***Emotional Eating***
I've also noticed that if you don't know what you want but you just feel hungry then it's more than likely emotional hunger. If you're hungry then you will know exactly what you want. Tends to be true for me. Again, hope this helps.
~Angie
PAGE 1
Support Group Meeting
Together We Will Triumph Over the Disease of Obesity
Topic: Emotional Eating:
When you're happy, your food of choice could be steak or pizza, when you're sad it could be ice cream or cookies, and when you're bored it could be potato chips. Food does more than fill our stomachs -- it also satisfies feelings, and when you quench those feelings with comfort food when your stomach isn't growling, that's emotional eating.
Emotional eating is the act of eating food in response to emotions instead of true hunger. Feelings of boredom, stress, anger, sadness, anxiety, and even happiness are all emotions that can trigger emotional eating. In this way, food is used to either enhance the good feelings that come with being happy or soothe negative emotions. Most often, emotional eaters reach for "comfort foods," those foods that are high in salt, sugar, fat, and calories. Emotional eating can lead to overeating, hindering weight loss or even causing weight gain.
The good news is that if you're prone to emotional eating, you can take steps to regain control of your eating habits and get back on track with your weight-loss goals.
The connection between mood and food
Many of us as children were rewarded with sweets for being “good." During times of high stress, many women unconsciously mimic this reassurance by rewarding themselves with comfort food that’s filled with sugar and simple carbs. There’s a physiological pull at work here as well. Sweet treats trigger the release of serotonin, the feel-good hormone, but only temporarily. Comfort food and junk food may help us feel good in the moment but tends to feed a vicious cycle of guilt.
Major life events — such as unemployment, health problems and divorce — and daily life hassles — such as a stressful work commute, bad weather and changes in your normal routine — can trigger emotions that lead to overeating. But why do negative emotions lead to overeating?
Some foods may have seemingly addictive qualities. For example, when you eat enticing foods, such as chocolate, your body releases trace amounts of mood- and satisfaction-elevating hormones. That "reward" may reinforce a preference for foods that are most closely associated with specific feelings. Related to this is the simple fact that the pleasure of eating offsets negative emotions.
Food can also be a distraction. If you're worried about an upcoming event or rethinking an earlier conflict, eating comfort foods may distract you. But the distraction is only temporary. While you're eating, your thoughts focus on the pleasant taste of your comfort food. Unfortunately, when you're done overeating, your attention returns to your worries, and you may now bear the additional burden of guilt about overeating.
PAGE 2
How to regain control of your eating habits
Though strong emotions can trigger cravings for food, you can take steps to control those cravings. To help stop emotional eating, try these suggestions:
-
Learn to recognize true hunger. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not really hungry. Give the craving a few minutes to pass.
-
Know your triggers. For the next several days, write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you're feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Over time, you may see patterns emerge that reveal negative eating patterns and triggers to avoid.
-
Look elsewhere for comfort. Instead of un-wrapping a candy bar, take a walk, treat yourself to a movie, listen to music, read or call a friend. If you think that stress relating to a particular event is nudging you toward the refrigerator, try talking to someone about it to distract yourself. Plan enjoyable events for yourself.
-
Don't keep unhealthy foods around. Avoid having an abundance of high-calorie comfort foods in the house. If you feel hungry or blue, postpone the shopping trip for a few hours so that these feelings don't influence your decisions at the store.
-
Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.
-
Eat a balanced diet. If you're not getting enough calories to meet your energy needs, you may be more likely to give in to emotional eating. Try to eat at fairly regular times and don't skip breakfast. Include foods from the basic groups in your meals. Emphasize whole grains, vegetables and fruits, as well as low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. When you fill up on the basics, you're more likely to feel fuller, longer.
-
Exercise regularly and get adequate rest. Your mood is more manageable and your body can more effectively fight stress when it's fit and well rested.
PAGE 3
If you give in to emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience, and make a plan for how you can prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you're making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that ensure better health.
How to Tell the Difference
There are several differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger.
1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly; physical hunger occurs gradually.
2. When you are eating to fill a void that isn't related to an empty stomach, you crave a specific food, such as pizza or ice cream, and only that food will meet your need. When you eat because you are actually hungry, you're open to options.
3. Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly with the food you crave; physical hunger can wait.
4. Even when you are full, if you're eating to satisfy an emotional need, you're more likely to keep eating. When you're eating because you're hungry, you're more likely to stop when you're full.
5. Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt; eating when you are physically hungry does not.
Comfort Foods
Ice cream is first on the comfort food list. After ice cream, comfort foods break down by sex: For women it's chocolate and cookies; for men it's pizza, steak, and casserole.
Overfeeding Emotions
When eating becomes the only or main strategy a person uses to manage emotions, then problems arise -- especially if the foods a person is choosing to eat to satisfy emotions aren't exactly healthy.
Recognizing Emotional Eating
The first thing we need to do to overcome emotional eating is to recognize it.
Keeping a food record and ranking your hunger from 1-10 each time you put something in your mouth will bring to light 'if' and 'when' you are eating for reasons other than hunger.
Next, you need to learn techniques that help manage emotions besides eating,
Oftentimes when a child is sad, we cheer them up with a sweet treat. This behavior gets reinforced year after year until we are practicing the same behavior as adults. We never learned how to deal with the sad feeling because we always pushed it away with a sweet treat. Learning how to deal with feelings without food is a new skill many of us need to learn.
PAGE 4
Managing Emotional Eating
Here are a few tips to help you deal with emotional eating:
Recognize emotional eating and learn what triggers this behavior in you.
Make a list of things to do when you get the urge to eat and you're not hungry, and carry it with you.
When you feel overwhelmed, you can put off that desire by doing another enjoyable activity. Try taking a walk, calling a friend, playing cards, cleaning your room, doing laundry, or something productive to take your mind off the craving -- even taking a nap.
When you do get the urge to eat when you're not hungry, find a comfort food that's healthy instead of junk food. "Comfort foods don't need to be unhealthy.
For some, leaving comfort foods behind when they're dieting can be emotionally difficult. The key is moderation, not elimination.
Divide comfort foods into smaller portions.
When it comes to comfort foods that aren't always healthy, like fattening desserts, your memory of a food peaks after about four bites, so if you only have those bites, a week later you'll recall it as just a good experience than if you polished off the whole thing. So have a few bites, then call it quits, and you'll get equal the pleasure with lower cost.
Lastly, remember that emotional eating is something that most people do when they're bored, happy, or sad. It might be a bag of chips or a steak, but whatever the food choice, learning how to control it and using moderation is the key.
