6 Tips to Help You Regain Control Over Your Eating

Do you feel as if you are powerless over the food in your pantry and fridge? Is your appetite completely out of control, causing you to choose foods that you know aren’t the best for you, yet you simply cannot say no? If you answered yes to these questions, the good news is that regaining control over your eating is possible, and these six tips will help you do exactly that:Tip #1: Verbalize Your Control
Words are extremely powerful, and saying them out loud has a way of helping your brain believe they are true, even if you don’t feel it just yet. Therefore, repeating phrases such as “I can control my eating” and “I am capable of choosing good foods” can go a long way in helping you feel less powerless over the foods that exist around you.
Tip #2: Keep Trigger Foods Out of the House
If there are certain foods that you feel helpless against, such as chips, cookies, or other snacks and desserts, then the less easy they are to grab, the lower their level of temptation. After all, it is one thing to be able to go to the cupboard and get them, but it is another to have to get dressed, drive to the store, go inside and purchase them, and drive back home in order to have your favorite treat.
Tip #3: Learn to Deal with Your Emotions
Emotional eating is one of the biggest driving forces behind eating unhealthy foods, so learning to deal with your anger, sadness, frustration, and emptiness without using foods is essential to reestablishing your control. When you realize that you are eating out of boredom, for instance, find something else to do to preoccupy your time. And if anger or sadness typically sends you to the kitchen, find alternate ways to deal with these emotions, such as going for a walk, venting to a friend, or listening to soothing music.
Tip #4: Think of Food In Terms of Nutritional Value
One of the most effective ways to regain control over your eating is to think of foods in terms of the nutritional value that it offers you. This gives you a whole new mindset than when you consider a particular food a treat after a long day, or a reward for a job well done.
Before preparing a meal or snack then, consider the foods that you could eat that will make you feel better physically and mentally due to the vitamins and minerals they contain. Choose items that make you feel stronger and healthier, thereby increasing your feelings of self-control.
Tip #5: Monitor Your Portions
Oftentimes, it isn’t so much which foods you eat that can leave you feeling as if you’ve lost all control, but more so how much you consume. This makes monitoring your portion sizes critical to reestablishing your feelings of self-empowerment, and one way to do that is by using your portion control plates and bowls.
By choosing to use measuring instruments that can help you easily identify how much you should eat from the various food groups, you are taking a proactive stance toward your health. Also, if you decide that you want a food that isn’t exactly the best for you, portion control devices can help you enjoy that treat without feeling guilty about it and continuing the emotional eating cycle.
Tip #6: Reduce Your Stress
Stress can make you feel as if you have no control over your life in general, so it only makes sense that this feeling can creep into your eating too. Not to mention that stress often triggers a desire to emotionally eat, making it doubly imperative that you find a way to reduce it if you want to regain power over your own life.
Some stress reducing options to consider include mindful breathing, guided meditation, and brainstorming ways to effectively deal with the source of the stress. While it may be tempting to use cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol to lower your stress levels, these can actually complicate the problem, so try healthier methods instead.
Do these six things and you will regain control over your food intake. Actually, you’ve had it all along, now you just need to use it.
We’d love to hear what you have done to help regain control over your eating, so please comment below. Who knows? You may just inspire someone else to do the same!