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Five Common Excuses for Eating Junk Food

Oct16

Here are 5 common excuses and/or justifications for eating junk food. Add yours and we’ll have a survey to determine the top 10 favorites.

1. I didn’t have time to prepare a meal.

2. It’s just candy corn. There’s no fat in it.

3. Hey, this diet isn’t working anyway.  I might as well eat what I like.

4. I’m doing a fat flush tomorrow so I have to finish off all the junk food tonight so I won’t be tempted.

5. Well, ice cream does have calcium in it, and the nuts have protein. It’s better for me than chips.

Fellow food addicts and emotional eaters, I have used all of these. Sometimes I made a conscious effort to give in to my food addiction, and sometimes I chose something more healthy.

When your work schedule is such that you have to eat while driving, or there were no breaks for 3 hours so you were famished after the meeting and grabbed some chips from the vending machine, it’s hard to resist junk food.

Anyone with a food addiction or a problem with emotional eating has to arm themselves with a plan. You have to be prepared to follow that plan so you can reach your goal.

Being healthy is a great goal. It takes some work but it is worth it. You will add years to your life and you will enjoy those years.

No matter what we tell ourselves, we will follow the commands of either our mind or our heart. Some of the excuses for overeating are hilarious. I can relate to all of them except the ones involving beer.

I carry around 30 extra pounds because I choose to. There are plenty of reasons but none of them have anything to do with my life goals.

They’re just part of my food addiction. They remind me that I get lonely, that I sometimes feel overworked and under-appreciated, that my friends aren’t always there when I need them. And so I visit my friends in the refrigerator.

I can’t deny that it gets harder as I get older. I can’t say that it’s the best I can do. It’s not. I just don’t feel like doing the work some days, and I have to pay the price for that.

Still, when I look back at all the excuses, I’m really only kidding myself. So maybe now that the weather has cooled off a bit, I’ll trade in my candy corn for a nice walk in the park. Now, there’s an idea.

Why Food Addicts Eat What They Eat

Oct14

Did you ever wonder what makes you crave the foods you eat when you stuff down your feelings? Never gave it that much thought, huh? Well, that’s okay. Most people don’t.

Remember that while not all emotional eaters may have actual food addictions, they do share similar tendencies toward certain food cravings.

This video may give you some insight into the feelings that trigger your emotional eating and ignite your food addiction fuse.

I thought it was very interesting. I hope you think so, too.

Food Addicts Need Plenty of Rest

Oct4

Going without sleep can seriously impair your ability to ward off the temptations of seasonal candy and social treats.

I’ve been sick from food poisoning the past few days days and I’m not out of the woods yet. Needless to say, I am not thinking of food addictions at the moment.

Rest seems to be the most attractive thing on the menu for the time being.

It’s easy to forget that a simple necessity like sleep can have such a positive effect on one’s health. Sleep can heal so many things, including the negative effects of overeating associated with food addictions.

Stock up on ZZZZZZZ’s and nap when you can. The brain loves it and those hormones that make you want to eat everything in sight are nowhere to be found.

Emotional eaters need to be pampered with non-food warm fuzzies. Sleep is right up there at the top of the list when it comes to results.

So good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.

Take a Vacation From Your Food Addiction

Sep30

When heading out on vacation, there’s that little thought in the back of your mind thinking about the weight you’re going to gain. You may be pleasantly surprised and you might even lose a few pounds.

It’s true that overeating is common for most people while on vacation. However, emotional eating and food addiction are not the same as overeating. They’re triggered by enormous stress, not all the delightful foods that beckon you on your holiday.

Give your food addiction a vacation, too. If you’re not emotionally stressed out, you won’t feel the uncontrollable urge to stuff down your feelings with too much of the wrong foods. And, by the way, the wrong foods for someone else aren’t necessarily the wrong foods for you.

So, here’s today’s rescue remedy. Try some personal empowerment. When you’re on vacation, enjoy yourself. Relax, get a massage, do what you really want to do at least part of the time and you won’t feel the need to eat in order to cope.

Emotional eating is eating when your emotions have gotten the better of you. Don’t let your vacation companions, even if they’re family, bully you into doing things you don’t enjoy and that don’t make you feel relaxed and happy.

Be a little selfish. Let someone else cope for a change. You just enjoy yourself and your vacation, whether it is for a day or two weeks.

There’s no law that says you and your food addiction can’t take separate vacations.