This blog will assess some of the most common habits that are developped in our everyday lives. It will cover the reasons why we do them and methods we can use to prevent, stop and/or cope with them.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
The Emotional Eater
I am very excited to cover this weeks blog, because I know I am going learn a lot, as I hope all of you will too! It is another habit that negatively affects our health and one that I think we can almost ALL relate to. It is, as you may have guessed, overeating.
Scary word right there huh? Food, for some people, can be one of the scariest things out there, especially if they do not know how to eat properly. That is why I decided to cover this topic.
As an athlete, I learned from my coaches about the importance of a healthy diet. It is important to have a variety of healthy foods, but that doesn’t help keep this habit away. The trick is to try and maintain a good portion size at every meal. This is where I believe a lot of us go wrong (and when I say us, I do include myself).
I get it, sometimes something is just so good that you can’t help but want more. Let’s be realistic, doing that every once and a while is not going to make you gain weight. What I feel like covering this week are the food cravings that we don’t know how to control and that CAN make us gain weight. This mindless food habit is a silent killer. Ah yes, it is emotional eating.
Just broke up with your boyfriend? I guess it’s time to go to the store and buy 5 chocolate bars, some Ben&Jerry’s ice cream and a box of kleenex. Because we all know, when things happen in our lives, we turn to food to make us feel better. We simply do not know how to deal with our emotions in a more constructive way.
I would love to know why we do this, because I believe it is important that it stops. It might be one of the worst habits out there because it is completely out of control. Some may call me crazy, but I think that this ADDICTION can be just as bad as with nicotine or other drugs. More than a third of people in the U.S have problems with obesity.²
Is this not a problem that needs fixing? I think so. People constantly over look obesity, but truth be told it is actually a disease! When an addiction of a substance can affect the health of the individual, I think it is safe to say the person suffers from some form of disease. But hey, that’s just my opinion. What do I know right? Well let’s read on.
Before we get into this habit, let’s put it out there right now that this habit can in fact be broken!¹ WOOOOOOOO!
Anyways...
We eat for different reasons. To nourish our bodies and keep us healthy, but also to relieve the stress of negative emotions.¹ I once read somewhere (most likely Pinterest) that: “overeating is the most commonly abused anti-anxiety drug and that exercise is the most under utilized anti-depressant”. Interesting isn’t it? Not only because it is true, but because no one really looks at this addiction quite like this.
Unfortunately, once a person develops this habit and turns to food every time they are feeling down, food will become a “necessary component”¹ to simply being able to feel normal.¹ Sound familiar? It reminds me of the habit of smoking. Weird how many similarities there are for two completely different addictions.
This habit becomes an addiction when a person feels they cannot control what is happening without turning to food to feel better. We all like to feel better don’t we?
What I find interesting is that this addiction is a learned habit. It can be learned when you are young or after an exceptionally stressful event.¹
What we don’t know is that every single time we turn to food in upsetting circumstances, we train ourselves to believe that food is a highly affective “coping mechanism”.¹ This will cause us to believe that we have no other way of feeling better than turning to food. This might explain why diets constantly fail, because this habit makes dealing with our weight almost impossible.¹
People will usually overeat when they are “emotionally hungry”.¹ What this means is: there are other needs that the individual has that are are not being met. The thing that will turn this “emotional hunger”¹ to “physical hunger”¹ is when we believe that this hunger can be satisfied.¹ Isn't it weird that we can actually convince ourselves that we are hungry even though we’re not? This can eventually cause the individual to feel powerless¹, because they now feel like they are not in control of anything in their lives.
Click here for 5 examples of powerless experiences that lead to emotional eating.
As an emotional eater myself, I know that when I do it, I don’t feel like it will make me gain weight because it just makes me feel better. Which leads me to my inability to understand the numbers on the scale. However, I’m not an out of control emotional eater, I choose my moments (as odd as that sounds). My go to is Häagen Dazs ice cream and some girly songs. Why? Well according to this blog it helps cope with certain emotions. Everyone has their own thing. But what we can almost all conclude is that bad eating habits can actually make us feel powerless and extremely out of control.
Ways to stop overeating is to tell yourself that you are not actually powerless in tough situations. This is not always easy to do. We need to be able to prove to ourselves that food is not the answer to our emotional issues. It is important to be able to do this, because emotional eating can lead to obesity and other health affecting illnesses. And as we know, obesity is a major problem in the world today.¹
However, overeating does not only come in the form of emotional eating. It can also be by occasional binges. This is characterized by eating very little or nothing at all, then eating a great deal all at once. It can also be done by excessive snacking, having portions that are too large or eating too much for desert.¹ But like I said earlier, doing this every once and a while WILL NOT MAKE YOU FAT. So don’t worry or get discouraged.
There are many ways to seek help for any form of overeating. One way is go to therapy to deal with your emotions the right way and not indulge in unhealthy habits. In extreme cases, such habits could even turn into eating disorders. Please seek help before it comes to this. There are many different ways. Click on the links for ways to help with overeating and emotional eating.
I hope this blog has helped you understand a bit more about emotional eating and hopefully we can all cut down on the junk food when we are feeling a little down.
Who am I kidding! This isn’t going to stop me from doing it every once and a while, but at least now I am more aware of why I do it and that it can be stopped.
That’s all for now! If you’d like to learn more about this habit, comment on my blog and we can do some research together!
This is truly one of the best posts I have yet to read! It's amazing how obesity is considered as the norm when it's truly a disease of the mind and the body. Food is the ultimate addiction and no one wants to acknowledge the fact that we have become slaves to our taste buds. Instead of sitting down for a meal in the mindset of nourishment, we see it as a way to socialize, to take away our pains etc. and we most likely reach for heavy junk and overly processed foods. I personally don't believe in "emotional eating" because I think the reasons we overeat roots back to our screwed up relationship with food. You can blame the people who put these ideas in our heads, aka the food industry, and ourselves who easily fall prey to these guys and become just another sheep in the herd. So many people just don't understand the importance of a healthy diet. I am so glad I was able to break free from the ignorance I was living. I never thought a healthy diet had such a positive impact on my body and I didn't see food the way I do now. Did you know that when I turned to a raw food diet, I was having withdrawals? I was craving junk foods and cooked foods like a heroin addict - how is it that we don't experience the same symptoms when we stop eating fruits and vegetables? Because they don't have the addictive chemicals added to the unnatural foods we eat today. I wish more and more people will turn to a truly healthy lifestyle and the world can be free of sickness. Now, I don't mean eat Special K cereals for breakfast or swap that brownie for a low calorie Yoplait.
Thank you so much for your input and opinion on this post! I appreciate hearing what you have to say because everyone thinks something differently and I think you are absolutely right about being slaves to our own taste buds. I couldn't have said it better myself. And it is so true about when we give up certain foods we go through withdrawals. I recently read one of your posts, about why you became a vegan and the eating habits you were getting into and trying to break. It was an amazing post and I think that by admitting it all, it will help more people than you think. So many people are too afraid to say anything. Food is literally a fear for so many people and the worst part is that you can't hide from it. The food industry is doing an amazing job at making sure we don't have successful diets because of all the "junk food" out there. Personally I hate using the term junk food, because food is to fuel our bodies. That’s it. It shouldn't be viewed as something negative, not if we use proper potions. But the media has turned that around and with all the "perfect" body images set for young girls (and boys), it is impossible not to view food as something negative. It is such an extensive topic and I think it truly needs to be dealt with. We have, as you said, all fallen prey to this horrible addiction. Even I don't know how to overcome it.
This is a great post! I feel like all girls could be guilty of this at least once in their life time. I agree that sometimes when you start the over eating it is hard to stop for other occasions. We really must fine the will power inside of us and stop the over eating! It would really make a difference. I have always been crazy about healthy eating and a good diet, sometimes it can be hard but we have to stick to you. I guess now all I have to d is stick with exercise.. That always sucks
I can really relate to this blog. I’ve never thought that it could be an addiction. I always eat to make myself feel better and it’s become a habit. I find myself eating whether I’m feeling down or not. I hope that one day I’ll be able to break my habits of stressful eating. Loved the blog!
This blog speaks to me. When I got diagnosed with my stage 3 concussion and was told I could not play hockey or do any physical activity for a long time, I cried. Once I got home, I ate 3 chocolate bars and a tub of ice cream. I just kept eating and eating because I was so depressed that I could not play.
I'm not really one to eat when I'm upset, I usually just sleep a lot. But I do find myself eating A LOT when I'm bored. Whenever I don't have anything to do, I find myself looking for food, usually in the same places I've already looked. I'm not hungry, I just feel like eating will stop my boredom. It never does..
This is truly one of the best posts I have yet to read! It's amazing how obesity is considered as the norm when it's truly a disease of the mind and the body. Food is the ultimate addiction and no one wants to acknowledge the fact that we have become slaves to our taste buds. Instead of sitting down for a meal in the mindset of nourishment, we see it as a way to socialize, to take away our pains etc. and we most likely reach for heavy junk and overly processed foods. I personally don't believe in "emotional eating" because I think the reasons we overeat roots back to our screwed up relationship with food. You can blame the people who put these ideas in our heads, aka the food industry, and ourselves who easily fall prey to these guys and become just another sheep in the herd. So many people just don't understand the importance of a healthy diet. I am so glad I was able to break free from the ignorance I was living. I never thought a healthy diet had such a positive impact on my body and I didn't see food the way I do now. Did you know that when I turned to a raw food diet, I was having withdrawals? I was craving junk foods and cooked foods like a heroin addict - how is it that we don't experience the same symptoms when we stop eating fruits and vegetables? Because they don't have the addictive chemicals added to the unnatural foods we eat today. I wish more and more people will turn to a truly healthy lifestyle and the world can be free of sickness. Now, I don't mean eat Special K cereals for breakfast or swap that brownie for a low calorie Yoplait.
ReplyDeleteAmazing post, Lauren!
Thank you so much for your input and opinion on this post! I appreciate hearing what you have to say because everyone thinks something differently and I think you are absolutely right about being slaves to our own taste buds. I couldn't have said it better myself. And it is so true about when we give up certain foods we go through withdrawals. I recently read one of your posts, about why you became a vegan and the eating habits you were getting into and trying to break. It was an amazing post and I think that by admitting it all, it will help more people than you think. So many people are too afraid to say anything. Food is literally a fear for so many people and the worst part is that you can't hide from it. The food industry is doing an amazing job at making sure we don't have successful diets because of all the "junk food" out there. Personally I hate using the term junk food, because food is to fuel our bodies. That’s it. It shouldn't be viewed as something negative, not if we use proper potions. But the media has turned that around and with all the "perfect" body images set for young girls (and boys), it is impossible not to view food as something negative. It is such an extensive topic and I think it truly needs to be dealt with. We have, as you said, all fallen prey to this horrible addiction. Even I don't know how to overcome it.
DeleteThis is a great post! I feel like all girls could be guilty of this at least once in their life time. I agree that sometimes when you start the over eating it is hard to stop for other occasions. We really must fine the will power inside of us and stop the over eating! It would really make a difference. I have always been crazy about healthy eating and a good diet, sometimes it can be hard but we have to stick to you. I guess now all I have to d is stick with exercise.. That always sucks
ReplyDeleteI can really relate to this blog. I’ve never thought that it could be an addiction. I always eat to make myself feel better and it’s become a habit. I find myself eating whether I’m feeling down or not. I hope that one day I’ll be able to break my habits of stressful eating. Loved the blog!
ReplyDeleteThis blog speaks to me. When I got diagnosed with my stage 3 concussion and was told I could not play hockey or do any physical activity for a long time, I cried. Once I got home, I ate 3 chocolate bars and a tub of ice cream. I just kept eating and eating because I was so depressed that I could not play.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really one to eat when I'm upset, I usually just sleep a lot. But I do find myself eating A LOT when I'm bored. Whenever I don't have anything to do, I find myself looking for food, usually in the same places I've already looked. I'm not hungry, I just feel like eating will stop my boredom. It never does..
ReplyDelete