Are you an emotional eater? If it’s any consolation, you’re not alone. I have to confess…I am an emotional eater. When I’m upset I eat. When I’m stressed I eat. When I’m worried I eat. And let’s be clear, these are the times I have uncontrollable urges to eat junk (candy, cookies, ice cream), all the stuff I know is bad for me. I could be eating healthy for months, then something upsets me, and it’s all over.
The crazy thing about being an emotional eater is that you know that eating isn’t going to make what you’re upset about any better, but you do it anyway. In fact, you know that eating the junk that you’re craving is actually going to contribute to making you feel worse, but you do it anyway. You even know that once you start it’s going to become a vicious cycle of craving, eating, and then feeling guilty about it. Even so, you still do it. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result? Maybe so, but I still try not to be too hard on myself when this happens to me. I sometimes think it’s worse when I try to fight the urge to eat through my emotions, it just seems to make my cravings even stronger.
Emotional eating is something we do in an attempt to suppress negative feelings in our life. There are many triggers that accompany emotional eating, here are a few…
Relationship or marital problems.
Financial worries
Unemployment
Health problems of your own or family member.
Stress at work.
Bad weather
Fatigue or lack of sleep.
So what’s an emotional eater to do? This is what I try to do…
I know many people don’t think our government has any business telling us what we can and can not eat. Until recently, I might have even agreed. But the problem of obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, and there’s no signs of it getting any better on it’s own. More and more evidence is pointing to the dangers associated with all the high fat, high sugar, and processed foods we are eating. And with such a limited amount of healthy food available to the consumer (at least compared to unhealthy foods), its virtually impossible to suggest that people have a “choice” when it comes to avoiding trans fats and processed foods.
These foods are not just making us fat, these foods are killing us. The CDC estimates that more than 300,000 Americans die each year from obesity-related complications…Doesn’t our government bare some responsibility in protecting the lives of its citizens?
It seems we are long past telling people to simply avoid these unhealthy foods, for so many people that is just not an option. To make matters worse, it’s now believed that junk food can be as addicting as cocaine.
What can be done?
I don’t think there is one way to fix this problem, but I do think that something needs to be done. Here is a graph showing preventable causes of death…
Obesity isn’t a problem that can be solved with a one-size-fits-all solution. But there are things our government could do that would help.
Although controversial, some say that taxing junk food is the answer. But during a recession it’s hard to justify increasing the cost of food (even if it is junk). I think taxing junk food could be a good idea, as long as it’s done in conjunction with making healthy foods more available and affordable. And what about taxing the manufacturers producing this junk too? It surely couldn’t hurt to make selling junk food less profitable.
I also think more regulations on processed and fast foods would be beneficial. Eliminating trans fats is a great start, but lowering the acceptable amounts of sodium and sugar being used by manufacturers is also very important. We have to stop allowing manufacturers to sell products that are essentially killing consumers.
For most of us food is more than just the nourishment needed for our survival, it’s also an emotional roller coaster (with many ups and downs). One slice of chocolate cake can take us from desire, to exhilaration, to satisfaction, and often land us right into guilt. Which is exactly why they call it a guilty pleasure. But should we really feel guilty for eating something simply for the pleasure of it? Of course not. So why do we?
I’ll be the first person to admit that sometimes it’s easy to get sucked into that (post indulging) guilt. But the truth is, the guilt can actually be the catalyst that spirals us into more emotional eating and even more guilt. The remedy is to not allow yourself to fall victim to overeating guilt from the start.
When you make a mistake, treat yourself with kindness.
As with everything in life, we need to embrace our imperfections. And regardless of how committed we are to a particular diet or healthy eating program, we always have to leave room for occasional guilty pleasures. Try to focus on the “pleasure” part a guilty pleasures. If you’re going to over indulge, at least enjoy every moment and savor every bite of your indulgence.
Here are some tips to help you avoid overeating and the guilt that often follows…
Earlier this week I was part of a conference call with Carnie Wilson, who was recently featured on the Dr. Oz Show to talk about her food and alcohol addiction.
Carnie Wilson has always struggled with her weight. She even had gastric bypass surgery in 1999. Then after going through two pregnancies, and gaining 50 pounds each time, she found herself battling the extra weight all over again.
Carnie told us that the show was “very dramatic,” and “the fact that he had labeled me morbidly obese really shocked me.” But, she also says, “Dr. Oz was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” Carnie was confused when Dr. Oz told her that she was pre-diabetic – “I was actually in shock because I just had blood work done. All that blood work came back normal. To this day I am not pre-diabetic,” she said in the press call. “If he wants to call me that, it’s fine, but my glucose levels are at a normal range.”
After watching the show, I can understand how Carnie may have been shocked by some of the things Dr. Oz was saying to her. It’s funny to me how Dr. Oz seems to try so hard to make medical issues more understandable to the average person, but he didn’t clarify many of the comments he was making about Carnie. For instance, doctors refer to patients as “morbidly obese” strictly based on their weight and BMI. But clearly, although Carnie may fit the medical definition of morbidly obese, she is obviously in a much healthier place than she was in the past. And when Dr. Oz checks her glucose level, he does so by using a method diabetics use to keep track of their blood sugar throughout the day. Carnie’s doctor would be using a much more accurate method that involves fasting blood work, and that’s why she is so certain she is not pre-diabetic…she probably isn’t.
What is your eating style? Do you follow one of the popular diet plans?
If you’re looking to eat healthy or lose weight in the new year, there are a lot of diet plans out there to choose from. But how do you know which plan is best for you? I’m not a fan of fad diets – Even when they work, they are often an unhealthy choice and any weight lost is usually quickly gained back. But there are diet plans geared towards healthy eating and healthy weight loss. Maybe you’re already following one.
In this post I thought we could take a look at some of the diet plans that also focus on healthy eating. Because, in the long run, changing unhealthy eating habits to healthy ones is the only way to lose weight and keep it off.
Christmas. Is it the most wonderful time of the year? Or the most stressful time of the year? Would it surprise you to know that 8 out of 10 people suffer some degree of stress during the holiday season?
Many people start to feel a little melancholy around this time of year, especially right after Christmas. It’s colder, and darker, and there are much less activities to keep us busy. This early onset of night isn’t so bad when Christmas lights are everywhere you turn. But when the lights go down, so do many people’s mood. It’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder, and it makes you SAD.
Seasonal Affective Disorder affects millions of people every year, and for some reason, more women than men. Are you one of them? Or do you know someone who suffers with SAD? The symptoms can be mild to severe, and understanding why this happens is the key to helping yourself or loved ones get through this seasonal depression.
My kids are big kids now (15 & 18), and I really miss those years when they were younger and I got to be Santa. I loved shopping for toys, the hours wrapping, and especially watching the joy on their faces as they tore through everything in a matter of minutes. Back then, I was blissfully ignorant of all the dangers lurking in those toys. My only concern was getting the best deals I could find and making sure both my kids had an equal amount of gifts to unwrap. But it’s not so easy for moms today.
If you’re a mom, or anyone buying toys for a child this year, here is a round-up of posts that can help you make safe toy choices.
My daughter Nicole, who is a big Miley Cyrus fan, heard about a project Miley was supporting called Get UR Good On. As soon as she heard about it, she wanted to get involved. The idea was to do something good in your community, video it, and then upload it onto the Get UR Good On website to encourage others to do the same.
Nicole loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner, so she decided she wanted to cook a holiday dinner for women and children in need, so that’s what we did.
We contacted the Daytona women’s shelter and they were very excited about Nicole’s idea for a holiday dinner and toy give-away for the children. Then the work began.
Publix donated $50.00 and helped us get good deals on the food. Even so, that didn’t nearly cover the cost of the food, but a few friends and family pitched in to help with the rest. Then Nicole decided to use her own money (that she received for getting straight A’s in school) to buy the children toys. She bought — dolls, puppets, stuffed bears, coloring books, crayons, toy trucks and cars, pom-poms, magic tricks, books, play-dough, and more.
My name is Catherine Morgan...I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. I'm also a contributing editor for BlogHer Health & Wellness.
Welcome to my blog...I write a little bit of everything with an emphasis on healthy living, inspiration, nutrition, and health news. I hope you'll find topics that interest you here, and I would love to know what you think in comments. Thanks for stopping by.
My kids are big kids now (15 & 18), and I really miss those years when they were younger and I got to be Santa. I loved shopping for toys, the hours wrapping, and especially watching the joy on their faces as they tore through everything in a matter of minutes. Back then, I was blissfully ignorant of all the dangers lurking in those toys. My only concern was getting the best deals I could find and making sure both my kids had an equal amount of gifts to unwrap. But it’s not so easy for moms today.
