Four Tips for Managing Emotional Eating

Sometimes you might not be hungry and yet you find yourself reaching for something to eat. This is called emotional eating and it can be a big problem for a caregiver. You have a lot of emotions that you might be dealing with while caregiving and those can translate to emotional eating.

Here are some things you can try to get a handle on the situation.

Home Care Services Gray GA - Four Tips for Managing Emotional Eating
Home Care Services Gray GA – Four Tips for Managing Emotional Eating

Keep Track of What You’re Eating

Very often emotional overeating happens because you’re not paying attention to what you’re eating and when you’re eating it. If you start to keep a food log, you will start to see patterns about what you’re eating and when you’re eating. You may also realize that when you thought you weren’t eating very much, you were actually eating a lot more than you expected. This step can help you to start to eat more mindfully.

Keep Track of Your Feelings

Food logs are pretty cut and dry, but there’s another aspect to emotional eating. You also need to be paying close attention to how you’re feeling. Keeping a journal allows you to explore what your feelings are each day. You can use this information alongside your food log to start to pinpoint your eating triggers. Once you understand what your triggers are, you can start to do something about the situation.

Reach out to Someone You Care About

Stress and isolation can be big emotional triggers that can cause you to overeat. As a caregiver, you’re under a lot of stress and you’re more likely to be socially isolated. One way around this situation is to reach out to people you care about and whom you might not be seeing or talking to as often as you’d like. Set up some time to spend with them and that might help to alleviate some of the issues you’re experiencing.

Talk to Your Doctor

You might be experiencing emotional eating because of health issues, too. Talk to your doctor to rule out possible health concerns. You might also want to consider talking to a counselor about what you’re experiencing. A few sessions with someone who can give you bigger insight into what might be going on can really help you to find the right answer for you.

If you’re dealing with emotional eating, you can get a handle on what’s going on. Learning what’s causing you to reach for food when you’re not really hungry is a big first step. From there, you can try some other solutions to help you find an answer. Consider getting help through home care services providers who can offer some respite care.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Home Care Services in Gray GA please contact the caring staff at Angels of Mercy Private Homecare Services, Inc. today at 478-745-5111.

Zandrea Durham