When we experience overwhelming emotions, it`s human nature to use things outside ourselves to help us deal. These outlets can be positive, like working out or journalling, or negative, like getting drunk and drug usage. For some people, food is the outlet they use when feeling negative emotions. Emotional eating is a way to suppress worrisome emotions for many people.
For some folks, emotional eating only means eating a little mac and cheese after a rough day at work. For lots, however, this is a unhealthy habit that can lead to obesity and health troubles. Many comfort foods are full of calories, sugar, and sodium, which all can cause health problems when eaten in massive amounts.
There are plenty of things that can cause emotional eating. Important life incidences, or even daily annoyances can push emotional eaters to the pantry. For many, eating can also be a way of relief from boredom. There is a chemical explanation behind emotional eating also. Many popular comfort foods release chemicals or hormones that improve your mood, so they are chemically as well as psychologically soothing.
Emotional eating is a difficult habit to break. However, there are a few tips to help quit this dangerous tendency. It`s vital to understand how to tell the difference between true 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 many manners. It comes on fast, while true hunger is slower. Physical hunger is a universal feeling of emptiness, while emotional hunger will lead you to want something specific. Emotional eating is also more likely to make you feel remorse afterwards.
Don`t keep unhealthy foods in your home, because it`s much less difficult to resist those urges when inducement isn`t easy to access. Strive to swap unhealthy comfort foods with healthier alternatives. Make a inventory of activities you can do to amuse yourself when emotional eating hits, such as go for a run, take a brief nap, or read a magazine. Finally, seeking the help of a counselor to address the underlying reasons for emotional eating can be very helpful.
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