Dealing With The Emotional Desire To Eat

JUST FOR TODAY:  If you have an emotional desire to eat, recognize this, and take steps to separate food from feelings.

There are five stages to dealing with the emotional desire to eat.  At stage one, you are totally unaware that you are eating for emotional reasons, you just know that you have an ongoing desire to eat even if you aren't hungry.  At stage two, you become aware that there were some emotional reasons driving your eating, but not until after you've already eaten.  At stage three, you become aware of what you are feeling while you are eating, but choose to keep eating anyway.  At stage four, you are aware of your emotions before you eat, but choose to eat as a means of coping with your feelings.  At stage five, you are aware of your emotional desire to eat, but choose an alternative to food.  Take note of the stage that you seem to be.  How can move to the next stage?  Try it today.

©2010 by "Dr. Dorie" McCubbrey, M.S.Ed., Ph.D. – Eating Disorder & Obesity Treatment Specialist – Denver, Colorado