Sandra found her weight ballooning 60 pounds after her separation from her husband. While part of the weight gain was apparently tied to the drug she was taking, the rest appeared to be the end result of what can be described as emotional eating. In recent years, larger consideration has been focused on the dilemma of emotional eating for both women and men. As a matter of fact, some experts have gone so far as to claim that most weight gain can be blamed on emotional eating. According to Women Today magazine, it has been estimated that as much as 75 percent of overeating is qualified as the emotions.
For a number of people, overeating stems from anxiety. For instance, if you find yourself consuming a complete bag of potato chips, it’s possible that anxiety is the reason. While various people understand that alcohol and illegal drugs are not an antidote to anxiety, they may not comprehend that indulging in comfort food in order to combat anxiety can be risky too.
In other cases, overeating may be the result of misery. If you feel tired, hopeless, and have lost interest in your normal activities, you may be suffering from a depressive period. In order to deal with these uncomfortable feelings, people may turn to food in an effort to make more cheerful. The difficulty is that the food can lead to weight gain, which can lead to further misery.
At times, overeating may be a sign of boredom. An individual may figure that he or she has nothing better to do than eat too much. This can be especially true when one is watching TV or surfing the Internet. Rather than trying to determine a cause for the boredom, an individual may just try to “fix” it by indulging in high-fat, high-calorie food.
How do you recognize if you are an emotional eater? Ask yourself some main questions: Do I tend to eat when I’m worried? Nervous? Sad? Do I find that eating lifts my feelings? Am I spending more time eating than engaging in other activities I enjoy? Do my binges come after I’ve suffered disappointment? Am I turning to food in order to deal with the death of a loved one…a divorce…or the defeat of my favorite team? If the answers to any of these questions is “yes,” you might be overeating merely for emotional reasons.
When you’ve recognized yourself as an emotional eater, you’ll need to take steps to correct your behavior. Perhaps the most effective system is amusement. In other words, if you find yourself reaching for the cookie jar, find another activity to engage in. The answer could be taking a walk, kickboxing, or dancing. Or it could be something less physically demanding, for instance needlepoint or crochet. The idea is to get your hands…and possibly the rest of your body…moving. In time, you might find the urge to overeat subsides as you become involved with other activities.
One more helpful step you can take is to identify the triggers for your emotional eating. Do you tend to binge in mid-morning, mid-afternoon, or exact before bedtime? Are you snacking while watching TV, while at the computer, or when you’re sitting in your preferred chair? By asking yourself these questions, you can discover the time of day when you overeat, plus the location for your binging. With this information, you can learn to re-direct your behavior to less high in calories pursuits.
Yet one more effective system is to develop a support network to help you combat overeating. The members of your support team could include your spouse, children, parents, friends, or other over-eaters. You may even consider joining a support group which specializes in helping those who engage in binge eating. If you feel the need to overeat, contact a member of your support team. Talking through your emotions could provide you with the emotional free you want, making overeating needless.
If your anxiety or depression persists, consider seeing a psychotherapist. He or she can help you develop more effectual coping mechanisms. If you find it complex to talk to friends or family about your overeating, a psychotherapist can provide you with the talk therapy you need to conquer your dilemma.
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