Are You An Emotional Eater?
Before
answering that question we need to know what an “emotional eater” is.
Emotional eating, according to those who are supposed to know these things, is eating as a result of something which is happening in your life which is related in some way to your mental or emotional state rather than eating because you are, or think you should be, hungry.
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Modern
thinking regarding unwanted weight gain puts most of the blame firmly on eating
as a way to relieve some of the stresses of life.
This applies
to both men and women and so called “comfort food” is to blame.
Anxiety,
depression, significant loss, even plain old boredom can cause us to raid the
fridge or the cookie jar to get a fix of this comfort food.
When you
can’t be bothered to go and exercise or do that job in the yard that’s been
waiting for days, or weeks, sometimes it’s just easier to make a coffee, grab a
doughnut and chill.
When you’re
depressed you may think that you have nothing better to do than eat and that
eating, emotional eating, can easily lead to weight gain which in turn can
cause more depression, it becomes a vicious circle which can be hard to break.
So, are you
an emotional eater?
How do you
tell?
You need to
ask yourself some key questions and give yourself the honest answers.
Do you have
a tendency to eat when you’re sad?
When things
get you down, when you’re overly concerned about something, when you’re scared?
Do you use
food, especially very sweet or fatty food, when you need a lift or after you’ve
had a disappointment?
Does food
help you to deal with some of the more unpleasant things which you have to face
from time to time?
If you’ve
answered “yes” to any of these questions, or others like them, you may well be
eating to help you deal with the emotional issues associated with them.
If you have
indeed identified yourself as an emotional eater the next step is to accept
that fact, much as an alcoholic needs to accept that he or she is an alcoholic,
you can then begin to deal with it.
The most
effective way to do this is to use a diversionary tactic.
When you’re
down and you consider going to the kitchen for a comforting snack find
something else to do instead.
Go for a
walk around the yard or down the street, pick up the needles and start to knit
that new jumper for yourself, or crochet a new blanket, that would take your
mind off food for a while.
You’ll find
that as you start to become involved with something else the thought of food
will just fade into the background or even disappear altogether.
Another
thing you should do is to identify the things that start the food cravings or
the regular times when you tend to “over-snack”.
Do you eat
while you’re watching TV in the evenings, while you’re mentally engaged in
something, while you’re reading etc.?
When you
know the answers to these questions you can more easily work out a strategy to
change your behaviour patterns to those which don’t involve eating or snacking.
Also, just
as with any other emotional issue, it will help if you have a support network
of those who care about your health and well-being.
This network
could be made up of your immediate family, your work colleagues, your social
group or perhaps even others who are in the same situation as yourself.
You might even
consider joining a support group who specialise in helping those who want to
slim down.
Whenever you
feel the need to get stuck into the snacks you could contact someone in your
support team for a little, well, support!
Should you
find that you are eating because you are depressed or particularly anxious it
is important to seek out professional help.
Your medical
professional is the place to go for help to overcome those feelings, depression
is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly or treated as inconsequential,
professional help is never far away and seeking it is the proper course of
action under those circumstances.
If your
depression becomes severe there will be organisations run by both your
government and private sources which are specifically there to help those in
that situation, seek their help, don’t try to deal with it on your own, in
Australia it’s called “Beyond Blue” their phone number is 1300 22 4636
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