How to Render Psychological “Eating Cues” Powerless
Apr 27th, 2009 by Giselle
Eating cues in your internal and external environment serve as powerful triggers to eat. Research has shown that overweight individuals are more vulnerable to these cues than their thin counterparts. If you eat only from physiological hunger, you are most probably slender and fit. If you eat from psychological hunger, you will most probably be overweight or obese. Read on to find out how to render psychological “eating cues” powerless.
Do you binge eat in response to painful emotions, anxiety, boredom, depression, fatigue or unchecked stress? If you do, you are a classic example of one who overeats from psychological “eating cues”. The desire for enormous quantities of food is coming straight from your head and not your stomach. Be warned, you are a menace to yourself and at risk of inflicting a lot of damage to your own body.
The desire to impulse eat can be quite overwhelming and its grip on you may not last beyond half an hour. During this time, if you can have a battle plan in place to thwart the urge to binge with an incompatible behaviour, you can powerfully change your eating and its corresponding outcome. Note that habits cannot be broken, they can only be replaced. If you perform a new habit often enough, it will gradually replace the old habit. In time, the old habit will completely lose its grip over you. How this plan of attack works is that, substituting an incompatible behaviour for a bad habit takes your mind off the habit you wish to break. For example, in pain management, when you focus on something else rather than on the pain, it actually alleviates the pain. The same principle applies here.
First identify the cues that make you vulnerable to overeating. Then counteract the temptation with incompatible actions to distract you from the powerful lures of food. For example, when during the day are you most tempted to overeat? If the answer is at 10pm when everyone else has gone to bed and you are feeling lonely, anxious, depressed and vulnerable. Do you find yourself having food fantasies or actively seeking out food to mindlessly munch for the sake of having a party in your mouth? Then just watch out at this time! If you would just handle this – your ‘Achilles heel’ and nothing else in managing your weight, you could easily lose 4-8kg over a year without even trying. It is really as simple as that, there is NO HOLY GRAIL to weight loss!
Here is a list of powerful distractions:
- Learn a new hobby or sport.
- Do some gardening (if during the day).
- Ring a friend (if during the day).
- Give yourself a manicure.
- Get a movie.
- Read a good book.
- Plan a holiday.
- Do a relaxation exercise.
- Go for a walk, jog, swim, bike ride.
- Practice dancing to your favourite music.
- Go get a massage.
- Listen to weight management hypnosis.
- Listen to music.
- Take a nap (if during the day) or go to bed and sleep (if at night).
- Clean the house.
- Take your dog for a walk.
- Meticulously brush, floss and rinse your mouth as per your dentist’s instruction. You are less likely to eat after that!
- Clean out your closet or drawers.
- Soak yourself in a luxuriously warm bath tub with essential oils and candles. Relax and visualise yourself at your goal weight. How do you feel? Really get present to those wonderful feelings within you – peace, joy, contentment, happiness, love. What would you gladly give to restore those feelings? Could it perhaps be a mountain of junk food that are going to make you feel predictably ”yuck” afterwards?
For a related discussion with further ideas and some hypnosis links, see also How to stop your sugar cravings.
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It is amazing to think that during this half hour period, sometimes even less, so many mindless calories are consumed. To have a battle plan is a great idea. One thing I would like to point out is that it may be a good idea to start with distractions that you are really passionate about or know that you will really enjoy, maybe even save something up just for when it happens, because for me at this stage it is inevitable. I say this because food has such an amazing hold over me, if it is something I have looked forward to doing, like a good mag, then the mag will win over the hunk of chocolate cake, or maybe even the entire chocolate cake!
You pointed out in this article that the urge to eat only lasts half an hour, in the big scheme of things, that is nothing! It seems like longer than that when you are trying to ‘will’ yourself out of it, and of course not nearly enough time when you are trying to eat yourself silly, only to come out feeling guilty at the other end. The rewards of distraction for half an hour, sure outweigh the consequences of not having something in play for these unavoidale times.
Thanks for your insight!
Hi Jemima,
What you have mentioned above – do something you are really passionate about, is absolute GOLD!
I believe you know it pre-impulse eating that mindless munching is about to begin and you are farmiliar with the whole drama (it usually plays out with almost perfect precision and unbelievable predictability). You even know exactly how you are going to feel afterwards. However, you are powerless to stop it when it starts. For most, consciousness tends not to return until the binge is almost over. So the key to arresting this is to intervene before the drama unfolds ).
So what is your battle plan? What are you so passionate about that attention to this task will win over the desire to impulse eat? Write this down even though it may be very simple so that your plan of action is crytal clear. This is because one tends to lose objectivity pre-impulse eating. Commiting to a pre-written plan leaves less room for error.
P.S. Here’s a tip, execute your battle plan in a neutral environment (a place where there is no food).
I have identified some situations for when I am vulnerable to eat to satisfy my brain rather than my stomach….here they are…..
1. boredom
2. when I am at the grocery store I seem to be at be beck and call of the lollie aisle.
3.when there is only a bit left in the packet, I might as well just finish it off
4. cleaning up after a meal and picking at the leftovers
5. when everybody is in bed and they cant comment on what I am eating
6. when I am alone and feel the urge to sneak foood, which is probably another issue in itself!
7. when something tastes good
8. when I am tired
Ironically as I sit here, I am feeling the urge to eat…not because I am hungry as I have just had a hot chocolate and was conscious to enjoy each sip, but because I am tired. However the more I think about it the hungrier I become!
I am going to drink some water and have a rest while the baby is sleeping…that is todays battle plan!
Hi Jemima,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It’s funny – I can so see myself in some of your comments. I noticed I am most vulnerable when I’m unobserved and particularly when I’m alone. It’s like something gets triggered in me when everyone has gone to bed and my sneaky gene gets activated: “Oh, nobody’s watching, I can now do whatever I like and nobody will find out I’ve been doing what I shouldn’t be doing.”
Of course, *I* know what I have done, and it sure feels lousy afterwards.
So the test is “would I do what I am about to do if other people were watching?” Unfortunately that test will bring about the answer, but won’t stop me. (Yes, I tried that)
So here’s my game plan:
1. When I clear the table, I will bring the rubbish bin to the table (or a rubbish bag) and clear the table in front of everyone.
2. When everyone else has gone to bed and I’m up, I’ll have a nice refreshing glass of water before doing anything else. I’ll then brush my teeth. (Food will never taste the same thereafter).
Anyone else got any more ideas?
Hi Jemima,
Thank very much for sharing your reasons for eating. If it is any consolation to you, there are lots of people out there with similar struggles but few would admit it. I commend you on your courage and forthrightness. Identifying the problem is half the battle. You have just gone where the brave dare not go and look deep within. I absolutely admire that.
Well done for not giving in to your urge to eat this time and instead just drink some water and have a rest. However, I assert that this is not enough. Let’s revisit your awesome contribution about doing something you are really passionate about that will consume you entire attention. Could you perhaps write this down and remember to distract yourself the next time you are on the verge of impulse eating. This is powerful stuff because you are trying to develop a positive addiction to replace a destructive addiction. In time, the negative addiction will cease to have a hold on you.
I fully agree that replacing the bad habit with a positive one, like a new hobby or some such is a great strategy. But how would that work for late nights when everyone is asleep? I do not want to start off with something I’m passionate about late at night and then end up spending hours on that. You want to reduce stimulation, so you can get to sleep, yet stimulating enough to have it ward off any food temptations. I’m at a loss as to what that could be.
Hi Becky,
Good point. You certainly do not want to start your quilting and work till 5am the next day!
What you could do is think of this time as a special time for yourself where you take time out to indulge in some relaxation exercises, a time to nurture yourself and tune out of the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Meditation time can be powerful for you to restore the connection within. The more connected you are, the greater your awareness to your body cues. The more aware you are, the easier it is to restore mindful eating.
I personally like to whack on some face mask and go sit in the sauna for 1 hour with some relaxation hypnosis. Try it, it is absolutely therapeutic and can be quite addictive. Once you start, you will never want to stop. You have replaced the old habit with the new. And what is more wonderful is that it leaves you feeling relaxed, refreshed and happy!
im still hungry
Hi Hannah,
It is not uncommon for serial dieters to lose their food awareness. The result of that is the satiety and hunger cues do not operate properly.
A research was done in the 1960s at the Michigan State University where women who wanted to lose weight were instructed to eat a slice of bread 20 – 30 minutes before each main meal. What happened was the bread was digested and increased their blood sugar levels which serve to tell the sensors in their brains that they are no longer hungry. As a result, they ate a lot less when they sat down to each meal.
I do this with my children before each birthday party. Just before we leave the house they would each get a big serve of fruit salad with yogurt topped with mixed nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. When they got to the party they simply ate a lot less junk!
Pre-emptive snacking is a powerful way to reduce hunger pangs, try it some time.