Sometimes, the best defense against emotional eating is a good offense. Rather than waiting until it becomes a problem, you can keep it from happening in the first place. Sleep (or, more accurately, lack of sleep) is a huge reason people are susceptible to the dangers of emotional eating. When you’re saddled with sleep debt, emotions are more erratic, judgment is impaired, and it’s easier to lose perspective. In other words:

When you’re stressed or need help, whom do you turn to? Do you have a system set up, or do you find yourself looking for help at the spur of the moment, in hopes that you’ll find someone willing and prepared to help? We can often struggle if we don’t think ahead and have a plan. The Support System Exercise is designed so you can have different people to turn to for different situations. Do the quick exercise here sometime this week (Go to Support System exercise) When emotions hit, you’ll have it ready to simply put it into action.

Emotional Eating is a problem that usually has deep roots. Anyone who falls victim to it can attest to that. You recently wrote about a "trouble goal." In these next two weeks, your Action Step is to again talk about a single issue in your blog. This time, the topic is a little more abstract, but may be causing you even more trouble. Think about why you are eating, and situations in which you find yourself slipping. Is there a life issue (stress, failure, gloominess, a traumatic experience) that may be at the root of the problem? The life issue may not have immediately obvious weight loss repercussions. It may seem to just be a life issue that you’re currently dealing with. But writing about the issue may show you the connection. It will allow you understand how it makes you feel, what you can do about it and how it affects other areas of your life. Again, write in your blog often or whenever you think about this issue. This is the first step to understanding how this life issue may affect your eating and exercise habits, or may be sabotaging your motivation.