as you know, one of the things that i assist people with is dealing with overeating, undereating and related food issues.
often we really cling to the food – giving up that chocolate bar in the afternoon or the bag of chips while watching TV just seems too, too much. food has become such a good friend, and we tend to cling to that friend even more when we’re stressed out or otherwise ill at ease. of course that makes losing weight and eating in a more healthy really difficult.
what can be helpful here is to put some time aside – it doesn’t take much, even 10 minutes will do – and write down when we eat in such a way, what we feel, exactly what we do, and how we can substitute unhealthy eating behaviours with more helpful, healthy behaviours.
you know those troubleshooting lists they have in equipment manuals? (“if your printer spits ink, don’t panic, turn the power off, and replace the ink cartridge”). it’s a little like that. we can write our own troubleshooting manual.
here’s an example:
when:
my son is out playing hockey and my husband works late
what i feel:
lonely, bored
what i do:
make stacks of peanut butter jelly sandwiches and eat them in front of the TV
what i can do instead:
go into the bedroom, light a candle, turn on some nice music, and sit on the bed and solve crossword puzzles
if overeating is a problem for you – the people at chicago personal trainers, who have a very extensive web site chock full with health tips, have a checklist you can download for this purpose.
good luck!
isabella mori
counselling in vancouver