You’ve had a healthy balanced dinner and you ate until you felt satisfied. You’re comfortable. It’s an hour later and you’re looking for something. Your brain conjures up images of the evening’s leftovers, or you see something that reminds you of a flavor that you love, perhaps chocolate is on the kitchen counter.
All of a sudden you feel empty and want to nibble on something. Those Peanut M&Ms look good, so you reach for those. How about those cookies left over from yesterday’s party? You eat those too. Pretty soon, you have lost control and you are just scarfing down anything you can get your hands on.
But the empty feeling remains. How can you fill it? In order to change any pattern, you first need to be aware of it and then you have to interrupt the pattern. You realize that you are eating junk, you don’t want to deal with the consequences of getting fat, feeling bloated, the recrimination so you need to do something different in order to have a different outcome.
Break the old pattern and try a hobby. When you take time to do something that keeps your hands busy, you won’t even think about food. You will be engaged in an activity and have a sense of instant gratification. It keeps your mind focused, your body engaged and that urge to eat subsides.
Here’s a challenge for you. Take a piece of paper and list out 10 things that you can do that have no connection to eating or food. Perhaps you enjoy scrapbooking, journaling, sewing, writing poetry, reading, knitting, or even learning a new language. Do something today to enrich your life and connect with your spirit.
You may also want some additional support on changing the way that you think around food. On next Monday’s Juicy Woman Fabulous, Fit and Free Call, I’ll be teaching the women how to handle themselves around cravings, sharing tools to overcome the desire to eat when you know that you’re not hungry. Register and join the call. Do something wonderful for yourself! There’s nothing better than having the support of others on the same journey.
Please leave a comment and share what you have discovered by interrupting the pattern of overeating. I’d love to hear from you. Better yet, tell me when you join my call on Monday, February 26. I look forward to meeting you and supporting you.