What is Emotional Eating?
Emotional eating is a problem that affects a surprising number of men, women in children, especially in affluent countries. The high levels of stress combined with the seemingly infinite amount of food makes it easy to eat when you’re bored, stress, tired, angry or feeling any other emotion. Not only that, but most of us are reaching for the worst foods available when our emotions are going haywire. This article will explain what emotional eating is, and when it becomes a problem.
Feelings and Emotions
We all have feelings and emotions, but many of us have a hard time coping with them. We don’t want to go through the pain of facing those emotions, and we don’t want the baggage and long conversations that arise while trying to deal with those problems. Most of us would rather down a pint of ice cream to get that emotional high before going back to our lives.
The problems arise when eating is the only way you cope with emotions, even good ones. You’re stressed, so you have to eat to feel better. You feel good, so you eat to congratulate yourself. It becomes a vicious cycle that leads to obesity and health problems. The crux of emotional eating is the ability or fear of dealing with emotions.
Common Foods
Emotional eating wouldn’t be nearly as bad if you grabbed carrot sticks instead of chocolate, or lettuce instead of cake. However, we often look for foods with the most fat and sugar to take the edge off. That’s because these foods give us a spike in dopemine, serotonin and other hormones that make us feel good. That’s because our bodies want to eat, and putting on weight will help us survive the winter (at least, that’s what our instincts say).
There’s nothing wrong with eating cake every now and then, but there’s a point where this type of eating becomes a major issue.
When it’s a Problem
The problem with emotional eating is that it can quickly spiral out of control because you’re getting an emotional high without using illegal drugs or items that are stigmatized by society (like cigarettes or alcohol). Do you find yourself eating just because of how you feel, even if you’re not hungry? Or, eating without realizing it? Are you hiding your food or eating habits by sneaking food into your house or eating in strange places, like in your car or bathroom?
Most of all, is emotional eating making you feel guilty, and the only thing you can do to respond to that guilt is eat more? It’s a problem when your life becomes about food, and all you’re thinking about is the next meal, regardless of how hungry you actually are.
Conclusion
We all eat to make ourselves feel better, and that in itself isn’t a major problem. However, it becomes a problem when you can only feel better through food, and you’re doing your best to hide your habits because you know you’re doing something wrong. There are many treatment options available for this type of eating, but you need the courage to make these changes to better your life.
