Mindful Eating Challenge Day 5: Notice your emotions

 DAY 5 OF 19

Notice the emotions you experience while eating: 

Many of us deal with emotional eating, which involves eating in response to stress, sadness, or other negative feelings. Mindful eating can not only help you understand the types of emotions that surround your relationship with food but also how you may be using food to cope with certain feelings.

This exercise can bring you more in tune with your emotions around the food you eat. You’ll need a notebook, journal, smartphone, or other device to take notes, as you’ll want to refer to them later in this challenge.

For today’s challenge: Ask yourself these questions before you start eating:

1. Does this meal evoke any emotions? If so, which ones?
2. Why do you think these emotions are coming up? (It’s OK if you don’t have definitive answers, but try to come up with a few reasons why you might be feeling this way.)
3. Are you eating this food because you’re feeling sad, stressed, or overwhelmed?
4. There are no hard rules for this exercise. Simply experience and honor your emotions around food. Then, write them down.

No matter what you’re feeling, try not to judge yourself. The goal of this activity is to become more aware of your emotional responses to food and develop a better understanding of how feelings can make you feel like eating.

Until tomorrow,

The HealthTipz Team