You've been acing it; drinking water, exercising, eating in moderation and feeling good. Then one day, something happens and it goes a little pear shaped. You eat everything in sight - and just a bit more - ahhh it's a food frenzy! Here are some tips to get you back on track, or even better, to help prevent it from happening in the first place.
• Ban yourself from watching TV or going into the kitchen. The TV and kitchen are danger zones because they encourage unconscious eating.
• Exercise. Exercise suppresses appetite.
• If you can’t exercise, motion creates emotion. Move to switch your focus. Get out of the house for a ten minute walk. Removing yourself from the environment will help you to get clear and a change in physiology will change the way you feel. Ask yourself, am I hungry? Or am I hurting? We eat more often when we are hurt than hungry. Are you feeling tired, stressed, overwhelmed, depressed?
• Drink water – often thirst feels like hunger. If you are dehydrated, your cravings will be stronger.
• Eat some protein. Protein makes us feel full, so if after leaving the house and drinking water you are still ravenous, cook yourself a healthy protein rich meal.
• Phone a friend. Feed on the motivation and support of your family and friends. Announce that you are struggling and ask for help.
• Get busy. Assign yourself a task – anything from cleaning out a drawer to reading a chapter. Do something to distract yourself from food.
• Food journal. Get to know what sends you into a Food Frenzy. Write down what you eat and your exercise. If you frenzy on weekends, perhaps you need to eat more during the week? Maybe you skipped breakfast that day? Perhaps you exercised without the right fuel? Food journals also work as crave catalogues to tell us when we crave certain foods so that we can be prepared next time.
Tiffiny Hall
