by Feeling Great | Aug 10, 2023 | Mental Wellbeing
Food and Emotions: Do You Turn to Food for Comfort?
Understanding Emotional Eating and How to Overcome It
Emotional Eating? Do emotions influence your eating habits? Many people reach for food when feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. It is a common challenge that often leads to frustration and guilt. The cycle can feel endless, but with the right approach, you can break free and build healthier habits.
Do you ever reach for snacks when feeling stressed, bored, or overwhelmed? Emotional eating is a common struggle that often leads to frustration and guilt. The cycle can feel endless, but the good news is that you can break free. By recognizing triggers and adopting healthier coping strategies, you can regain control of your eating habits.
Why Emotional Eating Happens
For many, the connection between food and emotions starts in childhood. Parents may use snacks as a way to comfort, distract, or reward. Over time, this creates an emotional link to eating. As an adult, you might crave certain comfort foods simply because they remind you of happy memories.
Signs of Emotional Eating
- Eating when feeling stressed, sad, or anxious
- Craving specific comfort foods, even when full
- Feeling out of control around food
- Using food as a reward or distraction
4 Tips to Overcome Stress Eating
1. Identify Your Triggers to Emotional Eating
Keep a food and mood journal. Write down:
What you ate or craved
How you felt before eating
Your emotions after eating
Recognizing these patterns helps you make better choices.
2. Find Healthier Coping Strategies
Instead of turning to food, try:
Deep breathing to reduce stress
A short walk or stretching to reset
Calling a friend for support
3. Pause Before Eating
When cravings hit, wait five minutes. Distract yourself by:
Drinking water
Stepping outside
Doing a quick activity
Often, the urge will pass.
4. Build Healthy Lifestyle Habits
A strong body and balanced mind help reduce emotional eating. Focus on:
Regular exercise to manage stress
Quality sleep to support hormone balance
Meaningful social connections for emotional well-being
Final Thoughts: Take Control of Your Eating Habits
Emotional eating isn’t about willpower—it’s about awareness and balance. Small, mindful changes will help you develop a healthier relationship with food. Try these tips today and break free from the cycle for good!
If you want to read about how to Eliminate Stress, Read This.
If you would like further information or help to formulate a diet plan which will reduce the emotions and urge to Emotional Eating BOOK HERE
by Feeling Great | Jun 4, 2023 | Mind, Recipes, Snack Recipes
This is a question I often get asked by my clients.
“I get a sweet craving that I just can’t budge. The more I try to ignore it the bigger it gets. What should I do? Are there healthy sweet options I could use?”
Yes, there are! Here are some Healthy Treats Recipes and guilt-free snacks.
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by Feeling Great | Jun 3, 2023 | Hormones, Mental Wellbeing
How to Stop Food Cravings Naturally
12 Weird & Effective Ways to Curb Food Cravings
Food cravings can feel uncontrollable, making it harder to lose weight and keep it off. Often, these cravings aren’t due to real hunger but rather emotional triggers, habits, or nutrient imbalances.
Highly processed, sugary foods are the most common culprits, but the good news is that cravings can be managed naturally.
Ready to take control? Try these 12 powerful and science-backed strategies to reduce food cravings and support a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
12 Tips to Stop Food Cravings
1. Use Blue Plates for Meals
This may sound strange, but blue is a natural appetite suppressant! Studies show that eating from blue plates or using blue napkins reduces food intake.
- On the flip side, red, yellow, and orange tend to increase appetite, which is why fast-food chains often use these colors.
Try this: Swap your dinnerware for blue and see if it helps you eat more mindfully!
2. Smell Vanilla to Trick Your Brain
The sweet aroma of vanilla can reduce sugar cravings by fooling your brain into thinking it has already satisfied its sweet tooth.
Try this: Keep a vanilla-scented candle, essential oil, or vanilla bean nearby when cravings strike.
3. Wait It Out – Cravings Don’t Last Forever
Cravings typically last only 15-20 minutes. If you distract yourself, you’ll likely forget about the craving altogether.
How to tell real hunger from cravings:
- If an apple sounds appealing, you’re likely hungry.
- If only cookies, chips, or sweets sound good, it’s just a craving.
Try this: When cravings hit, go for a walk, read a book, or call a friend.
4. Add More Spices to Your Food
- Replacing sugar and salt with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger not only adds flavor but also curbs cravings.
Why it works:
- Cinnamon helps stabilize blood sugar.
- Cloves reduce sugar cravings.
- Spicy foods boost metabolism and reduce appetite.
Try this: Sprinkle cinnamon on oatmeal, coffee, or smoothies!
5. Get Enough Sleep to Control Hunger Hormones
- Lack of sleep increases ghrelin, the hormone that makes you feel hungrier. It also lowers leptin, which tells your brain you’re full.
- Aim for at least 7 hours of quality sleep to help regulate appetite.
Try this: Establish a consistent bedtime routine and avoid screens before bed.
6. Exercise to Reduce Hunger
- Regular movement balances hunger hormones and naturally reduces appetite.
- A study found that 30 minutes of exercise helps people eat fewer calories throughout the day.
Try this: Take a short walk before meals or add strength training to your routine.
7. Take Vitamin B3 for Sugar Control
Vitamin B3 supports blood sugar regulation, which can help reduce sugar cravings and even curb alcohol cravings.
Try this: Include B3-rich foods like turkey, chicken, salmon, and peanuts in your diet.
8. Avoid Artificial Sweeteners – They Make Cravings Worse
Artificial sweeteners trick the brain, making it crave more sugar rather than less.
Instead, choose:
- Natural sweeteners like honey or dates.
- Whole foods that offer natural sweetness without artificial chemicals.
Try this: Swap diet soda for sparkling water with lemon.
9. Eat Dark Chocolate to Satisfy Sweet Tooth
Dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao) helps suppress cravings better than milk chocolate.
Why it works:
- The bitter taste reduces appetite.
- Stearic acid in dark chocolate slows digestion, keeping you full longer.
Try this: Enjoy two small squares of dark chocolate when cravings hit.
10. Try Tofu – It Contains a Natural Appetite Suppressant
Tofu contains genistein, a compound that helps reduce hunger.
🛠 Try this: Add tofu to stir-fries, smoothies, or salads for a plant-based protein boost.
11. Take a 15-Minute Walk to Reduce Cravings
Research from the UK found that a short 15-minute walk can cut cravings by 12%.
Try this: Next time a craving strikes, step outside, stretch, or do light movement.
12. Visualize Yourself Eating the Craved Food
Sounds odd, but a study found that people who imagined eating their favorite foods ate 61% less when they actually had them.
Try this: Close your eyes and picture yourself eating the food you’re craving. Your brain will feel more satisfied without overindulging.
Ready to Take Control of Your Food Cravings?
Food Cravings don’t have to control you! Try one or two of these natural strategies and see what works best for you.
Need personalized support? Book a consultation today—I’d love to help you achieve your health and wellness goals! 💚✨
I have a tips on how to stop feeling hungry all the time! Read This. Which of these tips will you try first? Let me know in the comments!
by Feeling Great | May 25, 2023 | Body, Mind
How to Stop Eating Junk Food and Lose Weight – 10 WAYS TO CURB CRAVINGS FOR BAD FOODS
Junk food is a term used to describe foods with little nutritional value. Foods that have a high sugar or salt content can also be described as junk food, as they may be harmful to health. Examples of junk foods include salty snacks, candy, many sugar laden desserts and fried fast food. These foods are low in vitamins, minerals and proteins. For this reason, the calories provided by them are often termed “empty calories”. – Livestrong
On Thursday I posted a colourful little diagram on Facebook on How to Control your Food cravings & thought……..
ohhhh a couple of people may be interested in this.
Well…..that is 5,778 people to be exact.
So I am guessing this is what you would like to hear more about.
Well here it is….
How to Stop Eating Junk Food and Lose Weight – 10 Ways to curb bad food cravings?
1. Get rid of the junk food out of your house
Cakes, doughnuts, soft drink, fried foods, lollies, white bread, pasta, chips, artificial sweeteners, white flour baked products.
2. Eat more fibre from fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and wholegrains (quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice, millet)
Fibre keeps you fuller for longer & kills all your sugar cravings.
Munch on a carrot, nibble on an apple.
It also helps you lose weight faster by filling up your stomach quicker so making you eat less.
3. Make sure 30% of your diet is protein
This includes eggs, nuts, chicken, fish, seeds, tofu, legumes (chickpea, borlotti beans, lentils, etc), kangaroo, lamb, beef, tempeh.
Like fibre, protein keeps you satisfied for longer because ……
Protein helps regulate your blood sugar & it makes your body release appetite suppressing hormones (cholecystokinin, GLP-1).
4. Drink more water
When you get dehydrated you will get very hungry in an attempt to get more water to re-hydrate itself.
Drinking 1 large glass of water 15 minutes before meals will reduce or appetite or make you eat less. Give it a try!
5. You can drink a glass of vegetable juice before meals
Studies have shown that drinking vegetable juice before meals suppresses your appetite by making you eat 565 less kilojoules at each meal.
6. Get fibre, protein and water at every meal to …
Regulate your blood sugar because when your blood sugar is out of whack you’ll crave for more food.
So you will eat more and gain more weight.
For example, if you eat some almonds & veggies for fibre, and some tuna or chicken for protein and if you wash it down with water before or a little during the meal. You won’t have any food cravings for at least 3-5 hours.
The water helps the undigested fibre in your stomach expand to make you feel fuller for longer.
7. Don’t get stressed out – relax more.
When you get stressed out you usually overeat because your body releases cortisol that makes you hungry.
8. Use this phrase to stop cravings – “I DON’T EAT THAT!”
9. Eat after a workout
If working out increases your appetite then you can quickly and easily get rid of those cravings by eating within 1-2 hours of finishing your workout.
Look at tip #6 above for an idea of what to eat after your workout to keep you satisfied for longer.
10. Understand why you go on a binge & plan appropriately
I hope this helps to demystify the subject just a little.
Let me know if it proves to be useful.
Would love to hear your story.
Just send me an email or comment on my Facebook page.
by Feeling Great | Jan 18, 2023 | Drinks Recipes, Recipes
Daily green smoothies can do amazing things for your health…..
- clearer thinking,
- brighter skin,
- maintain regular bowel motions,
- help cleanse your liver and
- promote healthy gut flora.
Fantastic for hormonal, gut and skin problems and getting you energised for life.
You may have one for breakfast either by itself or with a boiled egg or porridge or as a snack.
Fantastic for that 2-3pm energy slump instead of a coffee and cake.
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