10 Steps to Breaking-Up with Emotional Eating
- Set Boundaries. Do this by setting lifelong boundaries when it comes to food. These are boundaries you have in place for a lifetime…not just for a short time to lose weight. A boundary might look like…I will have a set number of meals and snacks each day. Within that boundary, be sure to limit the amount you eat. Eat plenty to feel satisfied but try to avoid second and third trips to fill your plate again. You will know you are eating the right amount if you are hungry at the next meal time.
- Treat Boundaries As Absolute Boundaries. No breaking of the boundaries period. If you are lax with your boundaries, you will not be able to break-up with the emotional eating habit and you certainly do not want to fall back into bad and old habits again. That means no licking the spoon or eating the cookie crumbs. I call that the grandparent tax and believe me it adds up and creates bad habits.
- Rely on God For Emotional Needs. It will be easier to stay within our boundaries, if we develop the habit of seeking God for help rather than food.
- See Emotional Eating For What It Really Is. When we see our relationship with food through the eyes of truth, we will lose our desire to eat for emotional reasons. We can accomplish this by resetting, having an awareness, and bringing our thoughts captive to the truth on a regular basis.
- Limit Contact With Your Favorite Food. If your favorite foods cause you to break your boundaries again and again, consider cutting them out all together until you have a little more truth in your system. Do whatever you think will give you the best chance of keeping you from compulsive eating. If it is best to cut trigger foods out for a season, then do it. If cutting out a certain food would make you rebel or binge, then keep it as a part of your life. This is a judgment call for you on what will give you the best chance of remaining within the boundaries you have set. If you eliminate a problem food from your diet, the first couple of weeks will be the most difficult but it does get easier and the cravings eventually go away.
- Exercise. When you spend more time working on your health and body, you will be less tempted to cheat with food for emotional reasons. Exercise helps reduce stress and promotes an attitude of accomplishment. The key is to develop the habit of exercise. Set a goal to do something everyday, exercise four times a week, etc. whatever works for you. It can be as simple as taking a walk or working in your yard/garden.
- Memorize Scripture. Scripture can get our mind in shape just as exercise helps to get our body in shape. Memorizing Bible verses can help you maintain control in difficult situations. Instead of going to food for comfort, seek God through scripture. In Matthew 4:1-11 each time Jesus is tempted by Satan, Jesus responds with scripture.
- Avoid Boredom. Do you know boredom is one of the most common reasons for eating when we are not hungry? Either we have nothing to do or we have a lot to do but it is all boring. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. If you have time on your hands, you have a great resource that God can use. Look around to see who needs help in your community. There are probably all kinds of exciting opportunities to minister to people in your local community. Now let’s discuss the person with a lot to do but it all seems like boring work. If God has called you to the current situation, submit to it and stick with it. Sometimes life is boring! As you seek God’s guidance, he can help you become more content in the situation. It is often in difficult periods of life that we grow and learn the most. God will use the situation for your good. Do what you can to liven it up and then accept the rest.
- Get an Accountability Partner. There is power in accountability! This has been huge in my journey. Can you think of anyone to ask to be your accountability partner? It could be a friend, someone from a Bible study or weight loss group.
- Don’t Give Up. Have you been here? Life is going along good. You are fitting in the jeans you haven’t been able to wear in awhile, feeling really good about things. And then something out of the ordinary happens. A friend brings over your favorite dessert and your thought is…I’ll just break the boundary this one time. I have been doing so well, this one cheat won’t hurt. It tastes so good that we decide to break it again and pretty soon we are not doing so well.
Discouragement sets in and that old recording begins to play…This is just like all the other times. It can be discouraging but this time you are using spiritual weapons and the steps above to break the stronghold of emotional eating. God will use the truth to set you free. Take a minute to ask God to bless your efforts as you begin this journey.
