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    Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.

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  • Dec. 2, 2008

    Tools to lessen impulsive eating

    By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.

14 comments posted

Thanks again for your response to this series on battling obesity. Be sure to check out the first two parts and the comments from dozens of readers like you.

In going through your responses, I've noted that many of you eat as a way to cope.

" ... when I am having a bad day or low day or happy day I want to comfort myself or celebrate (with food)." - Kim
"I am an emotional eater. When I am upset, stressed or feeling blue is when I eat and eat and eat." - Jan
"Eating is a way to nurture and calm myself down from daily stresses ... My life is already so overwhelming that addressing this issue seems to add more stress. I am already experiencing health issues due to my weight and I am concerned that it will only get worse if I don't make some drastic changes. Hard to know where and how to start." - Charlene

Emotional eaters — you especially do not benefit from being told to "eat less — exercise more."

For you, food is the way you cope. It's your closest buddy — it boosts you up, calms you down, keeps you company, and makes you happy. This is a very hard friend to dump. In fact, even if you are a firm believer in a healthy diet and committed to exercise, this bum will sidetrack even your best intentions.

How do you get a grip on this? Get to know your feelings and what triggers you to eat. Chances are you are not aware of important underpinnings of why you use eating to cope with life's ups and downs. It's also important to learn non-food methods for coping with situations that trigger eating. Ultimately developing skills that lower your overall stress level leaves you with more energy and strength to live positively — and not dependent upon your "food buddy." Here are some tips.

  • Keep a journal that tracks everything you eat — and your feelings. Whenever you eat something write it down. Ask yourself why you are eating the food and what you are feeling. This is known as ABC journaling: Antecedents (why you are eating — including what you are feeling), Behavior (what you ate), and Consequences (how you feel after eating). You should begin to notice behavior chairs like:

    Antecedent (argued with husband/feeling upset) =
    Behavior (grabbed 3 cookies and ate them) =
    Consequences (felt better, then depressed because I shouldn't have eaten the cookies!)

    As you continue to journal, you will notice repeated themes — situations or triggers for emotion-connected eating. Just by journaling, you also become more aware of what you are actually doing and will likely "catch yourself" before grabbing unwanted food.

  • Think of non-food ways to break the chain and write them down. It has been shown that just the act of planning non-food interventions increases your chance of using non-food coping strategies than if you have no plan. Next time you're stressed — count to 60. Lonely? — call a friend. Angry? — vacuum the living room. It also helps to ride out the trigger to eat — this is hard. However, the trigger or emotion will fade and so will the urge to eat.
  • Ultimately it helps to de-stress. Stress management techniques can be as simple as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. Look for yoga or tai chi classes. Pick up DVDs, and books on stress management. Exercise frequently. It has been shown that those who learn and practice any of these regularly cope with stress in a less destructive manner.

Now you have some tools that you can use to develop a better variety of healthy coping skills — ones that lessen your first impulse for food — and increase your success at weight control.

Try some of these out — let me know your thoughts.

- Jennifer

14 comments posted

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  • July 26, 2009 2:16 p.m.

    This past weekend, it was pointed out to me that I was a bit OCD. Now I realize this term often gets downplayed and overused in society today BUT it made me get on the internet and start searching OCD and eating disorders and I stumbled across "Impulsive Eating". I have never heard this term before but when I read my very first article about it, I started to cry. I have battled with my weight for as long as I can remember (I am 30 years old). I remember being told by my mom when I was a kid "that's enough" when it came to food and for some reason that has always stuck with me. I also have always thought that I coped well with things in life; however, I now realize that I cope with food and it has now turned into a viscous cycle. I cope with loneliness by eating (food is my buddy), my impulsive eating has resulted in me being slightly overweight and because of my obsessive tendancies, I have high expectations of myself and my body and so as a result I feel uncomfortable around others because I am slightly overweight (5'6" and 155 lbs) and so I tend to push people away because I am uncomfortable with myself (low self esteem, though no one would ever guess) and worry they judge me and think I'm fat and so the cycle continues because as I push more and more people away and avoid these uncomfortable situations, I end up spending more and more time alone which results in me being lonely and thus another trigger to eat impulsively comes along.

    - Sabrina

  • March 26, 2009 6:42 p.m.

    too bad this hasn't been posted on for a minute, but here goes anyway. I am a recovering substance abuser, but have now found food to be a mood altering substance. However, this is harder to kick than drugs! I am a student and for whatever reason didn't take a step class. Though my weight has stablized (223 @5'9) during the past 6 months,I am in the obease catagory. So today I will start walking, five minutes at a time to begin. I have lost it before and will again.Feelings ae not facts and I will not die from them, I just have to walk through them rather than stuff them.

    - shannaj

  • February 10, 2009 6:50 p.m.

    i want to lose weight but i'm allergic to most fresh fruits and vegetables,so it is very hard to eat healthy. Even some canned,frozen and jarred fruits cause an allergic reaction.

    - dajakima

  • January 16, 2009 3:39 p.m.

    I want to add, though, just as it's important to identify your feelings, it's important to do something about them. De-stressing is the goal, but sometimes that comes in different forms. Be specific about what will make you feel better - is it a bath, or screaming in the car, or a vigorous workout, or wandering through the park?

    - Stephanie

  • December 12, 2008 1:32 p.m.

    Thanks Amanda and Trish for your comments on weight management. It helps!

    - Suzie

  • December 8, 2008 6:51 p.m.

    I lost my husband to cancer 16 months ago. I took care of him for 7 years. The kids are all gone and living out of state. I'm on my own and lonely. I keep busy but in the 16 months since my husband's death I have gained 35 pounds. I have to do some- thing about this. Jina

    - Jina

  • December 4, 2008 7:25 p.m.

    I stopped smoking cigarettes about two months ago. Since then I've gained close to 15-20lbs. Is it possible that I have simply traded in one habit for the other? I find that I eat for comfort especially sweets. I no it is extremely unhealthy. I need a healthy plan that I can stick to without going all bland. -shanette

    - Netta

  • December 4, 2008 1:58 p.m.

    I'm 90% disabled and that has made it very restrictive to do anything so I'm mostly at home laying on the bed while I divide doing light household chores and light aerobics throughout the entire day. I love food and the only reason I'm not overweight is because of portion control and counting calories. I have a 1600 calorie diet and as long as I stick to that, I can eat whatever I want. All my main meals are high in fiber and nutrients so I can get away with eating "bad" snacks like chocolate, chips and home-baked cookies. It may only be a little bit that I can eat but it satisfies my sweet cravings and I don't have to worry about my weight.

    - Amanda

  • December 3, 2008 5:41 p.m.

    In response to Suzie - I lost 30 lbs, gained 8 lbs back and have maintained that for almost 3 years. I hope that counts. What has been successful for me - eating 10 servings of fruits and veggies a day no matter what else I eat. Also, certain foods that I used to eat for comfort are considered poison - like peanuts, chips. I don't touch them. Now when I lose control, I eat cereal. I wish I would not lose control, but since I still do occasionally, it helps to do it with lower calorie but still satisfying foods. Hope this helps! Good luck - it is possible!

    - Trish

  • December 3, 2008 3:15 p.m.

    But what about all the wonderful foods out there? We live in a wall to wall smorgasbord of wonderful foods!

    - Lyn

  • December 3, 2008 8:43 a.m.

    "Food represents so much more than just fuel for the body. Is it possible to change that?" Susan's comment really got my attention. I'd like to hear from others who were successful in making that change and were able to keep it up OVER 2 years and longer. Think that is the information which would be most helpful in the arena of emtional eating for me. Maintenance of the new behavior is the hardest part not the change itself. There are many things to do so we don't put food in our mouths for comfort, or whatever. However it's the day in and day out struggle year after year that seems to break down the will/want/desire and sometimes we're back to square one. Information from "the superstars" of weight loss management would be great!

    - Suzie

  • December 3, 2008 7:47 a.m.

    I too would like to see ideas on eating well economically. Junk food is WAY cheaper than healthy food, and that really does matter when you have to feed your family - including packing school lunches and snacks, etc. Even at fast food places, a cheeseburger and fries is cheaper than a salad!

    - Michelle

  • December 3, 2008 6:57 a.m.

    This has worked for me: in the last 6 months I have given up completely refined carbohydrates (sugar, cookies,cakes, bread) and my diet consists solely on proteins and vegetables. I could begin this in the "bright" days. So when the "dark" days came, and they always come, I rejoiced myself with meat, ham, cheese, with little or no effort avoiding high calorie addictive foods. Be sure I am the first one surprised when my bad mod eases with a banana!! Hope this helps.

    - alberto

  • December 2, 2008 4:03 p.m.

    "For you, food is the way you cope. It's your closest buddy — it boosts you up, calms you down, keeps you company, and makes you happy. This is a very hard friend to dump. In fact, even if you are a firm believer in a healthy diet and committed to exercise, this bum will sidetrack even your best intentions." Perfect description. "Hard to dump"??? Understatement! I like to eat. This is a good series and I hope there's more to come. Tips & info I'd love to see: specific diversions and how to implement them. Ways to counteract the "I'm too worn out to move" feeling. Eating well economically. (Good food-for us and for the environment-really is more expensive as well as more time-consuming to fix. I have to feed my family too!) Food represents so much more than just fuel for the body. Is it possible to change that?

    - Susan

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