How Mood Affects Food Choices
You’re in a foul mood and your only thought is curling up in bed with a book and your favorite snack. You know you shouldn’t, but you don’t care enough to stop. Tomorrow you wake up feeling bloated and guilty. One night seemed to sabotage all the weeks of watching your diet. “Oh, well, I blew it now. I might as well eat!” If that sounds like you, congratulations, you are human! How can you get a handle on these emotions to improve your lifestyle?
Moods That Affect Eating
Every mood from anger, loneliness, tiredness and just being plain out of sorts can trigger overeating. Sometimes it is okay and all normal eaters do it. However, if a mood possesses you often and you eat to soothe it, you will never find the road to a healthier lifestyle. What can you do? First, you have to acknowledge that eating won’t make the pain go away permanently. The temporary satisfaction is soon replaced by discontent. The hassle of overeating can then be more work than the original problem and needs to be dealt with.
Defusing Moods
What is the mood that is causing you to grab a snack? Once you identify the feeling, it is easier to find a way to soothe the emotion with something other than food. Bored? You need some excitement or entertainment in your life. Find a new hobby or activity to begin. Lonely? Reach out to a friend or join a community group. Tired? Look for supportive people in your life who can help you carry your daily workload when you need it. Stressed? You need some peacefulness in your life. Try practicing yoga, listening to music, taking a walk or talking to a friend. If your moods seem to be an ongoing problem, you may need to seek professional help. A therapist can help you to develop some new strategies to manage your emotions in a healthy way so emotional overeating can be a thing of the past.
Stress
Stress is probably the most common problem you experience. Some days even Pollyanna would not find a streak of sunshine. But should you give up? No, you need to plod along. Stress is not a “thing” but is what you feel about the “thing.” You can choose to let “things” bother you or choose to put them in proper perspective. A sense of humor helps. If life is overwhelming and you feel trapped, you need to seek outside help to look for creative solutions. Sometimes all you need to do is step back and think about ways to remove the obstacles. You need to accept that food will not numb the pain in the long run.
A Brighter Future
Emotions and their pain are real. They are present every day in your life and need to be dealt with on a deeper level than a donut (or lots of them) can address. Try to surround yourself with a life and relationships that please you. If this is not possible, hard as it may be, can you change it? If you can’t, then you honestly must come to terms with that and change your attitude about the problem. Emotions are a healthy part of living. You can keep them in check so they don’t sabotage your efforts towards leading a healthier lifestyle.
If you are having personal problems or trouble managing your life, get free, confidential counseling from our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) by calling 301-766-7600. A professional counselor will discuss your problem with you and set up a counseling appointment as soon as possible. The process is simple, confidential and FREE for employees of The Arc of Washington County and their household members.
Source: Meritus Behavioral Health Employee Assistance Program