Emotional Eating - Why We Turn to Food
- Date: 2007-04-24 - Word Count: 471
Share This!
Last week, I saw a movie called "Scoop" with Woody Allen. While there was a lot of great dialogue, my favorite line went something like this:
"I never put on weight. My anxiety acts as an aerobic exercise" :-)
If only that were the case, many women would be in much better shape than they are with emotional eating.
Unfortunately, it often works just the opposite. We turn to food when life gets tough, and we have feelings that we don't know what else to do with.
It's not surprising that we turn to food when we feel stressed, depressed, anxious or just about anything.
It's the easy thing to reach for.
After all, life is hard . . . food is easy.
A UCLA study of 17,000 dieters, most of them women, found that virtually ALL of them relapsed because of emotional eating.
Women are much more susceptible to emotional eating than men, primarily because we are taught to stuff our feelings.
Even when we figure out that it's ok to express feelings, we simply don't know how.
Logically, we know it's ok, but emotionally, it doesn't feel ok, and we fear the consequences of doing so.
We also don't know how to ask for help . . . so we turn to food for comfort and self-soothing.
Because it's easy.
We do everything for everybody else -- FOOD is what we can give ourselves. (After all, we DESERVE it, as the logic goes).
And since we are used to using food in response to feelings, it becomes associated with positive events and feelings too.
A common refrain: "I eat for every feeling I've ever had."
We don't want anyone telling us we can't have it. It's the one thing we can absolutely control, even though it can feel out of control when we overdo it.
It often just seems too HARD to manage feelings any other way.
And it DOES take more time and attention.
It's not that it's hard, really . . . it's like anything else . . . it's just a matter of learning the right things.
Once you learn it . . . then it's easy.
But I won't lie to you . . . sorting things out emotionally, and being willing to feel your feelings DOES take a bit more effort than reaching for a carton of ice cream when the going gets rough.
You CAN get a quick soothing effect with emotional eating. That is why this phenomenon is so resistant to change.
The problem is, of course, it doesn't last. In fact, it only makes things worse in the long run.
Now you have the stress you were acting on, AND the feelings about the emotional eating (and the feelings about yourself) to contend with.
So, it's your decision . . . resolve to learn what you need to learn to manage emotions.
Give yourself some time to do this (6 months to a year is a good time frame).
Be willing to invest time and energy in yourself.
Or keep things the same. It's up to you.
I'll be here to help.
"I never put on weight. My anxiety acts as an aerobic exercise" :-)
If only that were the case, many women would be in much better shape than they are with emotional eating.
Unfortunately, it often works just the opposite. We turn to food when life gets tough, and we have feelings that we don't know what else to do with.
It's not surprising that we turn to food when we feel stressed, depressed, anxious or just about anything.
It's the easy thing to reach for.
After all, life is hard . . . food is easy.
A UCLA study of 17,000 dieters, most of them women, found that virtually ALL of them relapsed because of emotional eating.
Women are much more susceptible to emotional eating than men, primarily because we are taught to stuff our feelings.
Even when we figure out that it's ok to express feelings, we simply don't know how.
Logically, we know it's ok, but emotionally, it doesn't feel ok, and we fear the consequences of doing so.
We also don't know how to ask for help . . . so we turn to food for comfort and self-soothing.
Because it's easy.
We do everything for everybody else -- FOOD is what we can give ourselves. (After all, we DESERVE it, as the logic goes).
And since we are used to using food in response to feelings, it becomes associated with positive events and feelings too.
A common refrain: "I eat for every feeling I've ever had."
We don't want anyone telling us we can't have it. It's the one thing we can absolutely control, even though it can feel out of control when we overdo it.
It often just seems too HARD to manage feelings any other way.
And it DOES take more time and attention.
It's not that it's hard, really . . . it's like anything else . . . it's just a matter of learning the right things.
Once you learn it . . . then it's easy.
But I won't lie to you . . . sorting things out emotionally, and being willing to feel your feelings DOES take a bit more effort than reaching for a carton of ice cream when the going gets rough.
You CAN get a quick soothing effect with emotional eating. That is why this phenomenon is so resistant to change.
The problem is, of course, it doesn't last. In fact, it only makes things worse in the long run.
Now you have the stress you were acting on, AND the feelings about the emotional eating (and the feelings about yourself) to contend with.
So, it's your decision . . . resolve to learn what you need to learn to manage emotions.
Give yourself some time to do this (6 months to a year is a good time frame).
Be willing to invest time and energy in yourself.
Or keep things the same. It's up to you.
I'll be here to help.
Related Tags: weight loss, diet, lose weight, overweight, weight, emotional eating, binge eating, overeating, compulsive eating
Learn the #1 reason you sabotage yourself, and what you can do to stop it.Go to: How To Stop Emotional EatingCarol Solomon, Ph.D. Psychologist and personal coach specializes in helping people stop binge eating and turn off the drive to overeat Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- Dental Insurance For Individual Can Be Of Help At Time
Dental problem may cost one a lot of money and pain. But, practicing a reasonable care could decreas - Personal Trainer For Perfect Health
There is a general misconception that need for a fitness trainer comes for novice or from those who - Varicose Veins - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment
The majority of people after thirty notice the changes that appear with the maturing. In this case t - Scenar Therapy - Self-treatment Or Healing Partnership
Do you want to learn about a device which will help you to ease your pain? If you get this kind of a - Scenar - 5 "no, Nos" Of Scenar
Are you fed up with the pain in your body? Various parts of our body seem to ache due to different r - Scenar Device - 5 Tips On Travelling With Your Scenar (skenar) Device
You might be aware of scenar which has become quite popular these days. This is actually the acronym - Scenar Therapy - How To Treat Your Pet With Scenar
There are many alternative methods of treatment that are being invented these days. Lots of people a - Your Options For The Treatment For Appendicitis
Appendicitis is considered to be a surgical illness. Due to its severe character, the treatment for - How To Choose The Right Copd Medication
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD does not have any cure. But with the help of medicines - Septic Arthritis: Infectious Agents Penetrate Joints' Spaces
Another major type of arthritis is septic arthritis, which is also known in various terms like: pyog
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Drugs - the Last Alternative for Adhd in Kids
Anyone over the age of thirty who has grown up with ADHD understands that there was not much help av - Foods To Eat To Gain Weight
Malnutrition has the same degree of problem as obesity. There are people who are too skinny, they fi - Understanding Postpartum Clothing
The same way most pregnant women dream of the day when they will begin showing for wearing maternity - Kegel Exercising for Bladder Control and Enhanced Sexual Pleasure
Kegel exercises strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, thereby improving the urethra and/or rec - The Use Of Weight Loss Herbs
Nothing has garnered more attention in today's world than the success or failures of weight loss pro - A Simple Acid Relux Cure
Many people today are afflicted with heartburn. If they eat food that is too spicy, they get heartbu - Five Effective Household Back Pain Treatments
Back pain treatment comes in lots of forms, from exercise to pain mediction. Standard and most wides - Herbal Remedies - Can They Cure What Ails You?
You've probably heard about herbal remedies before and how they can treat a variety of health proble - Natural Relief for Tinnitus - What are your Choices
Natural Relief For Tinnitus - Alternative Options Did you know that there are an estimated 50 t - Birthing Around the World
Since ancestral times, different cultures showed off different customs and beliefs around the miracl