Decoding Emotional Eating: Understanding Triggers and Patterns

This is the first out of 3 episodes of series where we take step by step approach to tackle emotional eating. In this episode I talk about mindfulness techniques and the power of mindful breathing. I’ll guide you through simple, actionable steps to help you tune into your body’s signals and differentiate between emotional hunger and physical hunger. Learn how to apply these techniques in everyday life to enhance your awareness and control over your eating habits, leading to a healthier, more balanced relationship with food. Whether you're new to mindfulness or looking to deepen your practice, this episode will equip you with the tools you need to transform your approach to eating.

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-Turo

Transcript

1:14

Recording in progress, hey and i Hey, welcome to this fitness podcast, and today's Episode, I'm talking about how to understand emotional eating, and kind of decoding the emotional eating and understanding those triggers and patterns. So So recently, I asked in my Instagram story what you are struggling with, and by far the most common struggle was emotional eating, and especially stress eating. So I decided to make a series of focusing on emotional eating. So we are going to get started with just in a basic like how to understand, first of all, if you are struggling, if you are if, if that what you think you are suffering or struggling. Is emotional eating, or is it something, something else? So in these episodes, I try to keep them relatively short, like not longer than 30 minutes. We will see how things are going, how I'm excited, how excited I'm getting when I'm talking about it, and then we go step by step further. So this is one and next week I'm going to publish then part two. So this is the plan, and so let's get into started. So first is introduction to emotional eating. So what is definition? So emotional eating refers to the tendency to respond to feelings like stress, boredom, sadness, or even joy, and with eating, and instead of listening your hunger juice. And this is, this is one of the, one of the hardest things to actually recognize like, because it's a very common that we are thinking that we are actually, we are eating for emotions, but when we are actually physically hungry, or it could be that we are actually physically thirsty. So this is something, something like emotional eating. It's usually, it's something that you you feel though those un or wounded feelings, and then you are kind of suppressing, or you are satisfying those feelings with any food. So and emotional hunger is something that it's it comes suddenly, and it comes it's usually some grapes from some specific comfort foods. So what are the geological triggers? So these are emotions like stress, anxiety, maybe depress or loneliness. So it's, it's a coping strategy. Emotional healing is a coping strategy to suppress those negative emotions. So when you are recognizing that you have tendency that when things are getting busy or or you are, you are, you have 1000 tasks, or you don't know there is a like so many things, and then you are, you have that now I need his food or, or something like I personally with the stress I don't, I don't need for stress, but kind of boredom, eating or, or that is something what I especially late at night when I'm watching TV. It's often I ask myself question that, do I really, do I really need food, or am I just eating because it's just, I'm just used to it. It's comfortable, and I'm kind of suppressing that, my un comfortable feeling of being bored and boredom, and there are studies like, it's not that something. Sometimes it's not the I don't see it. It's always a bad thing that you should completely avoid. But there are different strategies and how to make it better, or that it's not then, because it's if, if you, if you, let's say that you have a problem with the stress eating, and you because when you feel stressed or or some kind of ugly emotion, and you, you're how you are coping with that is that you eat half kilo of chocolate. So obviously this is something that it will affect to your health, to your healthy body weight, and how you are going to feel. So, so. But if you, if it's something like that, you know you are really enjoying it. You are after even you did it, what you what you did, you are still feeling that it's okay, it's not that bad. I'm okay with it. So then, in that, that way, that is, for me, it's, it's totally fine. But there is that big line like that, how to actually you start, you can start to improve it, and how to make those changes. And in these episodes, this is where we are going to so first, of course, the first step is to actually recognize that, what are your personal triggers? So this is always the step number one, because most people think that I just need to fit and I need to get rid of that emotion. I have to stop it. There is no I don't have willpower, or there is something wrong with me. I can do it for a while, but I haven't found any long term strategies. So it always starts with those personal triggers. So how to get actually started is that what I always recommend is to start journaling. It could be old fashioned pen and paper, or writing even into your phone notes like kind of food and mood diary. So this is like a food diary, like it don't need to wake your food or anything, but just recognizing those triggers when it happens. So basically, you are writing down that what you are eating, when you are eating, and what is your emotional state the time you were eating. So for example, that afternoon, when my I was eating chocolate, when my posh just gave me a ton of work to do before it was Friday afternoon and before Monday I need to finish. So it was you were in, obviously, in emotional state. You were having that stress and probably even anxiety that, are you going to make it? And that kind of emotional and then you responded that for eating chocolate. So this is, this is, but it could be also opposite, like this kind of examples, if you recognize that, okay, I was eating it in the same situation, I was craving sweets, or I was craving I was eating some other not very healthy snacks afternoon. And then when you are riding one, when you are eating and and you will probably recognize like often, especially when I work with my clients, I look a lot of this like, if there is some pattern, and when it happens, what you have been eating, and it's always not only about that emotional state, because that you know those, those things You can say is, but if that happens, like I recognize for myself and for many of my clients, that often, if I'm lacking protein, for example, or fiber, earlier in the day, I'm going to I'm snacking all the time, mindlessly afternoon. And then, you know, of course, I might feel some emotions, but I don't, I don't understand that this is not actually emotional eating, or even it is, it is related with emotional eating, but that cause is coming actually from somewhere that I'm lacking, something that I haven't had enough protein for my breakfast or for my lunch. And I recognized that right away. And that is something from my like they are. They were also like. They were like, I don't know what, what was wrong with me that I was, I was snacking whole afternoon, I I never had a real meal, and then we were looked like that. Okay, this happened couple times already earlier, and it was the probably the reason was that you didn't have basically any protein. You skipped breakfast or had it just a coffee. It was a busy morning. For your lunch, you had it just to sell it with minimum amount of protein. So, and there's you didn't have any fiber. So there is no no wonder that you are snacking all the time, or you are feeling hungry, because those are the most satiating foods. And if you your goal, let's say that one of my clients said coal was to eat 2000 calories, and she had before afternoon, like the three 400 calories. So there's no wonder that you are feeling like that. There's something wrong with you, because I'm feeling I'm like snacking all the time. And of course, you are, you are just hungry and not there is your emotional eating. So this is always to step number one, to looking writing down your food, your mood and when you eat, what to eat. And then you can review these diaries to notice patterns that what are important patterns. And this is obviously something, what you can do yourself. And this is, this is where coaching, like we do, this kind of together. And if you need any help, coaching options, there are so many of them, you can always DM me, check my website, personaltarinatura.com, but I'm not going to talk about coaching, because this episode is all about helping you. So then, once you have recognized those personal triggers, then it's coming all kind of role of mindfulness. And this is something what most people, they have heard that what is, I need to practice mindfulness or mindful eating, but then it's still very hard to do, and most people are still struggling to do it. And I'm, I have to commit. I'm one of those persons who i i Even was knowing the things and actually doing them, are shooting things. So sometimes i i tell from my own personal example, like I'm, I'm, I'm just I love to eat, and I love to eat a lot, and often I'm eating way too fast. I'm not having that kind of trying to slow things down. And I'm, I'm, I don't know this is coming from my childhood. I know I have learned to eat too fast and kind of always on the go, and it was, I don't know where these, all these habits are coming from, but now, at age of 42 I still struggle leaving something for my plate. Uh, eating slower even I know I know ideas for the people to do things, but I still struggle to do them consistently, personally, like I always, I sometimes I I'm able to do it for a while, but then, you know, you forget, you go back to your ultra habits. But there's always, obviously, there is always process and progress. And progress is not that you fix it, one once for all, but just aiming to improve and seeing, like I'm for sure, in a better place that I was five years ago or three or one year ago. So this is always kind of trying to improve and seeing what is, what is important, what is called, what you have, and so what is if you if I need to explain, what is mindfulness? So mindfulness, it's, it's basically being fully aware of the present moment, then this is something I I struggle a lot, not only with the food, but just being present. I know that so many other people like you know you are. You are looking like that. You are now with the phone. You are looking on the phone. You are with the other people, but you are at the same time. You are scrolling your social media. And you are not, or you have some other things in your mind, what you are thinking. And, trust me, other people are seeing it. And if you, if you think consistently for something else where you are at the moment, it's same thing with the food. So you are. And this makes it so hard, because you are not able to recognize the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger. So there are some practices, how you can practice it and how you can improve it. So there are some like mindfulness techniques, techniques like, for example, mindful breathing or pausing before eating to kind of see what is the true nature of your hunger. So good example for mindfully is is simple, but so powerful to center your attention and calm your mind. So here's how to actually practice it. So it says that you find a quiet place. So sit or lie down in a quiet and comfortable where you don't be disturbed. And then just focusing on your prayer, you close your eyes, take a few, a few deep breaths to start, and then, just then, allow your breathing to return in a natural Britain. So focus you. It is in how you are breathing. So you know this kind of air is moving in and out from your nose. So always breathe. I in this example, I recommend to breathe only through nose and and then paying attention how you are rising and fall of your of if it's going to be or belly. It doesn't matter in this practice, it's all about just calming down, so just taking deep breaths from your nose, focusing on your belly or your chest, where you are, and then acknowledging those distractions. So your course, your mind will inevitably wonder so when you notice this happening, gently acknowledge whether it comes up, and then kindly bring your attention back to your breath. So because if when you are trying to like what I'm I'm, I would love to try some I haven't practiced enough. It's, it's all about practicing that, if you are practicing, for example, meditation, because I'm, I'm not, I really struggle. But this is something like that you don't need to cut if you are not very good at that distracting yourself, then it's all about practice. It's you can start with the one minute or 30 repeat and then trying to do it more often, and you are able to improve. I just, I have to say that I'm not this is not my type of my my kind of therapy is walking where I go without distractions, talking with my wife, and this is my favorite topic. I feel like that at the moment. I don't need meditation, but I know that for some people, it has been very helpful. But So so this breathing exercise, it's just a helpful way to understand distract yourself and acknowledge that when those distractions are coming, your mind starts to wonder, then just get your focus back to creating and you practice it regularly, just a few minutes daily, practicing mindful breathing. And it's, it's, it's helping to reduce your stress, increase your awareness of emotional triggers which are related to eating. So these are great way to first step, if you have are recognized then taking kind of little bit time and distract yourself from eating right away. So then, how to how? Then actually those kind of practical tools. So, so what are kind of strategies? I'm going to go in the next episodes more in these practical tools and strategies, but basically managing those trainings. So just my favorite strategy is delaying So I recently posted in my Instagram, basically telling, in short, all these tips. So first, it's basically delay. So ideally, what you set the timer, and I love to use this is like that you set your phone timer somewhere that it's visible, so you know that, or you watch the time? If you have a digital watch that it's going to be exactly five minutes. In the beginning, it would be ideally 15. But if you are new, new at this five minutes. So during this five minutes, you have to wait that you are not, you are not allowed to eat. And then within these five minutes, you could you could drink water, distracting, like doing this breathing exercise, or basically whatever, whatever you decide to do. You can go for a walk. You can call a friend, walk around in an apartment, and then you are basically seeing if you are actually hungry, or if you are if this is some emotion, what you need to address in some other way than food. So those mindfulness exercises, what, what I what I talked they are good, good ways to do like, like, there is some kind of meditation, mindful eating exercises. I'm not going to go through these exercises now, but there are great exercises. So this is Then step number two and more on this we will go through on next episodes. So make sure you are you have subscribed to my podcast, so you will get notified when next episode is going out. And this is these episodes. Usually I publish every Thursday in morning, Central European Time. I had a couple very good questions, what I want to address and and these were questions, what, what I got in my Instagram? And I thought that it's, it's in Instagram, it's very short form to answer these questions. So I thought that I'm, I'm going to answer in this podcast in a little bit longer way. So the first question was that, how can I tell the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger? And like we talked a little bit earlier, emotional Hungary usually comes suddenly, and that demands instant satisfaction with specific comfort foods. So the difference physical hunger, it develops, usually more slowly, and it's open to variety of foods. And good test is always, this is a kind of other strategy. What we are going to talk more in the next episodes is a apple test. So if you are, if you are not sure if it's emotional hunger, or if it's a physical hunger, physical hunger, you are, like, it doesn't matter if you are Apple test, if you are, would you be? Would you would Apple do a trick? So if you are, let's say that you are having that stressful, emotional meeting, or whatever. You come home, you are emotional, and now you want to eat something. First question, what I would ask for myself is that, can I eat an apple? Would I eat an apple? And when the answer is that yes, then go for it, eat an apple first and then for specific food. So because there is always a big chance that you are not actually when you after eating an apple, you might have a second thought that, do I actually need those my comfort foods? So this is this first step, and kind of the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger and emotional hunger also tends to lead to mindless eating, and it isn't satisfied once you are full. Unlike physical hunger, so physical hunger when you, when you have had enough, you you had enough like it's if you, you know, you probably don't want to eat eight apples or or eight potatoes. If you have physical hunger, you are good to eat with those because then you will be satisfied. But once you are full, it's you are done. And with the emotional hunger, it's the difference is that if you crave those specific food, and you often if it's like a kind of pinching or overeating, it depends on which term you are using. I had an episode on this, but let's say that it's a slightly overeating, and you are eating slightly above the point you are feeling already full because you are just eating because it's so good you are craving it. It makes you feel that it's now you need. You had a often. It's kind of related with the thoughts that now, once I had you are telling of yourself that I can't have chocolate, it could be potato chips or whatever ice cream, that once you can't have this, and then once you say that, okay, now I'm having meat. And then it's often you think that now, when I already had it, I'm not, I know that I'm going, not going to, I'm going to get back on track tomorrow, and now it, there's no, it doesn't matter I already ruined it. I eat over. I can eat it now, and getting back on tomorrow or Monday or whatever. So this is kind of that there's no, no thinking about that. Am I already full? But it's already like, kind of feeling guilty of what you have done, and it's kind of that emotional hunger instead of physical hunger. So this is the difference. And like I said, we talk more about these things in the next episodes, then second question, molar cited. What are some initial steps I can take to manage emotional eating? And this is kind of the question, what I already answered that start giving a food and more tiring to track your eating habits and emotions, and this will also help you to identify specific triggers. So practicing the mindfulness, it can be also very effective. So when you are just simply trying to pause, when you get that urge to eat, emotionally like sitting that five mirror, and then ask yourself that what you are really feeling, and whether there is a non food response, if that would be kind of more appropriate. So it's always kind of meaning that getting that delay, and if you cause there is no even there's nothing wrong with you if you decide that. Okay. Now I I was doing everything. I was waiting. I was eating an apple before I still went and ate that chocolate I was craving by all those my comfort foods. And it's a decision. You don't you don't need to do it every time perfectly, but I guarantee more often you take these steps, you will see some progress. And remember that even if that thing is what you are struggling, you are you are struggling 10 out of 10, you will be totally then. Now you are following these steps, and one, maybe two times out of 10 you are able to defeat. That is a progress. That is a progress, and that in the long term, it makes a difference. So don't get like that. If it's not working every single time, don't give up, because it's all about progress in the long term, and not kind of all in or nothing that you try to fix everything in one, one way. And then this kind of last question, what I got was that, is it that kind of possible to stop emotional eating completely. And like I just said, it's, it may be challenging to stop emotional eating entirely, but it's possibly, it's for sure, possible to manage and reduce it significantly. So it's not that don't, don't think that you have to stop it right away, but understanding that those your when you start to understand why it's happening, and then finding ways, like different ways to deal with it, like practicing mindfulness, maybe you are with your coping strategies, or you find some different Foods, different rules, which are working for you, and there is no no like one day, what is working for all. So usually, like, my job as a coach is often to provide strategies, and my goal is not to tell you that you have to do this, but let's say that I would give you five different strategies, and then it's ultimately, it's your job to decide what you what you think that would work for you, and it's a trial and error. So we are trying different things. Maybe it's working, it's good. But the thing is that there is a lot like what I have seen after working with so many people, that if I tell people that this is the only way, this is what you have to do. Often, those strategies are, my goal is to lead you, kind of to find a way that you it's coming from yourself. Because when you when you believe that this is the right way this could be, then there is a very big chance that it's working also in the long term, instead of if somebody is telling you that this is to eat an apple, but you are thinking like that, what is this fucking apple? I hate apples. How to write. How should I able to do it? I know that I will probably do it once or twice. Then that's not gonna work. So the goal is always that it's those ideas, they are coming from you and not from coach or from me, because ultimately it's you who is making maybe this is for someone who is a stubborn like me. I need to, like, if some coaches tell you some business ideas, ultimately I need to make it happen or come till it's coming from me, that idea, or some somehow that it's, it's not like, I'm very good at following like instructions that this is it. This is what we are doing. I know some, someone needs it, but just my thinking is a little so hopefully this was a helpful episode, and like I said, I'm going to plan next week's next steps and creating new content in form you need. So if you enjoyed it, I would appreciate if you let me know in my Instagrams, and would let you know that this was helpful. Please share it in your Instagram story as and obviously, thank you for those who have leave those reviews in Apple podcast Spotify, they are helping a lot to get this message out for more people. So thank you who have already done it, and I would really appreciate if you do it. So thank you for listening and talk to you soon you I'm Sorry. I