Eating is a part of life. Our body will gets its nutrients from food. Sometimes we can go overboard with our eating habits and it can result in gaining weight. We will look bigger and bigger if consume without feeling healthy. One of hot issue with food is emotional eating.
The problem of emotional eating may end with the scale but it begins in the mind. Stress takes its toll on your life. When your defenses are compromised your health takes a hit and so do your emotions. All of us believe that every people has good days and bad days. How we deal with the bad ones brings emotional eating into play. You look for comfort when you are getting hurts. People who turn to food for comfort find a coping mechanism that won’t judge them, hurt them or tell them “no.” To complicate the issue, eating pleasurable foods can stimulate the release of endorphins just like exercise. So, after you eat, you feel better. Isn’t?
Emotional eaters will use food to relieve their stress. They hide behind the food instead of seeking solutions to the problems. This is not uncommon when the stressor is something horrible such as physical abuse or a death.
But, how do you know you are using food in this way? The first sign is obvious. You will gain weight if you eat too much. In light of the weight gain, this is important to examine other areas of your life :
First,
Have you been under stress lately at work or at home?
Second,
Do you have anything traumatic happened in the last year?
Third,
Or, this one : Are you dealing with a problem but haven’t found a solution?
If your answer “yes” to any of these questions, could mean that you are an emotional eater. Why? Because you eat but you are not necessarily hungry at the time. The foods that you choose are what we term “comfort foods”:
Rank number one, high fat foods like French fries, fried foods
Number two, high carb foods such as macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes
Or you sometimes choose sugary foods like ice cream, donuts, cookies or delicious cake
There is a help for an emotional eaters. The first step you must recognizing that you have a problem. You’ll experience feelings of helplessness and guilt. The guilt is over potentially ruining your health and the helplessness lies in the fact that you don’t see a way out. It is often happen to people with under stress.
Secondly, seek counseling. There are many types of counselors out there that can meet your need. Emotional eating has nothing to do with dieting or changing your eating habits but gaining control over your emotions. That would be effective when we realize that we are an emotional eaters. A counselor might suggest things like visualization, practicing problem solving skills, relaxation techniques and also family support. Visualization will helps you to see your problems in a realistic way and not blown out of proportion. You will also learn to see food as nutrition for the body and not an emotional crutch.
Thirdly, your family can learn your triggers for stress and be on the lookout for changes in your eating habits. Ask them to help your problem. They can help you be aware of the foods you are eating, assist you in making healthy food choices and exercise along with you. Proper diet and exercise increases immunity, blood flow and positive thinking. Also you can have yoga enhances the mind and body connection so you don’t eat when you aren’t hungry.
Last thing, remember that finding new ways to solve your problems and deal with stress will push food out of the equation. You’ll feel good about finding solutions which will replace the dependence on food.
The problem of emotional eating may end with the scale but it begins in the mind. Stress takes its toll on your life. When your defenses are compromised your health takes a hit and so do your emotions. All of us believe that every people has good days and bad days. How we deal with the bad ones brings emotional eating into play. You look for comfort when you are getting hurts. People who turn to food for comfort find a coping mechanism that won’t judge them, hurt them or tell them “no.” To complicate the issue, eating pleasurable foods can stimulate the release of endorphins just like exercise. So, after you eat, you feel better. Isn’t?
Emotional eaters will use food to relieve their stress. They hide behind the food instead of seeking solutions to the problems. This is not uncommon when the stressor is something horrible such as physical abuse or a death.
But, how do you know you are using food in this way? The first sign is obvious. You will gain weight if you eat too much. In light of the weight gain, this is important to examine other areas of your life :
First,
Have you been under stress lately at work or at home?
Second,
Do you have anything traumatic happened in the last year?
Third,
Or, this one : Are you dealing with a problem but haven’t found a solution?
If your answer “yes” to any of these questions, could mean that you are an emotional eater. Why? Because you eat but you are not necessarily hungry at the time. The foods that you choose are what we term “comfort foods”:
Rank number one, high fat foods like French fries, fried foods
Number two, high carb foods such as macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes
Or you sometimes choose sugary foods like ice cream, donuts, cookies or delicious cake
There is a help for an emotional eaters. The first step you must recognizing that you have a problem. You’ll experience feelings of helplessness and guilt. The guilt is over potentially ruining your health and the helplessness lies in the fact that you don’t see a way out. It is often happen to people with under stress.
Secondly, seek counseling. There are many types of counselors out there that can meet your need. Emotional eating has nothing to do with dieting or changing your eating habits but gaining control over your emotions. That would be effective when we realize that we are an emotional eaters. A counselor might suggest things like visualization, practicing problem solving skills, relaxation techniques and also family support. Visualization will helps you to see your problems in a realistic way and not blown out of proportion. You will also learn to see food as nutrition for the body and not an emotional crutch.
Thirdly, your family can learn your triggers for stress and be on the lookout for changes in your eating habits. Ask them to help your problem. They can help you be aware of the foods you are eating, assist you in making healthy food choices and exercise along with you. Proper diet and exercise increases immunity, blood flow and positive thinking. Also you can have yoga enhances the mind and body connection so you don’t eat when you aren’t hungry.
Last thing, remember that finding new ways to solve your problems and deal with stress will push food out of the equation. You’ll feel good about finding solutions which will replace the dependence on food.
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