When we experience strong emotions, it`s natural to use things external to ourselves to help us survive. These coping mechanisms can be positive, like working out or writing, or negative, like getting drunk and drugs. For some sufferers, food is the outlet they use when feeling upset. Emotional eating is a means of soothing worrisome emotions for many sufferers.
For some people, emotional eating just means eating a little chocolate after a bad day at work. For lots, however, this is a dangerous coping mechanism that can lead to weight problems and health troubles. Many comfort foods are loaded with calories, sugar, and salt, which all can cause health issues when eaten in excessive quantities.
There are many things that can lead to emotional eating. Important life happenings, or even daily hassles can push emotional eaters to the fast food drive thru. For many, eating can also be a means of relief from boredom. There is a chemical explanation to emotional eating additionally. Many common comfort foods discharge chemicals or hormones that elevate your feelings, so they can be chemically as well as psychologically comforting.
Emotional eating is a hard habit to get out of. However, there are several suggestions to help quit this dangerous tendency. It`s vital to understand how to tell the difference between real hunger and an emotionally motivated urge to eat. If you know that you aren`t actually hungry, give it some time to see if the urge fades. Emotional hunger differ(s) from physical hunger in a few ways. It comes on rapidly, while physical hunger is gradual. Actual hunger is a general sensation of emptiness, while emotional hunger will make you desire something specific. Emotional eating is also more likely to make you feel shame afterwards.
Don`t keep comfort foods in your home, because it`s much easier to resist those impulses when inducement isn`t readily available. Try to swap fattening comfort foods with healthier alternatives. Make a inventory of things you can do to distract yourself when emotional eating hits, such as go for a jog, take a short nap, or read a book. Finally, seeking the help of a counselor to address the psychological motivations for emotional eating can be very useful.
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