by Elizabeth Johnson

Created on: July 29, 2010

Are you the type of person who comes home from a busy day at work or a stressed-filled meeting and immediately goes to the freezer for that pint-sized Ben & Jerry's? Are you the type who, after an argument with your spouse or one of your best friends, broods over a box of chocolates or some Chinese take-out? You may eat the most balanced of meals, because you know you're supposed to follow specific portion sizes and eat plenty of fruits and veggies, but do you really know what you the eat the rest of the time - and why you eat it?

Let's face it, some of us are emotional eaters. We gravitate to the ice cream or the pastries whenever we're bored, frustrated, or angry. And it does tremendous damage to our waistlines, never mind our overall health. So how can you tell whether you're an emotional eater? The simplest way is by keeping a food journal. Often used in weight loss programs, a food journal is a surefire way to tell why you eat when you do. You can make your own with a spreadsheet or a plain piece of paper, whichever you prefer.

To start off,  you'll need four columns per day. First, you'll want to consider when or how frequently you are eating. Every time you put something in your mouth (other than water), note the time and write it down. Second, record what it is that you ate or drank.  Third, if your entry is for sometime other than a regular meal, record what you're doing at the time you chose to eat. For instance, did you just finish a workout, are you at the office, are you out for drinks with your friends? And finally, try to determine how you are feeling at that moment: sad, happy, angry, frustrated, bored, etc. Write that down.

Keep a record like this for about a week. At the end of the week, look over your chart. Use a pencil to cross off the regular meal-time entries. Now consider the others: is there a daily pattern, such as a mid-afternoon snack every day? Cross those off. Now look at the "feelings" column: do any words or emotions make more frequent appearances? The first step to stop being an emotional eater is to realize that you do it. Along with that is discovering which emotions cause you to eat - and even more specifically, which activities trigger those emotions.

By consistently keeping track of your food intake for several weeks, you should become quite aware of your eating habits, and be able to formulate a plan for changing them. For instance, let's say that long meetings at work always lead to a fattening stop at the nearby bakery or coffee shop. The first step is to become aware of the habit. The next step would be either to already have a healthy snack on hand (such as fresh fruit, yogurt, or almonds), or to start practicing more self-control and simply avoiding food altogether at those times, perhaps finding a more creative outlet for your emotions (such as doing something with your hands or your brain, rather than your mouth).

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