Some people eat only when they are hungry and stop when they have had enough. These are the lucky ones, people who stay trim and thin without effort. For them food is simply a source of nourishment and energy.
Other people eat to satisfy inner emotional needs and they don’t stop eating when they have had enough. Are you one of these people? Do you eat even when you don’t need nourishment and energy? Do you eat to feel good, or to relieve emotional pain or discomfort? This often leads to serious weight problems, so read on.
Part of the problem is the role that food plays in your life - a role of comfort and entertainment. Culturally and instinctively we prepare and serve foods to comfort those who have experienced loss, to celebrate joy or to show friendship and love.
But the major part of this problem is the way you were raised; the things that happened to you when you were a child that concerned food. This includes the use of food or candy as a reward, the things that the grownups said about food, the withholding of food as a punishment, the lack of food in some families, and the eating habits of the adults who served as examples for you.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?
Emotional eating is when a person turns to food as a way to deal with feelings. These feelings can be pain, or anxiety, or boredom, or jealousy, or joy, or any other feeling. Emotional eating also involves obsession with food, weight and dieting.
Emotional eaters use food to avoid dealing with feelings, or to temporarily relieve unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately their eating often leads to guilt which can only be soothed by more eating, or by restrictive dieting, excessive exercise or purging.
Emotional eaters are often obsessive about their weight and how closely they stay with their diet plan. In this case they will panic when their weight goes just above their planned maximum. They will eat only certain foods, and often have an extremely restrictive diet. This type of emotional eating can lead to serious eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, which can be life threatening.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE AN EMOTIONAL EATER?
Do you eat when you are not hungry? Are you obsessed with food - do you think excessively about when you plan to eat, or find yourself concentrating on not eating?
Do you alternately diet and binge, and then fell guilty? This is a strong indication of emotional eating.
Do you purge excess food by throwing up or use laxatives? Do you exercise compulsively? These behaviors are bulimic and are very dangerous to your health.
If you are in the habit of eating to feel better, then you might want to find out the source of your emotional eating and do something about it. In a study of 3,500 people, women suffering from moderate depression or anxiety ate an average of 118 extra calories each day. That could cause a weight gain of 12 pounds over just 1 year.
HOW DO YOU OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING?
Emotional eating is caused by using food as a way to handle emotional situations. Dieting is not recommended, as it can actually create more problems. When you are unable to stay on your diet you suffer guilt feelings that can only be soothed with more food and in turn, more guilt. What is needed is an approach that deals with your basic emotional issues.
Instead of trying to focus on what you are eating, you need to learn new skills to deal with stressful emotions. This can require the help of a Personal Coach or Psychotherapist. There are also many books on the subject, as well as audio programs, self hypnosis programs, and many types of instructional materials. Basically, you need to find replacements for the comfort that food now provides. You need to put food in its rightful place and learn healthy eating habits. There is a lot of help available.
Terry Brussel Gibbons
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/is-emotional-eating-making-you-fat-119134.html
November 5th, 2009 at 7:34 am
How do you fight emotional eating?
I’ve always had problems with food. Had a full fledged eating disorder in college, and now my problem is that, while I work out and try to eat healthy, I simply eat too much, too often, because I am bored or stressed out. It doesnt seem to matter when or where or what the situation, I just feel this need to eat to make things better, to fill some empty space. Has anyone with trouble in this area found good physical or psychological coping mechanisms?
November 5th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Ugh, I do that too, especially when I’m bored. Usually you’re not hungry, you just need something to occupy you’re mind or hands. I just drink water.
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November 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I can definitely relate to you. Growing up I used food as a comfort and struggled with morbid obesity. I used food to drown emotional pain and emptiness. I eventually had gastric bypass surgery to lose my weight.
Anyway, food can become an obsession/escape just like drugs, alcohol, exercise, work-a-holic, sleeping, etc. Unfortunately it’s easy to detect because your escape is easily seen from gained weight.
The key is learning to replace food with something more healthy that provides the same level of comfort and security. Now that food is taken away from me (well, the food I once loved) I had to find other ways to cope with my depression. I turned to writing (I’m writing a memoir), art (I am a photographer), and the internet for support (a.k.a. yahoo answers!)
It’s a very hard struggle….and even harder to do it alone. If you could confide in someone to help you and provide some accountability you can "trick" yourself into replacing food with other things.
You’re definitely not alone, it just takes hard work and patience.
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November 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
First of all, fill your house with healthy foods. I’ve noticed that when there is nothing I really want to eat in my house, I eat a lot less. I’ll go through everything, stare at it, and then go back to my room. So, you’ll either eat the healthy food or not eat anything.
Currently, you have a coping strategy of eating. In order to change this coping strategy, you need to stop yourself when you find you about to eat and do something else. (This is not easy, I promise) For example, if you are stressed out and are about to open the fridge, stop, turn around and go put on some comfortable clothes to exercise in. Go for a 15 minutes jog or run (or longer if you like).
Find other ways to cope. Try writing, reading, meditation, prayer, dancing. There are other ways to cope that don’t involve eating.
And even if you still find that eating is easier…fill your fridge with celery and sit around chomping on that (put some salt on it). It will give you the hand to mouth motion, involves lots of chewing to trick your brain into thinking you are full, and is made of mostly all water.
A healthy drink that tastes great: homemade lemonade with lime (or not)
Squeeze 1 lemon (and half a lime if you like) into a glass
Add Splenda (desired amount)
Fill glass with water (best if the glass is around 8 ounces)
Add ice cubes
Drink!
It tastes great and has no or few calories (not to mention it can help you lose weight).
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November 5th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I think it really is simple why people have eating disorders. When people eat, they want to focus on other things rather than what they are consuming. I would suggest (not saying that you do this or anything) not eating Anything while on the computer or reading or watching television, since it is drawing your attention to what your brain is focused on rather than what your body is focused on. Another could be to pay attention to what you are eating. I was watching Paul McKenna (nutritionalist+expert about eating disorders) and he gave everyone in a single movie theatre stale, week old popcorn. No one in the theatre said there was anything wrong with it, however, He gave the same popcorn to random people and they said it tasted horrible. The people watching the movie weren’t paying Any attention to the popcorn. After he gave the same popcorn to the people watching the movie and they said it tasted aweful.
Also, I hear that if you chew your food about 22 times you won’t have as much of an appetite. Maybe try eating blindfolded, (I know it sound silly but it does work) because if you don’t know what you are eating, your brain will tell you not to eat as much. Try all of your favourite foods on a plate, cover your eyes, eat as much as you can, take the blindfold off, and you will see more than half of your plate still covered in food.
There is a tapping technique aswell, and if it is done right, can actually "reprogramme" your mind. tapping the side of your hand, your collar bone, your forehead, do that a few times each. Then, role your eyes in all directions while tapping the bone nearest to your eye. I know that sounds strange, but I watched on a show (same show) that a bunch of people tried the tapping technique and it made them not hungry right away. (do it only when you feel hungry for no reason). Stress can also be a part of it aswell, just try and control it as best you can.
When you feel hungry, eat what you want. but when you feel full, stop, Because many people with eating disorders have a habbit of eating and eating even when they are very full.
I hope these tips helped you, as they helped me and my friends in the past
p.s: NEVER try and go on a diet, It NEVER helps as your body will just go into the same old eating habits. Drink lots of water, go for excersize, jog, go for a 15 minute run each day, and keep up new habits to fight the old ones.
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