Embrace healthy eating

SELF-SABOTAGE You want to lose weight, but struggle to stop yourself from eating too much. Despite endless diets, you can’t seem to find a balance.

AMBITION To find a healthy and enjoyable way of eating.

TRY THIS Food plays a major role in family life; parents cook meals for the family, sweets are given out as rewards. This can make it easy for someone with an emotional eating issue to think that food equals love, comfort or company. As a result, they can feel hungry even when they’re not, because it’s not food they’re actually craving. To understand what kind of problem your mind might be trying to solve when you eat unnecessarily, ask yourself:

In what situation are you most likely to turn to food?

What’s the common factor in all those trigger moments?

Which emotions make you eat – are you stressed, lonely, feeling down or bored?

With this insight, what do you think your mind could really be trying to achieve by pushing you towards the kitchen? How could you satisfy that need in a healthier way? Do you really want to eat those doughnuts, or have you just had a terrible day at work? If the answer is the latter, replace food with something you really want; call a friend, go for a walk or have a lovely bubble bath. If you’re reaching for the doughnut because you’re lonely, find company in other ways.