Emotional eating

Print Return to Article Emotional Eating: Seduced by Pleasure By Dr. John H. Sklare Thursday, May 25, 2006 We are all so much more alike than we are different. When all is said and done, we all want the same basic things in life and struggle with similar issues as well. For example, let's take emotional eating. So much of the eating that takes place in people's lives is emotionally motivated. Food is often misused as a remedy to self-medicate hurt, lonely and angry feelings. Food is also misused as a vehicle for pleasure. The problem arises when, after years of using food to create fleeting moments of pleasure, one establishes a well-entrenched, knee-jerk reaction to life that leads directly to emotional eating's front door. This habitual escape route seduces you into its web each time you are confronted with an emotional issue. And, since us humans all tend to be similar, we are all prone to this behavior The great 18th century English writer Samuel Johnson noticed this years ago. In October of 1750 he wrote, "We are all prompted by the same motives, all deceived by the same fallacies, all animated by hope, obstructed by danger, entangled by desire and seduced by pleasure." It was true then and it is true now! This "seduction" is the key to why so many people gain weight claiming that they eat simply because they "just love food." This association with love creates a very seductive and soothing quality to food. This is one of the issues at the very heart of emotional eating. The more aware you can become of the emotional attachment you have with food, the more likely you are to break this seductive connection with emotional eating. The more you can separate emotion from your eating decisions the more apt you are to choose wisely and get healthy. The solution is to stop being seduced by food and fall in love with healthy living. Wishing You Great Health! Dr. John H. Sklare