| Food is a critical, must-have source of nourishment and | | | | Do you regularly try diets and fail - leading to guilt and |
| energy. Without food we would not be able to | | | | further over eating? Do you think about or attempt to |
| perform our daily activities. Our muscles would wither, | | | | purge excess food by throwing up or using laxatives? |
| our nervous system and brains would fail. Whether we | | | | Do you exercise compulsively when you think you've |
| like it or not: We all need food. | | | | eaten too much? |
| What you might not know though, is that food has | | | | If you answered yes to any of the above, there's a |
| another important role in our lives: Comfort and | | | | good chance you're an emotional eater and you could |
| entertainment. Culturally and instinctively we prepare | | | | be endangering your health. |
| and serve foods to comfort those who have | | | | How Do I Overcome Emotional Eating? |
| experienced loss, to celebrate joy, or to show | | | | The first step is recognizing and acknowledging you |
| friendship and love. And that's where emotional eating | | | | have the problem. Fixing the problem will take time and |
| can cause many problems. | | | | persistence, because you effectively need to train |
| What Is Emotional Eating? | | | | yourself out of bad eating habits and into good. |
| Emotional eating is simply the act of eating to feel | | | | Since emotional eating is caused by using food as a |
| better emotionally. We, as normal human beings, see | | | | coping strategy for emotional distress, dieting tends to |
| food as more than just an energy source for our | | | | just create more problems, because if you fail to stick |
| body. We like to enjoy our food, and there's nothing | | | | to your eating plan you're likely to feel quite guilty. And |
| wrong with that. Science tells us though, that some | | | | as an emotional eater, that guilt will only lead you to eat |
| foods actually promote good feelings by causing | | | | more. |
| certain "feel-good" chemical reactions in our brains. | | | | So instead of trying to focus on what you're eating, or |
| And that's when eating can become a problem: | | | | how much: You'll need to work at finding other ways |
| Because some people eat to "feel better"... or because | | | | to cope with negative emotions. You could try simple |
| they can't deal with strong emotions such as pain, | | | | things like self talk, chewing gum, or getting busy with |
| anxiety, stress, joy, or boredom. | | | | work or hobbies when emotions run high and you find |
| Emotional eaters turn to food as a source of | | | | yourself digging through the fridge even though you |
| distraction from dealing with feelings. It's often a vicious | | | | aren't hungry. You could also try self help tapes and |
| cycle though: People eat to deal with their bad feelings, | | | | books, or find a support buddy to call. You might also |
| then feel bad for having done so, yet turn around and | | | | consider getting help from a Personal Coach or |
| eat again to soothe the guilty feelings caused by the | | | | Psychotherapist who deals with emotional eating. |
| first round of emotional eating. Needless to say, | | | | Sometimes you'll need the help of a professional to |
| emotional eating can lead to serious eating disorders, | | | | make these changes |
| weight gain, obesity, and depression. | | | | As you work on replacing comfort food eating with |
| How Do I Know If I'm An Emotional Eater? | | | | other habits and responses, you'll feel much better |
| Do you turn to food when you're not hungry, but sad, | | | | about yourself both emotionally and physically. And |
| stressed, or bored? Do you think about food | | | | you'll be well on your way to living a much healthier, |
| constantly, to the point of feeling obsessed? | | | | slimmer life! |