Life is different right now, to say the least. Whether it’s juggling work-from-home and childcare, living in close quarters with our spouses, or being isolated from friends and family, everyone is experiencing major upheavals in their daily lives and schedules. Add in an endless barrage of pandemic news, disappointments and uncertainty, and you have a recipe for an uptick in stress, anxiety and the emotional eating fallout that comes with it.
Many people have been experiencing binge eating and compulsive overeating to a level that is far from their norm right now. We are stressed, lacking normal routines, bored and stuck at home with stocked kitchens. Stress increases appetite and cravings for sugary, high-fat foods that provide a quick rush of stress-relieving serotonin and dopamine. Any sort of emotional trauma- real or imagined- is enough to send most of us in the direction of the nearest bag of Fritos.
Emotional eating is the leading cause of weight gain during COVID-19, and addressing the root cause is critical. If you are emotionally eating right now, you don’t need scientific studies to know about the rewarding effects of sweet, creamy, sugary, salty and crunchy foods. For you, the reward from a doughnut, cupcake or bag of chips blows away putting on a face mask at the end of a long day in quarantine. We eat to feel good, and we eat to feel better. We eat to calm, and we eat to soothe.
Girls who have successfully broken the torrid pattern of emotional eating don’t just “get a grip” or ” talk themselves out of it”. Food psychology is complex. Unraveling our ingrained habits, especially those related to food, is a process of exploration and self-discovery, awareness building, and self-mastery.
The It Girls know that there’s no cause for despair, even for those who have spent a lifetime caught in the throes of emotional eating. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. You can change the feelings of boredom, depression, low self esteem, and loneliness that plague you into new, empowering actions without the help of chocolate chip cookies or a bag of potato chips.
If you’ve always used comfort food to push away uncomfortable feelings, then you might find that reality- learning how to deal with feelings without the aid of food- is hard. But we have to start somewhere, and building emotional skills is a good place to start.
You’ve tried doing this on your own, and it hasn’t worked out so well. And you don’t have to do this alone. We have a private weight loss support community group on Facebook. It’s $29.99 a month and you can come on for one month or say longer. No commitment. No upsells. Just women supporting each other and getting control over their eating, together. Come visit us and call me at (914)-393-8432 with any questions you may have about joining.
If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, then it’s time to get the weight you’ve gained sheltering at home off and some happy on. You run your household, small business, and children’s homeschooling schedules. Food shouldn’t get in the way of all you need to do and the way you want to feel. How long are you going to let a cookie be your boss, judge, savior or executioner?