Step 11

Ruthie’s Step 11 ……Trigger Happy!


A trigger food is a specific food causes you to overeat. You loose control and you eat the wrong foods. The most common trigger foods are sugar/fat combinations (ice cream, cookies) and fat/salt combination (nuts, potato chips). With a true food trigger it is the food, not an emotion or situation that triggers the out-of-control eating. For example, open the bag of potato chips and it will be gone, regardless of mood, time of day or place.
To help manage trigger foods, it is important to identify the food and avoid it altogether. If you don’t buy it at the store it won’t be in your home to eat. Be careful when shopping!
Trigger Feelings
A trigger feeling is an emotion, good or bad, that sets off a period of overeating. Boy, this was me. Every emotion was a reason to eat! After an emotional trigger any available food will do. To manage trigger feelings, it is important to first identify the specific emotion that causes the overeating. Then learn to cope with it without eating.
Five ways to help deal with emotional eating from an article.
1. Learn to relax. Try deep-breathing exercises during which you close your eyes, consciously relax your body and focus on your breathing for five to 20 minutes each day. Try to breathe deeply and remove all other thoughts from your mind.
2. Try an audio-tape progressive relaxation exercise. Look in your local bookstore for ideas. These tapes usually have pleasant background music or sounds from nature and they lead you through relaxation exercises.
3. Banish bad thoughts from your mind. Try placing a rubber band loosely on your wrist. Every time you have a negative thought, snap the rubber band. This will remind you to think positively.
4. Memorize a prayer or poem to repeat to your self every time you have a negative thought or feel yourself under increasing stress. Look through favorite books of poetry for ideas, or ask your pastor for help. I like the prayer!
5. Exercise. Daily exercise not only helps control blood sugar and also works to reduce stress. Try a daily 15- to 20-minute walk to clear your head. Focus on positive thoughts during your exercise time. If you can't get out taking a walk, try stretching in your shower or walking stairs. Do what you can, but try to commit to 15 to 20 minutes of some movement per day. You deserve it.

Trigger Environments
A trigger environment is a specific situation or place that sets off a period of overeating. Common examples include walking into a movie theater, going to a buffet restaurant, attending a sporting event or visiting a relative. To manage trigger environments, it is important to identify the specific location, people or events that set off the overeating. If you can avoid these places that would be great but most likely we can’t.
If the movie theater is a trigger, then going to a play or museum may be a better option. If visiting relatives in their home sets off an eating frenzy, ask to meet in a restaurant or elsewhere.
Bottom Line –The eating triggers will happen. When this happens, it is important to recognize them for what they are and think about how you could avoid it from occurring in the future.

Painless Substitutions for Triggers from an Article

Make healthy substitutions
- If your vice is sweet and creamy, like ice cream, try a bowl of low-fat plain yogurt with fresh berries when you’re craving hits.

- If you love the crunchy texture and salty flavor of potato chips or crackers, swap them for popcorn sprinkled with a little garlic salt (hold the butter). Toasted whole-wheat pita chips also substitute well.

- If you love comfort food like baked lasagna or mashed potatoes with gravy, have a meal that’s just as hearty and filling, but that has fewer calories. Warm up with a bowl of steaming lentil soup sprinkled with mozzarella cheese.


If you’re bored, lonely or in need of a treat, replace the feeling of satisfaction that comes from eating with other things. Get your hair done, see a movie, buy a great pair of shoes, take a bubble bath, or call a friend. I am all for these! Especially the shopping part!

Keep on keeping on……making better choices for a healthier you!