The Unexpected Place You're Probably Overeating

There is a particular type of overeating many of us do and probably don't even think about. If you can be mindful of this, you can transform your life.

Many of us overeat while in transition. Transitions are a place of disruption between one pattern or flow and another. For example, a transition can be that time between being at work and arriving at home and stepping into your home role.

You are at a disadvantage if you do not learn to manage your transitions.

Many people eat mindlessly while in transition as a way to procrastinate, get an energy boost or reward yourself for forging ahead. When you are in transition, you are not quite in the flow, it feels a little uncomfortable which can also cue you to reach for something to eat.

Busy people are often terrible at managing transition. It is important to take time and check in with yourself, see what it is you need to do to shift to the next role but more often than not, we rush on to the next thing or overlap them so there is no gap at all.

Not taking time for these pauses in your day can be a complete and utter disaster. It is hard to know what to do to even begin changing these but we've got some suggestions for handling transitions.

Pay attention to the transitions points in your day and life. Once you've identified these points, create a small way of checking in, centering yourself. It really doesn't have to be much, a tiny ritual or habit that you can create.

Try doing things like:

-- Get up and stretch

-- Go fill your water glass

-- Take 10 deep breaths

-- Brew a cup of tea

By being mindful of your transitions, you will be able to tune in to the inner hungers you've been using food to feed.

If you find you don't have any transitions, odds are you've overbooked yourself and are overlapping activities in your life. Try, once again, to do something small like book yourself an extra 5 minutes in between activities. You may find having extra time a little uncomfortable at first and have to fight the urge to squeeze something else in there, but once you do get used to it, you will find you feel much better. You will be more in control of your life and of course, your eating.

What are your major transition times? Be honest, do you mindlessly eat at those times? How will you create your mindful check in?