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Recognizing Emotional Eating – learn to
stop overeating from emotions
You eat when you’re hungry. You also eat when you’re not. If you find
yourself eating when you’re stressed, depressed, tired, angry, bored,
lonely, frustrated or anxious, you are an emotional eater. It has happened
to most of us at one time or another. When it becomes a habit, then you need
to do something about it. Once you do, you’ll be able to stick to your
weight loss goals.
Why are our emotions connected to our eating habits? Simple. For many of us,
it began when we were children. We were given a treat to calm us down, make
us feel better, and as a reward for good behavior. Fifty years ago, doctors
and dentists gave treats to children who were “good” patients. Over the
years, we came to associate good feelings with treats. Today, we eat to
celebrate special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, promotions,
and weddings. It is not uncommon for surviving husbands and wives to hold
meal functions after the funeral of a loved one. We eat as a reward for
completing something especially hard or challenging. We eat to make
ourselves feel good when we are experiencing emotional ups and downs. We
also eat when we watch TV, go to the movies or when we are bored. But, as we
all know, eating like this continually over time results in weight gain.
Stress is one of the key reasons that people have for using food as a coping
mechanism. It increases the level of cortisol in your body and enhances your
desire for sweet and salty foods. Cortisol can also slow your metabolism,
causing more weight gain than usual. Although there are products available
which claim to be able to reduce cortisol levels, there is no clinical proof
that they work. More importantly, you need to understand that the trigger to
make you want to eat is not the cortisol, but the stress you are
experiencing that produces it.
How can you tell emotional hunger from physical hunger? Emotional hunger
occurs rapidly in response to a stressful situation. You must eat right
away. It is satisfied only by specific foods (cravings). The portions of
these foods are unrelated to actual hunger. You’ll eat past the point of
feeling full. Finally, emotional eating can make you feel guilty, making you
want to eat more. These things do not happen when you are physically hungry.
The first step to eliminating emotional eating is first to establish if you
are an emotional eater. You need to do some soul searching to discover what
triggers your eating habits. It might be your job, home life, relationships
or a variety of other factors. Simply put, it is anything that makes you
crave food other than when you are actually hungry. Keep a food diary. Write
down everything that triggers the desire to eat. Once you recognize the
triggers you can deal with them.
Be realistic! Just as it took time to develop the emotional triggers, it
will take time to eliminate them. Consider some alternatives to eating when
you are stressed. A regular exercise program, walking or jogging can help
reduce your stress levels, increase your energy, and make you feel better
about yourself. When you see positive results, such as body toning and
weight reduction, you’ll find the switch from eating to exercise as a coping
mechanism much easier. There is truth in the old adage that “music soothes
the savage breast.” Listen to your walkman or MP3 player as you exercise.
Find time to listen to music before you sleep. Your music will make you feel
better and may help reduce your need to eat. Try doing some yoga. It can
help your mind and body to relax, eliminating stress.
Find alternative food and drinks for eating when you feel stressed. Instead
of sugary drinks, try filling up with water. You will feel full. Instead of
candies, try fruit. The natural sugar in fruit will satisfy your sweet
tooth. Be creative in selecting what you eat and how it is prepared. The
same meal(s) prepared the same way will become boring and make you want to
snack. There are dozens of food shows on TV. Watch and learn. Many shows
will discuss the preparation of wholesome foods and expand the range of
foods that you can eat.
Keep a food diary! Record your successes and non-successes alike. Learn from
your mistakes. Beware of diet pills and supplements that promise one-step,
easy solutions. Their claims are rarely confirmed in clinical trials and
most never undergo clinical testing. Join a support group. It helps to have
someone you can talk to who understands your problem. They can give you
tried and true advice. In time, you’ll learn how to control your eating
habits and become less dependent upon food as a coping mechanism.
References
Scott, Elizabeth. (2007) Stress and Emotional Eating: What Causes Emotional
Eating? About.com.
http://stress.about.com/od/unhealthybehaviors/a/eating.htm
-------------------. (2007) Stress and Weight Gain: How Stress can Affect
your Weight. About.com.
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/weightgain.htm
Waehner, Paige. (2007) Are You an Emotional Eater? About.com.
http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/emotionaleating.htm
WebMD. (2006) Emotional Eating: Feeding Your Feelings.
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/76/90283.htm
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