How do you cope with the urge to eat with your emotions? What do you do when food seems like the only thing to look forward to in a boring day?
Here are a few of my tips:
- Learn to cook. Enjoy making delicious, extravagant food. Use many different wonderful spices, and unique ingredients to make healthy foods to look forward to. The Healthy Recipes section of MyFitnessTrainer.com has healthy versions of most of the most popular comfort foods, and you can hardly tell the difference. (Read about Agave in the Free Fitness Library for a healthy alternative to sugar!)
- Learn to count calories. You may find that you can stil get away with a little bit of emotional eating if you can still stay within your calorie goal. For example, maybe you eat plenty of good veggies and other healthy foods all day and then have a healthy treat at 2 or 3 pm. Mine is often low fat Triscuits with cheese melted on top, dipped in salsa. Yum!
- Learn what the lower calorie versions of your favorite comfort foods are. For example, a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich is at least as good as other ice cream treats, but is low in calories and actually has some fiber!
- Knowledge is power. Once you know that your favorite Cinnabon has 1,200 calories, maybe trading it for a Costco frozen yogurt doesn't look that bad.
- Find a different food that fills the craving. If I crave salt, sometimes pickles do the trick. Sometimes an apple will curb a sugar cravings. Other times, you're going to need the real thing, but maybe you can fit it into your calorie goals and get away with it.
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