Okay you just broke up with your boyfriend and the sudden turn of events has been very hard on you. You try to overcome it by trying to stay indoors and you get into comfort eating. Somehow eating seems to make you feel better. But what if this comfort eating turns into a reason for your distress in the future, then what will you do?
Yes, comfort eating is one of the prime reasons for eating related disorders. And it can sometimes turn out to be addictive. When you comfort eat you may lose some of the stress but end up gaining a few extra pounds which is not at all desirable. It may turn out to be a habit and a cause for worry.
Comfort eating can cause harm in the following ways:
- Mostly 90% of comfort foods are sugary and fatty foods.
- They may ruin your weight goal.
- They can rob your body of nutrients and set in malnutrition.
There is nothing wrong in eating the comfort foods as long as you know your limits and they really bring comfort without making you feel guilty. But if eating them after the stress is over becomes your habit, then these unhealthy calories would just add on to the abdominal fats. So what is the solution? Well it is quite simple. You need to sometimes try to control your urge and try to be in your limits. Besides that you can modify your comfort eating into healthy eating. Following are a few tips on how you can do this:
- One of the main problems with comfort eating is the high calories. So the best option here is to make a low calorie version of the same food that you love eating. For instance, if you crave for chocolate pastry then you can try making it with wheat flour rather than refined flour (maida). Also, you can add low sugar chocolate or use an artificial low-calorie sweetener. Chocolate has small amounts of caffeine, so another thing you can try is to make a vanilla cake base and just add chocolate icing to it. If this is not enough, you can also add a layer of chocolate to your cake base, and then just like sandwich, apply chocolate sauce or icing in between each layer to get a more chocolaty taste. Comforting yet not calorie laden.
- You need to try to control your thrive. Eat your comfort food till you feel comforted or full. Once done, don't look at the remaining portion and finish it just because you don't wish to waste it or the money. Avoiding wastage is very noble and right thing, but not at the cost of your health. So, do not eat more than required. You can always share it with your family members, or one better thing to do is to give it to someone in need.
- Avoid eating comfort food out of an impulse. Rather, you can include your comfort food as a small portion in your snack or meal to avoid landing in that uncontrollable drive. Remember, it's no good to depend on food emotionally. You would never even realize when you become a prey of eating disorders.
- Another way to deal with comfort eating is to substitute your cravings with appropriate food. For instance, if you love eating sweet then instead of a chocolate or pastry, try eating a fruit or opt for a fruit juice. And if you like desserts like ice cream, then try making it at home by tossing your favorite fruit into skimmed milk (just make a milkshake or low calorie smoothies and refrigerate it).
So follow these tips and you do not have to fret anymore about comfort eating, you just have to modify it. Try to eat a lot of fresh fruits and salads and this will knock those extra pounds off your body.
