Unlike other addictions, food addictions have time zones, blocks of time when you are most vulnerable to emotional eating.
My time zone is in the early evening and then the late evening. Mornings are no threat at all, no matter where I am or what I am doing.
Mornings are the best time for me. I have the most energy then.The hours from 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM are my most productive.
I am more organized, more creative, and more on target. I get more accomplished during those nine hours than I do at any other time during the day.
The mornings are when I feel most alive. When I am able to sleep for 5 hours in a row, which is rare, I am in heaven. Nothing can get me down. I am unstoppable.
Until 3:00 o’clock. That’s when my energy is on its way down and my creativity and productivity come to a standstill. The grey clouds of vulnerability start to gather.
I am out of energy, and I haven’t mastered the fine art of napping, so my body feels stressed. I get agitated and uncomfortable. Stress is a big contributor to emotional eating.
Even if I have just eaten an hour earlier, if I’m in the zone, my food addiction kicks in, and I feel like I am starving.
Food addiction is subtle at the onset. It’s upon you before you even realize it. You are very likely not hungry at all, but you do need comfort and support.
You might sit down and put your feet up, take a bubble bath, get a massage, or visit with a friend, all things that would comfort and calm you.
But you are stressed, and you may not have a lot of options, and your friends in the refrigerator are calling. When you’re feeling vulnerable your food addiction can take over.
If you are not able to avail yourself of some stress-reducing non-food remedy such as those previously mentioned, you may choose a quick fix.
And why not? It makes perfect sense in the moment. There’s no question that food will reduce the stress temporarily. However, when “temporarily” wears off, you’re in trouble.
There are signs, but we don’t always read in time. Sometimes we don’t even see them in time.
Food addictions, and the emotional eating brought on by them, create feelings so powerful that you choose food over everything else. If you are to overcome your food addiction, you have to be prepared for those vulnerable times.
When your hormones are out of balance, your brain gets confused. It doesn’t know how to interpret the signals. Stress signals starvation to the brain, so it instructs the body to seek out food.
One of the best remedies is to know your time zone. Recognizing the signals before you get too far out of balance can ward off emotional eating.
Here are some questions to ask yourself that will help you identify your food addiction time zone:
When do you have the most energy? Morning, afternoon, or evening? When it is daylight or when it is dark?
When do you seem to accomplish the most? Early in the morning? Not before noon? After dark? Be as specific as possible.
When does your mind seem most clear? When is it easy to focus and to get thinks done? What time of day do you seem to waste a lot of time and not accomplish much?
What time of day do you feel the happiest? The most inspired? The most self-motivated?
Some people are morning people like me. Others stay up half the night and sleep until noon. There is no best time of day that is the same for everyone. We are all different.
As adults, we can manage our own lives. In fact, we must. It is far healthier and infinitely less stressful to live our lives in harmony with body, mind, and spirit.
Pay attention and you will be able to identify your food addiction time zone. Then you can plan your trip back to the neutral zone where you rule and your food addiction cannot ensnare you.