Written by: Vanessa McLennan, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Now that we are past the pandemic most workplaces are more open to people working from home. It is great to have that freedom and be able to work in your pajamas with the kitchen just a short distance away. The downside of this is that we can find ourselves at just arms reach from the kitchen cupboards with the goodies in them. It is so easy in between calls and meetings to go to the cupboard and get out that bag of crisps, biscuits, or chocolate. It is easy because no one is watching. No one knows what you are eating, so you do not have to worry about anyone judging you.
When there is no one around to joke or laugh with, working from home can get lonely and boring. The day can be monotonous. What breaks up that monotony? Food. What gives you a good break? Food. Before you know it, you cannot stop eating. The sugary, salty fatty food has got you hooked, and it is then hard to stop yourself when you know the food is there.
How do you stop eating?
1. Awareness
To stop you must first become aware of what is causing you to eat. The next time you go to eat something in the cupboards, stop and ask yourself "Am I hungry?" If no, ask ‘What do I really want here? Take a moment to think about how you are feeling. Is it boredom?
Keep a track of how often you go to the cupboard. Note if it is at certain times of the day or if it is breaking up certain activities. Keeping notes will help you to see your patterns and help you to work on the cause as well as help you to stop picking at food.
2. Have a trigger to stop your habit.
When we have had a habit for a long while, it becomes so ingrained that we start doing it without thinking. Before we know it, the snack is finished, and we cannot even remember going to the cupboard and getting it. We need something to wake us up and stop us in our tracks.
We need to set up a mini mind program where we have a trigger that makes us stop.
For example, imagine on your cupboard door is a big red stop sign. You could even print one out and put it there. Next, practice in your head shouting stops when you look at this sign. Keep practicing it so when you do need to use it, it becomes natural to shout stop as soon as you see the cupboard and it works. It will not work if you do it once and forget about it.
The next time you go up to get food and you look at the cupboard, you will notice shouting stop as you look at the sign. You have now set up a new pattern to break your old habit.
3. Find something else to do
Replace the eating with another activity. If the reason you are eating is boredom, food and eating break up the boredom stretch. However, eating a bag of crisps or chocolate is a short activity. The taste will only last for a fleeting time. As with any addictive behavior, you start to need to do more of that behavior to get the same high or result. You may find yourself going to the cupboards increasingly just to get the same good feeling.
To break this pattern, you have to pre-plan what you are going to do instead. You can anticipate getting bored during the day. Write down at least three things you could do instead. This could be a little 5 mins of movement. A step outside. A short bit of housework. It is better with physical activity to get you away from the desk and moving so your whole body and brain is engaged.
Find something to get your good feeling hormones going. Even walking out of your house and going for a quick walk around the block. Put on a quick 5 min exercise video.
The more you practice your new routine, you will start to feel better about yourself. When you start feeling better, you will notice not wanting to eat junk food anymore and wanting to get healthier and healthier. This will be your new healthy addiction.
Vanessa McLennan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Vanessa McLennan is a hypnotherapist/psychotherapist specialising in Binge Eating, Weight loss and obesity. After experiencing challenges in life, she found therapy and it was a life changing experience for her. Her life moved forward so much that she wanted to help others. She started specialising in weightloss and disordered eating because her own poor health caused her to clean up her own diet and healthy living became a passion of hers. She helps people who have been on many diets and they have not worked. Their eating has got out of control and they can't escape the cycle between eating too much or restriction. Are you ready and open to exploring your mind and emotions to help clear your unconscious saboteurs? To go within to work on the cause of your habits and not just the symptoms? Vanessa takes her clients on a healing journey where they heal the relationship with themselves and with food. An exploratory, liberating, life changing journey
