Comfort Cravings

How to soothe yourself without food--and how to eat healthfully and mindfully.

Susan Albers, Psy.D. is a psychologist who specializes in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns and mindfulness. Her latest book is 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food. See full bio

July 10, 2009, Diet

Comfort Eating Like Clockwork? The Donut Dilemma

The Donut Dilemma

Does this sound familiar? You make a promise to yourself every morning before you leave that you will not seek out the donuts in the break room once you get to work. But, once you arrive, you find yourself talking yourself into eating them. Why do you get a donut even though you really don't want one and aren't even hungry? This is a prime example and red flag that you may be comforting eating.

This is the exact story that one of my clients shared recently. When we took a closer look at this donut dilemma, it actually didn't have anything to do with donuts. Instead, her commute was the true cause of her tug-of-war feelings. By the time she fought an hour traffic jam each morning, she was ready to gnaw on anything to relieve her frustration. It wasn't the donut that she craved but a moment of peace and calm (the polar opposite of NYC traffic!)

This is was a prime opportunity to find ways to deal with the root cause of her stress eating. She came up with a variety of options--leaving a half hour earlier, finding a carpool buddy, and stocking up on soothing music for the ride. To her surprise, non calorie comfort was within her reach.

Are you too having trouble conquering comfort eating? Do you find yourself craving an ice cream cone after a hard day of work or munching on a bowl of nuts in hopes that the crunching will ease your nervous tension? You may be surprised to learn that much of comfort eating may be just that-a habit. It's likely that the same events and emotions routinely trigger comfort eating. The trick to staying one step ahead of stress eating is to know your triggers like the back of your hand.

For at least three weeks, write down all incidents of comfort eating. At the end of the three weeks, examine your data to see if there are any consistent patterns of stress eating that emerge. If so, try to insert soothing activities before the frustration occurs. This is often easier said than done but definitely worth the effort.

For more ideas, see 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food. While you will not be able to anticipate all incidents, deal with the situations that you do know you are likely to encounter that you will need extra comfort and soothing. www.eatingmindfully.com