Comfort eating. It’s something tha we’re all guilty of doing at some point in our life. We eat because we feel stressed-out, bored or loney. We eat because we know that a slab of chocolate will make us feel better if we had a really bad day at work.
The worrying thing about comfort eating is the fact that most of us do it without being aware of it. Maybe we have an extra biscuit with a cup of tea or maybe we have that second helping of dinner because we enjoyed the first one so much. Maybe we reward ourselves with a takeaway on a Saturday night because we’ve been “so good” all week.
While comfort eating feels good, it has a major downside when it comes to our bodies. It causes us to pile on the pounds, which makes us feel bad about ourselves, which in turn encourages us to eat even more to make us feel better – it’s a vicious circle.
Comfort eating is something that is instilled in us from birth. When we were little, our well-meaning mammies fed us certain foods to make us feel better when we were sick or when we hurt ourselves. On a deeper level we were learning that food could make us feel better, so now, as grown up, when we start to feel upset, our immediate reaction is to reach for the biscuit tin.
So how can you cope with comfort eating? How can you break the cycle for good?
What’s your go-to comfort food when you feel a bit down?
Don’t ban any foods:
We all have certain go-to comfort foods. If you absolutely adore chocolate and it make you feel good, the worst thing you can do is cut it out completely. Instead of banning it from your diet, try and choose a healthier alternative. So for example, maybe you could switch to dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate? Maybe you could opt for a low-fat hot chocolate drink instead of a bar of Cadbury’s.
Track everything you eat:
Write down every single bit of food you put into your mouth and also make a note of how you’re feeling as you eat. This will help you to see your comfort eating patterns and to break them. For example, if you see you eat a load of crisps when you’re feeling down, try to only have healthier alternatives in your home so you can’t do too much damage.
Eliminate distractions when you eat:
Instead of watching the television when you eat, sit down and concentrate on your food. By doing this you’ll enjoy your food more and you’ll be aware of how much you’re eating. Practicing mindful eating with also help you to recognise when your body is full. With enough pratice you’ll know when you’ve had enough and be able to stop.
Try and find other ways to make yourself feel better rather than turning to food
Don’t let yourself get too hungry:
Throughout your day, keep your hunger levels topped up by eating healthy snacks. The worst thing you can do if you have a tendency to comfort eat is to allow yourself to get too hungry. If you come home from work absolutely starving, you’re far more likely to reach for the crisps and/or the chocolate as you want for your dinner to cook. This could send you off on a comfort eating spiral for the rest of night.
Find other ways to make yourself feel better:
Aside from eating, what other things could you do that would make you feel better? Would a funny film take your mind off your cravings? Would exercising distract you? Would a phone call to your best friend lift your mood?
When you’re feeling down, try not to turn to food in order to make yourself feel better. Instead try something else. Once you know you can substitute your need for food with a healthier activity, your battles with comfort eating will get easier.
