Control Emotional Eating with These Top 5 Tips?

The complexity of the human mind stems from its emotional depth. Emotions affect our day to day functioning on multiple levels and just like a good photograph can remind you of happier things and bring an instant smile, food can also get associated with emotions in the brain. This might be the reason why you go searching for that favorite snack whenever you feel a little upset. It doesn’t seem like a huge problem unless you start stress-eating and just can’t seem to control your obsession. However, emotional eating is quite manageable. We have collected the top 5 advices from the best dietitian in Delhi to help you control your emotional eating better:

1.       Track your Diet

If you were to take an online consultation to control emotional eating via diet, the first thing that the dieticians would have asked you to do is to track what you eat. Being conscious of your eating habits can also make you aware of the areas that you would particularly like to work on. We would also like you to observe your eating patterns. Try to identify the foods that you prefer to eat while in an emotional situation. Track your approach towards food and acknowledge your existing eating patterns. Validating feelings can often help you feel better therefore bypassing your urges to stress-eat.

2.       Focus on why you Eat

Once you start tracking your diet, your hunger cues would be clearly visible to you. However, oftentimes the emotions can be so intricately linked to the eating habits that it can be difficult to identify hunger due to emotional cues. All the best dieticians in Delhi suggest rating your hunger as a solution. Try identifying how hungry you are by ranking it on a scale of 10. Eat when you feel mildly hungry, somewhere around 5. Don’t let yourself cross 8 since being overly hungry can cause you to overeat. This process, therefore, allows you to push some of your unhealthy eating habits and perhaps even say NO to some emotionally-linked foods. 

3.       Plan in advance

Best dieticians in Delhi suggest that you should plan in advance for an emotional situation. Perhaps, make your favorite snack inaccessible for yourself or replace them with a good book. Plan a walk just in case you feel stressed so the next time you are in need of an instant relief, step into your sport shoes instead of your kitchen. Take advantage of your hobbies and use them to give you the gratification you search for in food. Finding better distractions helps you to gradually shift away from your emotional eating which is why it is also commonly recommended in online consultations.

4.       Pay attention to your emotional health

Since emotional discomfort is the cause of your stress, ensuring that you are mentally healthy is extremely essential to control your emotional overeating. Best dieticians in Delhi suggest regular exercise and meditation to ensure your emotional health. Having a ‘me-time’ is also often recommended in many online consultations. Do the things that make you happy. Practice mindfulness and live in the present. Having an emotionally healthier state is a great catalyst to re-establishing control over your overeating.

5.       Ask for help.

You need all the support you can get so don’t be afraid to ask for it. Involve your friends and family and let them help you during your transformation. Be kind and patient with yourself and try to not judge yourself too harshly if the process doesn’t move as quickly as you expected. Don’t be afraid to go for online consultation or book a dietician if you feel like you need it. People will help you, all you got to do is ask.