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Breaking The Comfort Food Cycle

Sometimes your mood can have a major impact on your diet.

Sometimes everybody either wants a good old hug or a big old plate of of comfort food. What do you hunger for when you are feeling blue? A hot fudge sundae? A big fat greasy hamburger and fries? A bucket of country fried chicken?

Many of these foods temporarily relieve the feelings of sadness or anger or whatever caused us to indulge to begin with by giving us something other than the emotion to focus on, however more often than not the few moments of euphoria are swiftly replaced with feelings of shame or guilt for having strayed so far off track. These feelings can lead to further indulgences and in some cases even giving up on our healthy eating goals completely.

Next time the urge to eat out of stress or anger or sadness comes around, take a moment to simply allow yourself to feel the emotion, recognize that although it may be intense for a few moments, the emotion itself will not harm you and if you allow yourself to feel it, it will pass (and along with it, the urge to eat to stuff it away). If you must distract yourself from it, try calling a friend, going for a walk, or even taking a nap! When you wake the intensity of the emotions you were feeling should be greatly diminished.

Changing the way you cope with these feelings will go a long way towards a healthier and happier you!