52 Ways To Comfort Yourself Without Eating
19 October 2016 | Written by Xenia Ayiotis
Filed Under: Emotional Eating Overeating
How often have you found yourself at the bottom of a packet of Doritos or a jar of Nutella at the end of hectic day?
Comfort eating is an automatic behaviour for many of us. Studies show that eating when we are feeling emotional releases “feel good” chemicals in the brain. As human beings, we are wired to avoid any form of pain (whether it be physical or emotional) and to seek pleasure. This pleasure can be in the form of many things: shopping, alcohol, drugs, sex, Facebook. For many of us the easiest way to soothe ourselves is through food because it is so readily accessible.
When working with clients, I look at the kinds of situations that trigger us to overeat and we look at alternatives to eating. Of course, sometimes the only thing we want to do is eat and that’s perfectly okay – just do it mindfully. Emotional eating does not need to be emotional OVEReating. Read more about how to eat emotionally in a mindful way, here.
Together, with my clients, we have created a list of things that we can do instead of eat. So if you choose not to eat when you are feeling bad, here is a list to choose from!
- Call a friend who will listen
- Play with your dog or pet
- Find a soothing object – soft jersey, blankie
- Vent in a journal or vent to the chair
- Do a Mindfulness Body Scan
- Do a meditation
- Breathe …. take 5 deep breaths in, hold for 5 and breathe out slowly for 10 (watch this video)
… or do square breathing (watch this video) - Go for a walk
- Go into the garden
- Create a playlist or listen to music
- Do a puzzle
- Play cards or solitaire
- Create a vision board
- Connect virtually with others in support groups
- Play with worry beads
- Plan a holiday
- Plan a party
- Do some gardening or plant a herb garden
- Watch some TED talks
- Do a free online course
- Do embroidery , suddoko, a crossword, knit, sew
- Doodle
- Paint or sketch
- Squeeze bubble wrap – one of my favourites!
- Soak in the bath with Epsom salts and candles – cheesy, I know, but it works!
- Do 3 yoga poses
- Make yourself a cup of herbal tea
- Make a gratitude list or write a list of what is NOT wrong
- Check out Pinterest
- Clean out cupboards, drawers
- Netflix….
- Dance like nobody’s watching
- Scrapbook
- Organise your old photos or create a photo album
- Read a magazine
- Breathe again…..
- Rearrange a room
- Organise your books
- Write a handwritten letter
- Bake or cook something and give it to the homeless
- Next time you are at a toy shop buy bubbles and blow bubbles – another favourite of mine!
- Google an interesting topic
- Go into nature
- Get a mindfulness colouring-in book
- Visit a nursery
- Go to the movies
- Change into comfy, soft clothes and curl under a blanket
- Listen to a podcast or the radio
- Switch off all the lights and light candles
- Go look at the stars or the clouds
- Think of past happy moments
- Plan a career change
If none of these activities appeal to you and you choose not to eat, then the solution is to actually feel the emotion. The reason we eat emotionally is to escape and distract ourselves from the difficult emotion.
I’ll talk more on how to do this in my next blog…
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