Excellent Nov09

Emotional eating is very common to most people and is the cause of eating disorder that leads to obesity and overweight, it is a feeling of turning yourself to food for comfort, stress relief, or as a reward rather than to satisfy hunger. Most emotional eaters feel powerless over their food cravings. And the strange feeling is we?re hungry for something else that we don't know and the main cause of this is the bad feeling that you've felt. "Food can act like a drug," says Geneen Roth, the author of Women, Food, and God. "It can take the edge off whatever is going on, similar to the way a drink does for alcoholics. People think to themselves, ?I may be feeling upset, but at least I get to taste something good.' " Why we binge for something when we are upset, anxious, mad and angry? - to relieve stress - It might be a distraction. - a quick escape for your problem - It might be a treat. How Can I Tell if I am Emotionally Eating? - You eat when you are not physically hungry. - It is hard to find food that satisfies you. - Cravings are triggered by an emotion such as anger, anxiety, or boredom etc. - Comfort eating has a mindless component to it. You may not enjoy or taste the food because you are eating it mechanically, as if in a trance. Imagine sitting in front of the TV mindlessly popping chips into your mouth. How can I Stop Emotional Eating? 1. You should be aware - write down where, when, and why you are stress that leads you to crave for something. If you track that the next time you feel the same feeling you can find alternative and safe solution to cope with it. 2. You should Replace. Since we must take out stress eating so you might bring something to catch your attention to replacing it, it could be a cup of tea/coffee, glass of water, or a healthy smoothie. Try to replace it with health foods and drinks to maintain your balance diet. 3. Practice more. There are a lot of ways to comfort yourself aside from eating, it could be; meditation, reading books, watching a comedy movie,playing guitar or a piano, a quick home exercise or a 10-minute walk is good enough to make you feel better. Try to play with your pets like a dog it can relief your stress and pain. 4. Drink more water. If you drink more water even if you binge for something and you can't stop it, it will end up you to eat less since after you drink example 2 glasses it makes you full. 5. Call a friend. If you?re depressed or lonely, call someone who always makes you feel better Alternatives to emotional eating 6. Be resourceful. If you?re anxious, expend your nervous energy by dancing to your favorite song, squeezing a stress ball, or taking a brisk walk.