Emotional Eating – the Dangers and Solutions

WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?

Seeing food as more than just a source of energy and enjoying it
simply for the satisfaction it gives is not wrong. In fact
science shows that food can promote good feelings by chemical
reactions caused in our brains. What IS a problem is when an
individual cannot experience pain, anxiety, joy or even boredom
without turning to food as means of dealing with those feelings,
or they are obsessed with food, weight and dieting.

Emotional eaters turn to food as a source of distraction from
dealing with feelings. However, eating these foods leads to
feelings of guilt which can only be soothed with more eating,
restrictive dieting, excessive exercise or purging.

Emotional eaters tend to value themselves based on their weight
and how closely they’ve stuck to their ‘ideal’ diet. Because of
this distorted relationship with food, foods are labeled “GOOD”
and “BAD”. Emotional eating can lead to serious eating disorders
and depression.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M AN EMOTIONAL EATER?

Do you turn to food for reasons other than hunger? Are you
obsessed with thoughts of food – whether you plan to eat it or
are concentrating on restricting yourself from eating it?

Do you regularly try diets and fail – leading to guilt and
further over eating? Do you think about or attempt to purge
excess food by throwing up or using laxatives? Do you exercise
compulsively when you think you’ve eaten too much?

HOW DO I OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING?

Since emotional eating is caused by looking to food as a coping
strategy for emotional distress dieting can actually create more
problems. When the emotional eater fails to stick to a diet they
suffer feelings of guilt that can only be soothed with more food
and in turn, more guilt or punishment.

Instead of trying to focus on what they are eating, the
emotional eater needs to learn new skills for coping with
stressful emotions. Often this requires the help of a Personal
Coach or Psychotherapist who deals with emotional eating. It is
only by finding replacements for the comfort food provided that
the individual can put food into its rightful place and learn
healthy eating habits that last a lifetime.

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