Tips to combat closet eating

Have you found yourself trying to hide the king size chocolate bar wrapper  from the candy bar you just ate in your car?  Do you find yourself rushing to the kitchen when you’re alone to gobble down copious amounts of chips or cookies when noone is looking?  If yes, then you may be a closet eater.  Closet eating is when someone eats normally or even scantily when in front of other people but when alone your eating is out of control.  This can happen out of embarrassment or guilt....but it doesn’t matter what the reason. It’s a negative behavior that  can derail your weight loss!

There is no magic pill or solution to avoid combat eating.  But with the following tips and techniques you can combat this unhealthy habit!

**Take care of the hunger so that You’re not even tempted to walk into the kitchen.   Identify the problem times and try to avoid being really hungry during that time period.  For me it has been the first few minutes when I get home from work.   I started packing an extra piece of fruit to eat in the car on the commute home.   

**Find an activity to do to help fill that void of time where the closet eating is likely to occur.  Pick up a hobby.   Instead of eating, if your hands and mind are both occupied with a different activity you will be less tempted to eat uncontrollably.  Hobbies?  Running, biking, fishing, crochet, scrapbooking, woodworking.   Anything that strikes your fancy!

**Don’t start!   Don’t even start with the ‘first bite’. One bite when alone usually leads to multiple bites until a full meal worth of calories of closet eaten food is eaten.  Avoid snacking  alone...period.

**Journal the closet eaten food! Tracking your food gives a level of accountability.   It somehow becomes real when you have to actually write/type it all down.

**Find an accountability partner. Find someone that you can be totally honest with and share your struggles.  Find someone that will build you up when you struggle but also give you tough love when you need it. 

** Most importantly, forgive yourself. You will struggle and have slip ups.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Instead, forgive yourself.  Stop looking back at your failures but instead look forward. To making better choices.

Closet eating can have a negative impact on your weight loss. But if you are a closet eater, with these techniques  you can still have great success with your weight loss!