Discover Your Food Addiction Triggers

Oct13

I have read several books that give all kinds of tips for getting over a food addiction. Most of them are geared to losing weight. That’s all well and good but I have to wonder if many of these authors have ever had a food addiction.

Emotional eating is a problem for many women today. It may be for men too, but I cannot speak for them. I hear women saying that they were not helped by this tip or that tip, or they couldn’t stay on a diet long enough to lose weight (who can), or they just don’t know how to stop eating. That last one isn’t going to work for anybody.

I can only say this. If you do not get to the heart of the stress that is causing you to eat uncontrollably, then you will not be able to let go of the food addiction.

There are many triggers. Keep a journal of when you pig out, not when you eat but after you pig out. What specifically happened that made you start stuffing down your feelings?

How do you feel about it? What time of day was it? Were you tired, frustrated, angry? What emotion drove the behavior that sent you reeling out of control for those moments, or hours?

How long did you eat? What did you eat? Were you exhausted from not enough sleep the past few nights and the local drugstore had a BOGO special on candy corn? Did you crave pasta or bread? Did you eat ice cream?

If you will keep a journal of just these things, you will start to uncover the hidden secrets that create your food addiction. You don’t have to journal every day. Do that in another journal.

Only journal when you overeat, not at a meal but when you drop what you are doing and head for the comfort food. Remember to answer all the questions. I will talk about this again in more detail in a later post or an article.

You will find that you have a trigger time, maybe in the morning or afternoon or the evening. My freedom time is in the morning. I NEVER have a problem with food addiction in the morning.

Food addictions are associated with a particular emotion at a particular time and a particular food or food type.

The journal is the key. Start recording today. This must be written down in your own handwriting. As a writer, I learned that you can type anything but the emotional stuff. That always works out better when you write it yourself.

Now, more on this later. Have a wonderful day and get your pen or pencil ready. Make sure you take your food addiction journal with you wherever you go. It doesn’t have to be on your person, but it should be easily accessible.

Let me know how it goes.

Food Addicts, Pay Attention!

Oct8

Wow! I’ve been sick lately. Food poisoning. Can you believe it? I barely made it out of bed for four days, except to throw up.

I wasn’t feeding my food addiction. It wasn’t a case of emotional eating. I just wasn’t paying attention.

Dairy foods, except for butter once in a while and an occasional frozen yogurt treat, don’t agree with me. I had dinner with a friend who likes to eat Italian food. I ordered stuffed shells knowing there would be consequences.

Then, the next morning, a friend of mine had an Open House to celebrate her new office. Too many foods that I don’t usually eat and I didn’t bring my own food as a backup, not that I would have brought Cappuccino jelly beans anyway.

Take a risk. Try something new. Forget about it. Here’s my Rescue Remedy tip for the day, and probably the weekend, the way it looks.

Stick to the plan. Eat on time. Take your own food in a cooler so you can eat something healthy that will give you energy. Drink water between the coffee and punch. If you don’t have a burst of energy when you take a bite, toss it.

Eat for energy. That’s what it’s all about. Food addicts have their own set of challenges. That’s why paying attention not only to what we eat but also to what we do while we’re eating is so important.

Have a great weekend. Rest, relax and energize. And this weekend, all things considered, I think I’ll practice what I preach.

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.