Emotional Eating: Structure is Key…..For Work and Fun

  • dianna
  • Bariatrics, Binge Eating, Emotional Eating, Losing weight, Stress Eating
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In times of uncertainty, maintaining structure is crucial to decreasing episodes of emotional eating.  Structure helps us to maintain a sense of normalcy in crazy times.  It can give peace and comfort when life out of our control.  Consider your day.  Is there rhythm or chaos?  Or rhythmic chaos?…

 

In the past, disorganization and chaos would leave me feeling more emotional, driving me to stress eat, especially if I was unaware of how my environment affected my mood.    As I conquered emotional eating, I developed some practical ways to minimize the chaos and create structure in my life.   Let me share them with you!

Create a routine for each day.  Develop a rhythm around daily activities.  If you are working from home, have defined start and end-times.  Starting late can cause push your workday later, affecting the rest of your household’s routine.  Don’t work late into the evenings, except in special seasons that require it.  I have found working from home can cause my workday to creep later and later.  For me, having a chaotic work schedule has led to burn-out in the past.  Put borders around your work day and stick to them!

 

Consider other activities that happen in your house.  We tend to make time for the “have-to’s” on our lists (chores and our kids’ activities), but make less time for the things that can bring us joy and peace.

 

It is important to take time for yourself to do the things you enjoy.  No, I am not talking about binge-watching shows or scrolling social media, although they can be a good way to turn off your thoughts, maybe….  I am talking about the things that give life meaning and a sense of fun!  When was the last time that you did something fun?

Make time for the hobbies that you enjoy or for those interests that you have always wanted to try.  Try something new that will challenge your brain.  Developing new interests does not just make us happier, it can also help break the emotional eating cycle!  Activities that require focused concentration cause our brains to shift in its patterns and help us focus less attention on eating to soothe our emotions.

 

Over the years, I have tried different hobbies to find what interests me.  Lately, I have focused my attention on growing a garden.  It is amazing what joy I find in my successes and failures as a gardener.  It has helped to keep me busy, look forward to doing,  and not eating during this stressful season.

What are some things you are interested in?  Do you like arts and crafts, such as painting, scrapbooking or photography?  When was the last time you took a nice, long walk to observe nature?  Or rode your bike? Or worked on some new recipes?  Or spent time playing with your children or grandchildren?  What about starting a book club?

The possibilities are endless.  It is up to you to choose something and give it a try.  It may stick or you may hate it, but if you are like me, you will find that you spend less time being stressed or thinking about eating….

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