Why Do I Eat So Much?

 

So why do I eat even when I am not hungry?

I work a high stressed job as so many of us these days do, and when a body is under stress the body pushes (forgive my non-medical term) out hormones to help us manage the stress. One of these hormones is called cortisol, and if the stressor is sustained, the cortisol levels remain elevated and could trigger cravings for salty (salty popped corn), sweet (pastry) and high fat (fry ups) foods that the body thinks it needs to cope - to give us the burst of energy and pleasure to combat stress. Is the trick to give up my high stressed job? I don’t think so, I think I need to (we all need to) find ways of managing stress and be present in the moment enough that when we are stressed to make the right choices in what goes into our mouths/stomachs.

If you have followed this blog you will know that I have confessed to eating when I am bored. And yes, that is a form of emotional eating. I’ll go for tea and biscuits, pastries, [to my shame] chocolate… whatever when I am bored. And it’s not only when I get bored, when I am hard at work at my desk, I tend to mindlessly reach for something to keep my mouth busy while I work. I don’t know why, but that’s the way I am, and I feel I am more productive this way. At work I am famous for having tea, soft drinks, and pastries available when I call for a meeting. I wonder if my team mates think it’s out of the goodness of my heart and not rather to fulfill my need to munch while working. I’ve come to associate both with productivity! (I’m so busted, because a number of them will read this…lol). Anyway,I am currently working on alternatives to the tea and biscuits I usually go for; so far I’ve tried water, gum…didn’t work as well as my tea and buscuits but I won’t give up – yet!

I know a lot of people who compensate negative emotions with food. Now I don’t know much about this, and won’t go here. And I can’t just say stop doing that as I have not walked 2 inches in your shoes – much less a lifetime. All I can say is that compensating food for emotions is something that should be addressed with the help of a counselor or coach. It is possible to get free of the negative emotions, and to know what to do when they arise. They don’t have to be our lives as opposed to being a part of our lives that we have under control. Enuf said!

Another trigger for emotional eating that I am very familiar with is childhood influences. From our parents not allowing us leave the table until we have wiped our plates clean even though we are totally stuffed. To families whose together time revolves around food. I grew up in a home where every holiday, celebration, special event, outing was planned around food – where we would go to eat, what we would eat, how much we would eat, what new dish we had to try out…! We never went hiking, to the movies or amusement parks, or just sat at home to watch TV- food was the center of my existence as a kid. No wonder it seems to feature largely in my life today. A date is never a real date unless we go eat something (sound familiar?) – although I am finding the joys of a perfect date being a long walk in a park just talking and getting to really know each other. (Who ever thought that my Drop It campaign would unearth so much of my emotional angst?). But seriously, what do the rhythms of your life revolve around? Healthy or destructive habits? If you don’t think about it now, you won’t ever know and become empowered to make the change.

With all these triggers, I have come to realize that when I acknowledge them I am better able to respond positively (I am RESPONSE-ABLE). I am learning that if I can identify the reasons I eat emotionally, acknowledge the situations or scenarios that compel me to eat excessively when I am not physically hungry, learn how to bounce back rather than wallow when I am caught in the web of emotional eating (a polite way of saying when I have stuffed my face excessively) then I am better able to control my emotional eating, I become more intentional about how I plan my day and what and when I eat and I am better able to keep dropping weight and maintaining the healthy lifestyle I crave.

Next week I plan on sharing some things I do to help me avoid emotional eating – not to say I have conquered it – I am still learning and hopefully as I write/blog you can hold me accountable and I can truly DROP IT 4 LIFE! J

Do you have any tips to stave away the emotional eating gremlin from your life? I’d love to hear it, just send me an email using the ‘contact form’ on your right (below my before picture), and I will be sure to give you credit.

 

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Hunger

 

Before I started on this path, one of the ways I justified my eating in excess was saying defensively that I honestly felt hungry, so I had to listen to my body. For me it was feel hungry? Then eat! But I’m learning that emotional eating can come from emotional hunger; which is very different from physical hunger. This week I want to share what I have learnt about this.

Emotional hunger hits you suddenly and with urgency, it can be overwhelming – for me it’s like someone lit a bulb in my head saying ‘GO EAT NOW!’ – I heard someone describe emotional hunger like a trying to take a bone from the dog – the dog just won’t let go! Physical hunger on the other hand, builds up in intensity- like a gently rising graph.

 

Most times after indulging in an episode of emotional eating I end up very remorseful and shamed by my lack of restraint. Do you feel ashamed or guilty after eating?

 

Ever felt like you were ‘hungry’, feeling not so much like your stomach needed food but like you just needed to eat something? Yes? That’s most likely emotional hunger. I am told (confession time) and I am still trying to learn the difference that real physical hunger feels like your ‘tank’ is getting empty, sometime there could be some growling (that’s possibly a sign of extreme physical hunger – don’t get to this point often).

 

Knowing my own patterns of eating, I know there are times when I eat, and eat, and eat, and eat…and eat long after my stomach is bursting. Chances are (in fact it is a safe bet) I have just indulged in some big time emotional eating. If it were physical hunger I was satisfying, chances are I would have known when to stop eating. I’m actually of the opinion that when you satisfy physical hunger rather than emotional hunger you are empowered to eat healthy.

 

Many times you will find me saying…’I am hungry and I want…[insert some very specific dish] now’. This could be a craving (twin sister of emotional hunger) and not physical hunger. Most times, only this very specific dish will ‘hit the spot’! When this happens, I do some self-talk to examine the nature of my craving/hunger and can make the choice to wait till I am really hungry before I indulge in the dish I want. This is easier said than done.

 

The amazing thing I have discovered is that emotional eating is a habit that we learn all through our lives to the point that it becomes an automatic response to whatever the root cause is. Even people who seem to have an ideal weight and good health can be emotional eaters – so don’t beat yourself up. The main point is finding out the reason why we have this destructive habit.

How do you differentiate between real (physical) hunger and emotional hunger in your own life? I’d like to learn from you. One thing that works for me is that I try to have fixed times for my meals - sometimes it works, other times not so much. I’ve also found that if I have a cup of tea or glass of water it controls the immediacy or urgency of what I am feeling and I am better able to make better decisions about my eating. It’s not easy -but I am working on it; because I am 100% committed to living a healthy life and to DROP IT 4 LIFE! You?

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Emotional.Eater.I.Am

Hello, My name is Liz; and I am an emotional eater.

As I battle to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle I gotten to know myself better. I has been quite a journey, seriously. I have accepted that I am an emotional eater – previously I would deny this. Do you deny the ugly truth about your reality?

I have found that many of us do not always eat to satisfy hunger; some eat for comfort, to relieve stress (me), as a reward, by rote or when bored (me), habit (your family always had a night cap of creamed cookies and hot cocoa before bed, and now you just can’t stop it – even though you know the extra calories are doing you in). While the food we reach for does nothing for us – does not offer comfort, don’t relieve stress, aren’t much of a reward nor alleviate boredom; I know from experience that I end up feeling guilty afterwards, the extra food results in extra calories I do not need, and I invariably pile on more weight.

This is such a big part of my life that I decided to spend a few weeks talking about it – maybe we can help each other and reinforce better habits.

First, how did I know I am an emotional eater? Basically, in the course of my readings and my ongoing battle with my weight, I discovered that I actually eat mainly in response to my feelings (emotions) rather than physical hunger pangs. I eat when I am bored, I eat when I have a major project to churn out at work, I eat when I am unhappy or nervous. Other people reward themselves with a stunning dress/shoe or bag, I reward myself with a trip to my favorite Chinese restaurant. What about you? Are you an emotional eater? Let’s find out.

• Do you eat more when you are feeling stressed?
• Do you eat when you are not hungry or when you are full?
• Do you reward yourself with food?
• Does food make you feel safe?
• Do you feel out of control at a buffet table (piling your plate sky high with dishes that really don’t complement eachother)?
• Do you associate some tasks with food - like a plate of cookies and cup of tea when reading through work reports (I am guilty here).
• Do you feel better (calm, soothed etc) when you eat.

If you answered yes to more than two of these questions…[drum roll] chances are you are an emotional eater. Don’t pout… there are things we can do to help ourselves (as I am learning), and habits we can use to replace the reach (as in the reach for another tub of Haagen Daz). And we will talk about these soon…

 

So, are YOU an emotional eater? Admitting it is the first step to curbing it so we can all DROP IT 4 LIFE!

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