How can I lose weight? emotional eating
If you’re like me, an emotional eater, you eat for reasons other than hunger. Does this sound familiar to you? At night when I sit and watch TV, I think about eating ice cream. I visualize all the good chocolate swirl and nuts included in each bite. Before long I glance at the clock and realize the store will be closing soon and before I know it, I’m in line buying a half-gallon or two of my favorite ice cream.
What happened to me? What can I do about it?
Emotional eating has been described as eating to satisfy emotional feelings rather than physical hunger. What we are doing is feeding a feeling, generally negative. Have you ever heard the term “comfort food” (candy or junk food)? We are trying to make ourselves feel better by eating a pleasant treat. The good feeling only lasts for a short period of time. Then we will feel guilty and angry with ourselves. Depression begins to generate an even more negative feeling and mood.
Emotional eating creates a vicious cycle, eating to satisfy a feeling, creating short-term pleasure, then guilt, creating more negative feelings, then eating more to feed that feeling. As I know, this cycle leads to obesity and health problems. I’m not going to pound you with all the problems associated with obesity. Such as health problems, physical discomfort, lack of mobility and the treatment and acceptance of society. You, like me, experience it throughout the day, each and every day.
What I am going to do is tell you how I have come to deal with this problem. After being on so many weight loss programs, I’ve realized that my emotional eating usually has a trigger. Some of my triggers include: an anxious state of mind, dealing with a deadline, feeling sorry for myself, or being in an awkward situation. Sometimes it’s a simple, positive trigger, like food nearby that smells good and everyone eats and enjoys.
How do I recognize emotional eating instead of physical hunger?
First: Emotional eaters usually crave one type of food (ice cream for me) and only that food will satisfy the craving. Whereas, if I was physically hungry, then any choice of food would satisfy me.
Second: an emotional longing comes on quickly and must be satisfied now. Physical hunger gradually increases, but I can delay my eating.
Third: If I am eating emotionally, I will eat and continue to eat beyond being full and stuffed. I do this because I am trying to satisfy a feeling that I am not hungry. On the other hand, when I’m eating because I’m hungry, once I’m full, I stop eating.
Fourth: After I am done with an emotional binge, I always feel guilty and promise myself that I will do better. Of course I don’t keep that promise and prepare myself for another food binge. On the contrary, if I have eaten out of hunger, then I do not feel guilty and I am satisfied with my food.
Fifth: I’ve found that some of my emotional eating is due to positive feelings, like celebrating with friends and co-workers. In these situations, I often overeat and find that social drinking also becomes an unwanted source of calories. The good feelings generated by the celebration are enhanced with good food and drink. I have found that in these cases it is better to eat before and enjoy the company of my friends and not the food and drink.
I use food as a distraction that keeps me from having to deal with a problem. I find that my strongest longings come when I am at my weakest emotionally.
There are many feelings that trigger emotional eating. These include: stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness, loneliness, not belonging, and not feeling good enough. What we need to do is learn to recognize these feelings and their triggers. The best method I know of is to keep a “food diary.”
The “Food Diary” should include the time we eat, what we eat, the number of calories consumed, and the reasons we ate. This documentation process is a key component to our lifestyle change. We need to know our eating habits so that we can come to understand, recognize, and control our emotional eating episodes.
What can we do with emotional eating?
First – Have an alternative to eating. Make a list of enjoyable self-help hobbies, such as listening to weight-loss cleansing audios, doing an EFT session, or meditating with affirmations. You can do any physical activity, such as walking or any other exercise listed in the “Calories Burned Chart” found in the How Can I Lose Weight Challenge. You can call a friend, blog, or join a support group forum.
Second – Remove the temptation by not having your cravings at home. Make it hard to go and get what you crave.
Third: Keep healthy food options, like fruits and vegetables, nearby. When those emotional binges hit, acknowledge the situation and if you must eat, substitute a healthy option instead of junk food.
Emotional eating can become detrimental to our well-being. If we cannot control our eating, what is needed is to seek the advice of a doctor. Usually, documenting in our “Food Diary”, substituting an alternative activity and managing food at home will help emotionally overcome our desire to eat.