Dearest readers,
Award-winning dietitian Susie Garcia is back with her second guest post about ways to deal with emotional eating and understanding the 3 areas that trigger emotional eating issues in people: Time, Tasks and Guilt. If you’ve missed her last article on Time , then click here. Susie, welcome back…
Have you ever felt so busy, overwhelmed and anxious that you find yourself gobbling down junk food in the car? Or you simply forget to eat? This is a type of emotional eating and you are probably an Anxious Eater.
This is the second article in a 3 part series where I’ve identified 3 areas that many people will find emotional eating issues can impact them. Time, Tasks and Guilt; this article will discuss TASKS.
Many of us are Task Masters – we can multi task, create amazing TO DO lists and check everything off one by one and a huge task for most of us is taking care of others. How many of you make breakfast or lunch for kids/spouse/partner and don’t eat anything yourself or make anything in advance? Then suddenly it’s 1:00 in the afternoon and you realize you haven’t eaten anything! Or you nibble on non-nourishing snacks all day.
Anxious eating can be very common when you are overwhelmed with tasks. Another common occurrence in the “land of task overwhelm” is that What’s For Dinner? often isn’t on the TO DO list and you end up going through a drive through, or grabbing take out for the entire family.
Meal planning is just what it says “planning” – it’s part of your TO DO list. In order to make meal planning easier, I want you to use your Freezer!
This one simple step can help you ensure that you have something ready and available to cook; you can make a big batch of soup, stew, or sauce and freeze half and pull it out a couple of weeks later and voila; dinner’s ready. You can also take advantage of grocery store specials by stocking up on proteins, chicken, fish, and tofu (yes you can freeze it!)
I have a Task for you to help improve this area – CLEAN OUT YOUR FREEZER. Put it on your calendar and get it done in the next one to two weeks. Most foods keep 3-6 months in the freezer; the food won’t spoil, however the quality will be bad and shouldn’t be eaten. I’m pretty sure you’ll find some interesting items crammed in the back or in a drawer. Throw out all of the old, freezer-burned foods and make room for Better Meal Planning! I encourage you to do the same thing with your refrigerator and pantry. I am not suggesting that you waste food; but OLD, EXPIRED food is unsafe to eat.
Finally, start adding your dinner plan to your TO DO list; if you can take 5 minutes in the evening to think about what you want to cook the next day then you can take something out of the freezer, check for ingredients and feel confident that you won’t be scrambling the next night!
About the Author: Susie Garcia is an award-winning Dietitian, author, speaker, media resource, and nutrition expert and offers Practical Healthy Solutions that fit into Your Lifestyle. Receive a complimentary copy of her guide, 7 Simple Steps to a Healthier You: www.YourHealthyLifeChoices.com
To learn more about what type of Emotional Eater you might be get a copy of Susie’s book: Psyched to be Skinny – How to Stop Emotional Eating, Enjoy Healthy Weight Loss and Keep it Off for Life! www.PsychedtobeSkinny.com
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