Feed Your Mind, Feed Your Body

When looking to get in shape or lose weight, many people find that there is a battle when it comes to eating. So many struggle with overeating which then makes them feel badly about themselves. This can lead to emotional eating, where you feel some sort of strong emotion, usually a negative one, and you feel compelled to eat more and more. Many times those that emotionally eat are aware that they aren’t actually hungry, yet they can’t seem to stop eating. It’s a tough situation and when you fall into the habit of it, you may find it extremely hard to climb out.

There is one excellent way I have found that can really help with emotional eating.

Feeding not only your body with the right things, but your mind as well will make all the difference.

Yes, you still should eat plenty of nutritious snacks when these munchies hit. Keeping things like carrot sticks, celery, apples, oranges or whatever your favorite fruit may be, on hand makes it simpler. Junk foods main appeal is the convenience of it. When you are in the moment, opening a bag of chips is easier than mixing up a healthy salad. It’s something that tons of people deal with on a daily basis. Unfortunately, many turn to the chips instead. If you find yourself in this situation fairly often, I have some advice.

Did you realize that what you tell yourself can actually affect how you eat? When you are hard on yourself, tearing yourself down internally, or just generally being mean to yourself you will be much more likely to reach for “comfort food”. These foods are usually high in calories and probably not very good for you. Each person has a different choice in comfort foods but they are generally things that are also junk food. Cookies, candy, soda, chips, crackers… things loaded with carbs and sugar. You aren’t feeling great about yourself and these foods can give you a false sense of happiness because of the chemical effects.

When you shift your thoughts, you will shift your need for these things.

You may not have achieved all your goals, but that doesn’t mean your self talk needs to be negative. Uplift yourself! You are becoming a better version of yourself every day you set out to make positive changes. If you often tell yourself you aren’t good enough and can’t imagine saying anything nice internally, maybe you can at least stop the negativity. Telling yourself “I did my very best,” or “I couldn’t have done that 2 months ago. I am making progress,” are great. You don’t need to go overboard with the positive thoughts if that doesn’t feel natural to you. Imagine your best friend was doing the things you are. Would you tell them they were a failure because they skipped the treadmill today or did 5 less squats than they were hoping for? Of course not! You would pat them on the back and tell them they did their best and they should be proud. That is the same sort of thing you need to tell yourself. You can do it!