I am currently reading the book "Die Fat or Get Tough," written by Steve Siebold. In his book he explains 101 differences between "fat people" and "fit people" in their thought processes about diet/exercise. After each chapter, there are critical thinking questions to answer followed by "action steps" to change the way one thinks about fitness in order to increase self-awareness and start getting tough about weight loss.
So in order to increase my own self-awareness about my thoughts and feelings about food, I am going to start journaling with my thoughts and reactions on his book. We shall see how it goes!
What are the three main reasons you eat when you're not hungry?
1.) Boredom
This is a big one! When I get bored I think I am hungry when in reality I'm not. I need to start increasing my awareness of my hunger signs in order to eliminating my caloric intake while bored. The times I find myself in a state of boredom seems to occur the most at night time, where extra caloric intake is definitely not recommended.
2.) When I am upset.
Oh emotional eating! Americans (and "fat people") fall victim to emotional eating all the time. And when I am the most upset, I reach for the most fattening foods... because it feels good. Instead of reaching for food, I need to find alternative ways to satisfy my emotional needs. I feel that, a lot of the time, I reach for food instead of listening to my emotions. It is a coping mechanism I have been using ever since I was a child. A good start to this problem would be to ask myself, before going to the fridge, why am I eating and listening to my body's signals to identify whether I am actually hungry or not.
3.) Social reasons
Well, everybody else is doing it! Seriously, every time you go to a social gathering there is a plethora of food... chips & dip, dessert trays, you name it. Emotions may be tied into this reason as well. I need to evaluate that further to understand if I am guided by emotions while at social gatherings and whether it leads me to eat when I am not hungry.