When we have strong feelings, it`s sometimes easier to rely on things outside ourselves to help us manage. These coping mechanisms can be positive, like working out or journalling, or destructive, like alcohol and drug usage. For some people, food is the outlet they rely on when feeling out of control emotionally. Emotional eating is a way to suppress upsetting feelings for many people.
For some folks, emotional eating only means indulging in a little mac and cheese after a bad day at work. For many, however, this is a dangerous coping mechanism that can lead to obesity and health issues. Many comfort foods are high in calories, sugar, and sodium, which all can lead to health issues when consumed in excessive amounts.
There are many factors that can cause emotional eating. Major life events, or even day to day irritations can push emotional eaters to the fridge. 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 release chemicals or hormones that elevate your mood, so they can be chemically as well as psychologically calming.
Emotional eating is a hard habit to break. However, there are man 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 chow down. 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 couple manners. It comes on quickly, while physical hunger is gradual. Physical hunger is a broad sensation of emptiness, while emotional hunger will lead you to crave something in particular. Emotional eating is also more likely to cause feelings of shame afterwards.
Don`t keep unhealthy foods in your home, because it`s much easier to resist those urges when temptation isn`t readily available. Strive to swap fattening comfort foods with better for you alternatives. Make a inventory of things you can do to distract yourself when emotional eating strikes, such as go for a walk, take a brief nap, or read a magazine. Finally, finding the help of a therapist to address the psychological motivations for emotional eating can be very useful.
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