Traps, Tricks, and Rules

When have you felt trapped by your emotional appetites?  Share your story.

Every day eating challenges tend to be sneaky. They happen when you are vulnerable, due to exhaustion, both emotional and physical. Confronted with a huge plate of pasta or the option to have soda, habit tells us to eat. Then when we are feeling somewhat better, the overeating begins to feel bad. And so, we feel betrayed by our self. ouch!

Eating out of habit is a trap. The way to beat the trap is to follow the rule of intuitive eating. The rule is to use your senses.  When your plate appears, look at it before you pick up your fork.  Pause, and think about whether you really feel like eating it, or whether you feel trapped.  Listen to your intuition. Check in with your body. Trust you self. You know how you feel.

When you feel trapped, ask for another plate and place ½ of everything on the second plate. Have the 2nd plate removed. Then, eat slowly. See if you can recognize what you are feeling in your body and through your emotions. Tune in to your senses. Remember, you only need your feed your body - not your emotions.  Appetites are driven by dreams, fears, and fashion as well as by physical need.  The trick is to rely on your 6 senses to recognize your hungers and balance your appetite.

When we stay clearly in touch with the present by using the tools of our senses it becomes obvious what is pushing our buttons around food and eating.  Hunger buttons are not just physical.  Our emotional response can put us in an eating mode where we feel trapped.  When this happens, you can outsmart the emotional trap by fine tuning your senses.