Picture this: It's Saturday and you finally have a day off from work. However, what is meant to be a time of enjoyment and leisure has now turned into absolute monotony. It's raining cats and dogs outside, so your plans of going into town with your friends have been terminated. You feel like your brain is turning into tapioca with all this boredom. Which of these solutions sounds more like something you'd do?
1. Realize that you're the only one who can choose your course of contentment, and decide to go curl up with your attention-seeking Pomeranian?
OR
2. Slump down on the couch complaining about how awful your life is, then wander into the kitchen suddenly feeling hungry and rummaging through every single cabinet in the pantry looking for that party-size bag of Doritos?
If Solution number 1 sounds more like you, excellent! You've made a wise decision that will quell your boredom long term and even soothe you enough to think rationally for the future.
If Solution number 2 sounds more like you, slow down! Are you truly hungry, or are you guilty of........ feeding your feelings?
"Feeding your feelings" is a nickname that can be used to describe emotional eating, or using food to cope with problems besides physical hunger. Just about any emotion can lead to emotional eating; anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness, even happiness or excitement.
Here are just a few fictional examples of real-life situations where emotional eating can take form:
1. Tyler's younger brother scribbled with marker all over his English homework that took him an hour to complete. Tyler is furious and decides to get revenge on his brother by eating up all of his Goldfish crackers in the cupboard. Afterward, he is disappointed in himself for letting a kindergartner get him riled up.
2. Allison has a chemistry test tomorrow morning. It's currently 9:50 PM, and she forgot about the test until she checked her planner five minutes prior. Stressed out and hassled, Allison pulls an all-nighter vigorously reading her chemistry textbook with a packet of Chips Ahoy cookies by her side.
3. Daniel finds out that his cat Snowy, whom he's had since childhood, has a tumor on his heart and needs to be euthanized. He finds himself so down in the dumps he doesn't even want to leave his room. To try and cheer himself up, he watches "The Aristocats" with a pint of Belgian Chocolate Haagen Dazs on his lap.
4. Erica is flipping channels on the TV during the fifth snow day in a row that's left her stuck at home. Seeing a commercial for sugary cereal, she suddenly starts craving a huge bowlful of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch that's been left on the counter.
5.Jeremy found out that Madison, the girl he's had a crush on since Pre-K, is moving back from New Mexico at the beginning of the school year. In his excitement, his plows through half a box of pepperoni pizza Bagel Bites.
6. Lindsey spent three days working on her oral report about the American Dust Bowl. She feels like she accomplished a huge feat, so she decides to celebrate with a package of iced sugar cookies.
Do any of these situations sound like you in any way? If so, there are things to know about your eating habits and what you can do to reverse them:
1. If you related most to Tyler, you're eating because of anger. When emotional eaters get angry, they often use food as a way of calming down or lashing out.
How can you fix it? Next time you're angry, reach for a pillow instead of a snack. Punching a pillow often works better to cool down during anger, due to the bending joints constricting. Also, remember that things we do out of anger can't always be undone, especially when we scarf down lots of food!
2. If you related most to Allison, you're eating out of anxiety. Like anger-based eaters, anxious people turn to food as a source of relaxation and calmness.
How can you fix it? If you feel like anxiety is pushing you over the edge, ditch the cookies for cardio. Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly have anxiety levels significantly lower than their sedentary counterparts. Exercise lowers blood pressure, a major factor in causing anxiety.
3. If you related most to Daniel, you're eating out of sadness. Normally, people who are upset don't want to eat at all. However, like all eating patterns, sadness-based munching is a learned behavior. It is also the most commonly learned, as food has long been billed as a source of comfort (remember your mom giving you a lollipop after you scraped your knee?).
How can you fix it? Sadness is not a pleasant emotion, but feeling it is pretty much inevitable. When this happens, people are often the biggest source of comfort. Look to family, friends and SO's for those all-important hugs, kisses, cuddles, and shoulders to cry on.
4. If you related most to Erica, you're eating out of boredom. Many boredom eaters usually become "distracted diners," as they tend to munch while doing other activities, especially in front of a screen. In many instances, stuffing your face sounds more pleasurable than doing nothing.
How can you fix it? Call someone on the phone, pick up a book, go for a drive (or bike ride,) repaint a room, fix a table, do your laundry, reorganize your nail polish collection. Just avoid screens! (The advertisements for food and the association of eating in front of a screen will cause you to crack.)
5. If you relate most to Jeremy, you're eating out of excitement. Being overly joyous means that you're more likely to make snap decisions since your brain is high on dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical released in the brain that causes feelings of ecstasy and euphoria. When your brain overproduces dopamine, you tend to lose control.
How can you fix it? Like anxiety, exercise often helps in this situation. Moving regularly keeps your dopamine under control and at a sane level.
6. If you relate most to Lindsey, you're eating out of entitlement. We've all been in "treat yourself" situations, where we feel like a treat is deserved for finishing a task, getting through an event, or often "just because." (This is the most common 'reason' I've seen.)
How can you fix it? If you like to treat yourself on a regular basis, avoid treating yourself like an animal. Think about how dogs are trained to urinate outside instead of on the carpet, or how animal trainers get dolphins and sea lions to do all those tricks. Listen to your favorite music, play with a pet, take a shower, or take part in a non-food based activity you enjoy. And once again, avoid screen-based activities!
