Combat Emotional Eating With Exercise
We all have bad days and stressful events that happen in our lives! Or, maybe you just have a case of the Mondays. During these times, we often turn to food for comfort and more often than not, the foods we indulge in to feel better are not the healthiest. Probably not a good time to grocery shop as you may just find your cart pulling you to the snack aisles! Sometimes we feel as if we "deserve" to eat whatever we want after having a super stressful day. We have all been there! However, we have found that emotional eating is commonly followed by guilt or negative feelings. When is the last time you ate a whole bag of chips or half a pint of ice cream after a tough day and thought, "wow, I feel great." Usually we feel worse as many of these foods we binge on during emotional eating are high in fat, calories and sugar.
We use a healthier way to deal with bad or stressful days...exercise! I'm sure you have heard people say that exercise is the strongest and most underutilized antidepressant. Well it's true! And, it's free. Exercise is definitely our drug of choice! Rather than getting home from work and plopping on the couch with junk food, throw on some workout clothes, grab your sneakers and get active. Whether you are a runner, weightlifter, yoga enthusiast, bike rider, swimmer or just a casual walker, using exercise as a way to hit the reset button on your stressful day will not only help you combat emotional eating but provide you with so many other benefits as well.
Benefits of exercise:
Mood booster! Your body releases endorphins which trigger positive feeling and happiness in the body.
Increases productivity throughout the day.
Reduces stress and anxiety.
Helps keep you motivated to make healthier decisions throughout the day.
Boosts your self confidence by seeing physical transformations happening.
Burn fat while increasing lean muscle.
Reduces risk of illness and disease.
Improves sleep.
Helps maintain and control weight.
Promotes healthy brain function.
And by the way...it is important that you don't believe the excuse of "I'm too tired to exercise!" Pushing past that tired feeling after a long day and getting a workout in will actually give you more energy. Trust us, you will be so much happier and more energized once you get a workout in. Plus, when you exercise, you are less likely to want to binge on junk food.
So, easy enough? Not quite! We have two additional tips to increase your chances of exercising after a long day instead of binging on food. Do not go home first! And, do yourself a favor and keep a gym bag in your car so you can go directly to the gym. Let's face it, if your butt hits the couch after a long and stressful day, your chances of getting motivated and getting a workout in quickly diminish. So set yourself up for success and pack your bag.
Happy Monday!