5 tips to overcome emotional binge-eating
Do you ever feel the need to binge when you’re bored, anxious, angry or sad? A lot of people are dealing with this type of emotional bingeing. Emotional eaters don’t eat because they are physically hungry, but because this is their way to deal with negative feelings or emotions. We all get them; in the end, it’s all about how you deal with it. Below, we’ve listed the best tips to overcome emotional binge-eating!
How to overcome emotional binge-eating
#1. Breathe
When you feel a need to binge coming on, pause for a second. Close your eyes and just breathe. Feel how your ribcage expands when you breathe in, how it feels when you breathe out, how your brain responds to that extra oxygen.
#2. Drink water
We often don’t notice it when we start to become dehydrated. But dehydration can increase feelings of agitation and irritation, causing you to reach for unhealthy snacks sooner. This is just one of many things that happen to your body when you don’t drink enough water. So when you’re planning on raiding the fridge, first make a detour to the tap for a big glass of water.
#3. Massage yourself
A self-massage can also help to curb your binges. Instead of stimulating your tastebuds, try stimulating your bloodflow and muscles. Massage your temples, your feet or use a foam roller to get into those glutes.
#4. Roll out your mat
You can’t eat away your bad feelings. Yoga forces you to respect your physical abilities as well as your limitations, and helps to cultivate a loving relationship with yourself. Not only does yoga increase your physical flexibility, it also makes you mentally flexible; and this makes you strong enough to overcome emotional binge-eating. Also read our Yoga 101.
#5. Go outside
Sometimes, when nothing else works, you just need an old-fashioned distraction. This is most effective when you get out of your comfort zone. So instead of walking to the pantry, just walk out the door! Go for a run (check out these 5 tips to start running), take your dog out for a walk in the woods, get on your bike or take a trip to the nearest beach for a refreshing dip in the ocean.
You got this!
