Remember Me
forgot your password?

Weight Loss Tip: Don't Eat With Your Emotions

Food is a critical, must-have source of nourishment and energy. Without food we would not be able to perform our daily activities. Our muscles would wither, our nervous system and brains would fail. Whether we like it or not: We all need food.

What you might not know though, is that food has another important role in our lives: Comfort and entertainment. Culturally and instinctively we prepare and serve foods to comfort those who have experienced loss, to celebrate joy, or to show friendship and love. And that's where emotional eating can cause many problems.

What Is Emotional Eating?
Emotional eating is simply the act of eating to feel better emotionally. We, as normal human beings, see food as more than just an energy source for our body. We like to enjoy our food, and there's nothing wrong with that. Science tells us though, that some foods actually promote good feelings by causing certain "feel-good" chemical reactions in our brains. And that's when eating can become a problem: Because some people eat to "feel better"... or because they can't deal with strong emotions such as pain, anxiety, stress, joy, or boredom.

Emotional eaters turn to food as a source of distraction from dealing with feelings. It's often a vicious cycle though: People eat to deal with their bad feelings, then feel bad for having done so, yet turn around and eat again to soothe the guilty feelings caused by the first round of emotional eating. Needless to say, emotional eating can lead to serious eating disorders, weight gain, obesity, and depression.

How Do I Know If I'm An Emotional Eater?
Do you turn to food when you're not hungry, but sad, stressed, or bored? Do you think about food constantly, to the point of feeling obsessed?

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?

If you answered yes to any of the above, there's a good chance you're an emotional eater and you could be endangering your health.

How Do I Overcome Emotional Eating?
The first step is recognizing and acknowledging you have the problem. Fixing the problem will take time and persistence, because you effectively need to train yourself out of bad eating habits and into good.

Since emotional eating is caused by using food as a coping strategy for emotional distress, dieting tends to just create more problems, because if you fail to stick to your eating plan you're likely to feel quite guilty. And as an emotional eater, that guilt will only lead you to eat more.

So instead of trying to focus on what you're eating, or how much: You'll need to work at finding other ways to cope with negative emotions. You could try simple things like self talk, chewing gum, or getting busy with work or hobbies when emotions run high and you find yourself digging through the fridge even though you aren't hungry. You could also try self help tapes and books, or find a support buddy to call. You might also consider getting help from a Personal Coach or Psychotherapist who deals with emotional eating.

Sometimes you'll need the help of a professional to make these changes

As you work on replacing comfort food eating with other habits and responses, you'll feel much better about yourself both emotionally and physically. And you'll be well on your way to living a much healthier, slimmer life!

Kathy Burns-millyard
© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard. Would you like a FREE Trial Sample of Hoodia Gordonii? Visit http://www.scaletippers.com/free-hoodia.html and get your free sample of this wonderful weight loss product today!
Rate this Article: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s)
Print Email Re-Publish

Add new Comment



Captcha

  • Latest Fitness Articles
  • More from Kathy Burns-millyard

Educate Yourself About Menopause

By: Eva Judge | 28/12/2009
Menopause is a natural event in every woman's life. Unfortunately, it often brings along many unpleasant, uncomfortable - and sometimes even debilitating - symptoms. Although not every woman will suffer from symptoms, it is important to be aware that there are many treatment options available.

Air Cooling Fan Ventilation Systems

By: Ezra Drissman | 27/12/2009
The Air cooling Fan Ventilation systems are classified under the green products category because they use a very little amount of energy. Thus, these systems help to save useful energy. These air cooling systems are an ideal alternative to your air-conditioning systems.

A New Approach to Stress Relief

By: T S Gill | 27/12/2009
This article will help you to reduce your stress levels so you can live a perfectly healthy and happy existence.

How To Burn Off Christmas Calories Without Breaking A Sweat

By: Jason Clemens | 27/12/2009
Need to lose all your excess Christmas calories. Then this article will shock you! In this article I will show you a simple secret that works magic.

Get Yourself A Good Set of Abdominal Muscles

By: Romsy Brid | 27/12/2009
Nothing can make you feel healthy and sexy aside from having a good set of abdominal muscles. There are a few factors that can separate someone from other people like being physically fit and attractive. These people have a perfect set of abs.

Six Pack ABS - How To Melt Off Belly Fat Easily

By: Sutikno Slamet | 27/12/2009
Getting rid of your belly fat is something many men and women continually battle with. The reason why it's such a battle is because there are several factors which can either hold you back or completely discourage you from going any further.

Get Ripped ABS - How To Get Ripped ABS Fast

By: Sutikno Slamet | 27/12/2009
Let me ask you two questions. First, how many sit ups have you done to date, but still not seen any visible signs of a six pack? Secondly, how many pieces of home gym equipment have you stored under the bed or in the garage that you didn't touch after New Year's Day?

5 Steps To Getting Six Pack ABS - That Really Work

By: Sutikno Slamet | 27/12/2009
Everybody wants to know how to get ripped abs as fast as possible, but sadly most people also make the entire process of getting abs a slow and painful process.

Common Dog Diseases and Parasites

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 22/10/2006 | Pets
A good diet and plenty of exercise are important to a dog's health, but they can't make a dog totally immune to illness. Early detection is the key to helping your dog overcome any health problem.

How to Deal With a Dog's Excessive Barking

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 20/10/2006 | Pets
A dog's bark can mean any number of things: hello, go away, what was that, pay attention to me, etc. Some dogs have a bark that is as bad as a bite. These are the dogs that are more vocal than we - or our neighbors - think is acceptable. If your dog seems to bark excessively, the first step in stopping her behavior is to identify the reasons for it.

Weight Loss Tip: Don't Eat With Your Emotions

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 19/10/2006 | Fitness
Food is a critical, must-have source of nourishment and energy. Without food we would not be able to perform our daily activities. Our muscles would wither, our nervous system and brains would fail. Whether we like it or not: We all need food.

7 Fun Activities to Help You Lose Weight

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 19/10/2006 | Non-Fiction
Exercising and staying fit doesn't have to mean hard work. Simply being active will help you get or stay in good shape... and it's a great way to burn extra fat too. So with that said, here are some enjoyable activities that can help with your fitness and weight loss goals too.

5 Holiday Weight Loss Tips & Their Reality Checks

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 19/10/2006 | Non-Fiction
Do you find it almost impossible to stay conscious and contentious about weight and nutrition during the holidays? Of course you do. More than half of all Americans are overweight: You're not alone.

Weight Loss Tip: Read & Understand Food Labels

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 14/10/2006 | Fitness
When you really need to lose weight, it helps tremendously to actually read the labels of food you're buying and eating. Even better than reading those labels though, is understanding what they mean.

An Overview of The South Beach Diet

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 14/10/2006 | Fitness
The South Beach Diet is seen by many as being a much healthier approach to controlled carb dieting. It still teaches you to avoid many refined and processed, high carbohydrate foods though, such as breads, pastries, cakes, soda and chocolate.

Gift Ideas for Devoted Christians

By: Kathy Burns-millyard | 19/09/2006 | Religion
If you know an individual that sincerely and prayerfully practices the Christian faith, consider giving them an inspirational gift the next time the need arises. Christian gifts are appropriate at just about any time of the year.

Submit Your Articles Free: Signup
Article Categories




Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (3.10, 5, w2)