How To Manage Your Emotional Eating Around Halloween Candy
Every year I dreaded Halloween because I end up binging on chocolate. It makes sense right? After all I struggled with emotional eating and binge eating. Not just for that one night, but for days (maybe even weeks). I would need to ensure all the candy was finished before I could stop thinking about it.
Logically it would have made more sense to throw it out or give it to a neighbor, but emotionally that was not ever going to happen.
As an emotional eater I am sure you can relate. You may have kids or just be a nice person who likes to give out treats. Either way it ‘s a challenging time for people to manage their urges.
However, if you plan ahead there are some great ways to manage yourself around the candy.
Here are 5 ways to manage your emotional eating with Halloween candy around.
1. Ensure you are having regular meals.
Eating three meals and two snacks daily, will be a great help to manage cravings.
If you skip out on meals you are more likely to turn to high sugar food sources. So eat regular meals and snack and choose foods that feel nourishing to your body.
2. Make sure you are self-caring that day (along with every other day).
Do something really soothing for yourself. It may be going for a walk, getting your nails done or even booking a massage. Whatever it is, make sure you make it happen.
We all need self-care, without it our fuel tank is running on empty. Start filling up on doing something you enjoy. This will allow you to give more to the people in your life you care about.
Whatever self-care you decide to do, make sure you make it happen. To do this, schedule it into your calendar as if it were an important meeting.
3. See if there are some low risk food treats that you can enjoy.
I always recommend my clients create a high and low risk food list . These are foods that may not be nourishing, but they taste good. Allow yourself to enjoy these treats.
Everyone has different foods that trigger them to binge. Let’s figure out what yours are and see if that are some that you enjoy that don’t trigger you to overeat.
4. Give out treats that don’t tempt you.
If you love Kitkat and Smarties, plan to get lollipops and other treats that are less tempting for you.
Don’t tempt yourself with foods that you find hard to manage being around. Leave those at the store and plan to get lollipops and other treats that are less tempting for you.
5. If you end up deciding to have treats, fully have it.
If you decide you want to have these treats then go for it! Just eat it sitting down and eat slowly. Enjoy it. Make a plan to give the rest to your kids classmates or take it to work.
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The most important thing to remember is to eat with awareness ,from a place of calmness.
Happy Halloween!
Natalie Shay is a Psychotherapist and Life Coach specializing in emotional eating. She struggled with her own weight for 20 years. She finally learned to stop dieting and lost 75 lbs. In 2007 she became a Registered Psychotherapist to help emotional eaters stop turning to food for comfort and lose weight without dieting. She helps support her clients and guides them to meet their goals to stop dieting and start living.
Natalie can be reached here