Sometimes, it isn’t the hunger in our stomachs that dictates our eating habits, but rather the emotions in our minds. If you feel stressed out, depressed, bored or even happy, those emotions could be leading you to the kitchen for a bundle of empty calories that will do your weight loss progress no good. Because a healthy diet can be a powerful way to get even more out of the metabolism-boosting effects of lipotropic injections in Los Angeles or Bakersfield, emotional eating is best put behind you as you work to lose weight. Fortunately, shutting down emotional eating is a bad habit that can be broken if you start learning strategies now that stop it in its tracks. If you’re ready to put an end to emotional eating, you’ll need to start by recognizing its precursor: emotional hunger. This sensation is differnt from physical hunger in several ways:

• It won’t wait. The urge to eat emotionally can hit you like a freight train and make you feel compelled to indulge immediately.
• It likes specific foods. Emotional hunger will most often give you cravings for so-called “comfort foods,” tempting you into indulging in things you know you should not.
• It isn’t satisfying. When you eat a healthy meal that fills your grumbling tummy, you should feel thoroughly content with your decision, but emotional hunger can make you eat past fullness and leave strong feelings of guilt in its wake.

When you notice yourself feeling emotionally hungry, it will help to ask yourself these questions:

• What caused it? Your “triggers” are the situations and feelings that make emotional hunger most likely to show its ugly head. Any time you experience emotional hunger, take some time to consider what may have led to it. Did you have a stressful day at work? Have you spent the day feeling bored, lonely, depressed or anxious? Did a happy occasion make you forget your inhibitions? Try documenting your potential triggers in a journal alongside the eating habits they produce.
• What will you do about it? Simply recognizing emotional hunger isn’t always enough—you need to take action and proactively prevent yourself from giving in to your urges. Dive into something that addresses the emotions you’re having in a way that is unrelated to food, something that keeps your body out of the kitchen and your mind off of eating. Stress, anger and boredom can often be assuaged with a vigorous workout. Depression and loneliness can be overcome with a quick call to a trustworthy confidant. If you identify a specific trigger for emotional eating, take the time now to plan out how you’ll address it when it shows up later.

Emotional eating is a bad habit, but like any other, you can choose to put an end to it. If you need more support in overcoming emotional eating after lipotropic injections in Los Angeles or Bakersfield, don’t hesitate to turn to your weight loss doctor.