What's Eating You? A Look at Emotional Eating

I ran across the January 2009 issue of "O" Magazine a couple of days ago with the before and after pictures of Oprah on the cover. Did you see it? For those of you who didn't, there were two full-length pictures of Lady "O" side-by-side--one five years ago svelte and toned, the other a present-day view having gained all her weight back.

I thought I was looking in the mirror.

Oprah, me, and, I suspect, many of you have struggled with weight for many years, getting to your goal only to regain the hard-fought pounds. They creep back over time without you realizing it.

Usually there is a precipitating event that interrupts the slim-promoting regimen that you've established. For Oprah it was a thyroid condition. For me, it was breaking my foot. But it doesn't have to be a health problem that sends you careening off the deep end. Losing a job or a loved one (I've been there too!) unruly kids, or daily stresses of being a sistah just tryin' to make it--you name it--all have the capacity to derail your weight loss goals.

It's not just what you're eating, it's what's eating you!

Many sistahs are emotional eaters. Happy, sad, lonely, mad, afraid, ashamed, overwhelmed--name the emotion, and a comfort food will follow. Whether it is sweet, crunchy, salty, savory, or fried, everyone has a favorite taste to suit the mood. And when you're in need of comfort, restraint is not on the menu! So it's not just what you eat; it's the quantity, too.

Dealing with your emotions is a task that has nothing to do with food. Yet as long as your emotions are tied to food, you're certain to be plagued with the yo-yo effects of weight loss and gain. It's embarrassing, demoralizing, infuriating, and normal. You can't get rid of your emotions. But you can break the chain that ties them to food.

Before you start the next round of dieting, you need to get a handle on what and when you're eating--and why. This is the first step in severing the chain linking your emotions and food intake.

Keep a food diary

For a week, write down every morsel that goes into your mouth. Include: what you were doing just before your ate; how much you consumed; degree of hunger from 1-10 (10 being the most hungry); and how you felt afterward. Sounds like a pain, but it takes this close scrutiny to get an accurate picture of your eating habits.

In reading your food diary, you'll begin to see some patterns in your eating behavior. A key insight is seeing how often you eat without truly being physically hungry. This is a clear indication that you're using food to satisfy an emotional hunger.

Another powerful revelation from your diary is the situation(s) that trigger your eating, and the corresponding feeling your eating engenders. You'll begin to see the cause-and-effect relationship between your emotions and your eating. Emotional eating can become an endless feedback loop that can sabotage your weight loss plans:



Manage Emotional Eating

Now that you can see situations that trigger your emotional eating, here are a few tips from the Mayo Clinic on how to break this cycle:

• Learn to recognize true hunger. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not really hungry. Give the craving a few minutes to pass.
• Look elsewhere for comfort. Instead of unwrapping that candy bar, diving into that bag of chips, or whatever your designated comfort food, take a walk, treat yourself to a movie, listen to music, read, or call a friend. If you think that stress relating to a particular event is nudging you toward the refrigerator, try talking to someone about it to distract yourself. Plan an enjoyable event for yourself.
• Don't keep unhealthy foods around. Avoid having an abundance of high-calorie comfort foods in the house. If you feel hungry or blue, postpone your grocery shopping trip for a few hours so that these feeling don't influence your decisions at the store.
• Snack healthily. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.*

Sometimes the craving for your favorite comfort food is so strong, nothing else will satisfy it. Sound familiar? Here's a tip I'm finding helpful: go ahead and eat the food that you crave, BUT in a much smaller portion. Repackage that huge bag of chips (my quintessential comfort!) into one-portion ziplock bags--and only eat one! Is cake your thing? Slice a two-bite portion--don't eat the whole cake! Are you feelin' me? Eat slowly, savor every crumb, AND NO SECONDS!

If you give in to emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience, and make a plan for how you can prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you're making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that ensure better health.

*From "Weight-loss help: How to stop emotional eating." MayoClinic.com.

At any moment life can take an unexpected turn, putting you into a situation not of your choosing. Left without a clue of what to do, what do you do?

Sometimes, you panic. Sometimes you shut down. Sometimes you acquiesce. And sometimes you just blow it. Whatever your response, these "non-choice" choices can leave you digging a hole deeper than the one you started with.

At this time--and at all times--the most important first step toward your healing is to Forgive.

Turn-off that poisonous, self-critical voice inside that beats you up for all your poor choices and frailties. Just tune it out. To Forgive means to accept your humanness and all the foibles that come with the package. It means to hold yourself with tenderness, openness, and optimism--a knowing that you have the capacity to rise and thrive.

To Forgive is to wipe the slate clean, giving yourself a fresh start. It is the positive outlook that says, "From this moment forward I will...I can..." To Forgive is to acknowledge, "This, too, shall pass," stepping over obstacles large and small that litter your path.

Foremost among the trait to Forgive is to learn. It is to embrace the lesson embedded in every setback and hard knock with fearlessness and hope. To Forgive is to move on, letting go of grudges and regret. It means to release the struggle, and experience the joy of a life well-lived.

This time of year, bins of fresh corn are overflowing in grocery stores, farmers' markets, and roadside stands everywhere--just in time for BBQ season! Corn on the cob is a favorite summer dish, usually slathered with butter. But try it grilled au naturel, and the nutty, smoky taste defies any embellishments.

Corn is a whole grain, rich in nutrients like fiber that can help lower cholesterol (provided you avoid the butter!) and protein. It has thiamin for energy, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and phosphorus. Folic acid is the star nutrient in corn, known to help reduce cardiovascular disease, and promote normal tissue growth for the unborn child.

Never cooked fresh corn? No problem! Don't be intimidated by the tightly-closed green husks and cornsilk sticking out of the top. To pick a tender, sweet ear of corn, simply pull back the husks a few inches and pierce one of the kernels with your fingernail. If it bursts with a milky liquid--the corn "milk"-- then you've found an ear at it's peak.

Here in the the Pacific Northwest, a summertime treat is the roasted corn booth at the county fair. Yum! I searched for a recipe to recreate the succulent fair corn at home, and found that it is surprisingly easy to clean and cook. Here's all you need to do to prep for roasting corn on the grill:

1. Gently pull back green corn husks, starting from the outer layer, to expose the kernel on the cob. Don't pull the husks off!
2. Remove and discard all the silky threads (called cornsilk), and rinse the kernels clean.
3. Starting from the inner layers, replace the husks around the ear of corn.
4. Place corn in a deep bowl or pot filled with water so it is fully immersed, and soak for 10 minutes. 
5. Remove corn from the water and place on the grill for approximately 10 minutes, turning once. Peel back the husks, and gather them together for a natural handle and enjoy! Try the taste without butter and seasoning first--it's a great flavor all by itself.

Now that you know how to roast corn, here's a fabulous summer salad recipe I'm sure you'll enjoy!

Roasted Corn, Black Bean, and Mango Salad

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups roasted corn (from about 6 ears), retain the cob
1 cup diced ripe mango
1 can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup shallots, finely minced
1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 small chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, (not the whole can! Just one pepper!) drained and chopped
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
Corn "milk" from cobs

Preparation:

1. Combine corn, mango, black beans, shallots, red bell pepper, and chipotle pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, scrape corn cobs with a spoon to extract the remaining flecks of corn and corn "milk."
   
3. In a jar with tight-fitting lid combine corn "milk," canola oil, lime juice, cumin, and sea salt. Shake vigorously for the dressing to be well blended.
4. Pour dressing over corn/black bean/mango mixture, add cilantro and toss gently. Chill for two hours for flavors to meld. Serves 6.