Stop Substituting your Bad Habits!
The commonly held solution for over-eating is learning to substitute eating with a new behavioral pattern. Instead of just filling in one habit with an arbitrary replacement, take the time to find out what is at the route of your desire to overeat and work towards filling that void in a more healthy fashion.
When a person is compelled to eat when he or she is not hungry, often at fault are old conditioned habits that have been reinforced over many years. Each time a type situation comes up the answer has always been food. Eating is often an unconscious and mechanical “solution” to the problem, and this behavior is reinforced every time you eat when in a similar situation. Breaking the cycle takes some time, attention and effort but with intelligence and mindfulness people can learn to not eat in these situations, and eventually diminish and exhaust the cravings by getting rid of their old conditioning.
A common reason people eat unconsciously is boredom. There are many constructive solutions to boredom, from visiting friends, to going for a walk, to doing the household chores, but eating is not one. So take out a notebook and record when, where and what you are doing when anything goes into your mouth. Do this for a week and then analyze the results. Notice the patterns in your eating behavior. Be mindful when these situations come up. Don’t eat, just wait it out and the cravings should go away; in 5 or 10 minutes something new will come up and you will forget the craving. Re-conditioning yourself not to eat will get easier over time, so keep practicing.
Emotional eating, also called “self-medicating,” is another common compulsive behavior. But the same method can be applied. Write down for a week what you are thinking and feeling when you eat. Look for the patterns and then practice constructive ways to cure anxiety, depression or loneliness. Make no mistake it takes time and effort to fix long-standing behaviors. Seek out helpful solutions for weight loss management in Mt. Kisco.
