gained a lot of my weight, eating in front of the TV without thinking about it, I mean. I’ve got to start paying more attention to what I’m doing and see if that helps.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I do a lot of emotional eating cuz things are strained at home a lot. I’ll try to do what you say and see if it helps. I don’t think I need therapy, I’m not that far gone yet, but I want to stop the overeating.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:14 pm
I’m like Stephanie… lots of emotional overeating. I’m gonna try to direct it to other things. Exercise sounds good.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
I laughed when I read your comment, blest. You’re right, I don’t have 4 small boys. But I take care of someone who’s disabled and requires constant care, not to mention running a business, writing a blog… I’ll switch you for the four small boys. I could use the rest.
Seriously, though, this post doesn’t apply to you or me because we’re not overeating. You’ve already solved that problem as your comment says. This post is really directed toward people who aren’t there yet. So if you’re overeating without thinking about it, I’d suggest you start thinking about it. It’s only a suggestion, though. Obviously, you should do what works for you.
Deb Giordano had a good post about this subject last week. She’s tougher than I am. You might want to take a look. It’s called Secret #2: EAT WITH AWARENESS AND WITHOUT JUDGMENT. You might want to look at some of her other posts, too. She writes a good blog.
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Right you are about this. Gotta stop.
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Thanks so much Debbie! I find that resisting the urge to read, watch tv, surf the web, etc. when I eat is a constant struggle. I totally agree with you that a lot of it boils down to just habit. For me, I just have to keep practicing eating without distractions and being aware - hopefully it will come naturally one day! I literally have to force myself to sit at the table to eat and not in front of the tv or computer (and it can be quite an internal struggle sometimes!). Also night time is the hardest for me - I love to grab some chips and watch TV but then I know that I’m doing it for some other reason besides hunger.
April 4th, 2007 at 8:43 am
I agree with Deb. Night time is the hardest for me, especially when I’m watching TV. It’s hard for me to just sit there. I’m used to constantly using my hands to eat or drink. It’s a really bad habit that I have to break.
April 5th, 2007 at 12:43 am
[…] As I said in “Focus On Weight Loss Success: Eating To Distraction,” if you suffer from clinical depression or a psychological trauma or if you feel powerless to help yourself, then you should seek professional help. […]