How to Break Free of Emotional Overeating

byEsther Kane
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How to Break Free of Emotional Overeating

有时我们之所以转向食物,不是因为我们身体饥饿,而是因为某些东西在情感上“吃我们”。我们中的许多人被教导说,食物可以“舒缓心情”,而当我们沮丧时吃点东西,我们会找到舒适。当您摔倒并刮擦膝盖时,您还记得自己是个孩子,而您的妈妈给了您一个饼干以使您感觉好些吗?

Even into adulthood, we continue to use food to soothe our moods, only now with negative consequences: We realize that we still haven’t dealt with what was bothering us in the first place after we’ve consumed an entire tub of ice cream, plus we’ve eaten way more calories than our body needs. And we usually end up getting mad at ourselves for overeating. This sets us up for a vicious cycle of stuffing feelings with food (and thus not dealing with them), possible weight gain or excessive exercise and self-recrimination … until the cycle starts all over again. How frustrating!

Three emotional states in particular often lead to bouts of emotional eating: sadness, anxiety and anger.

Sad Eating

Let’s face it—when heartbreak hits, eating a tub of ice cream seems like a good idea. A bit of sweeteness to drown out your sorrow. But before you know it, you’re caught in a self-perpetuating negative cycle and it can be very difficult to get out of it once it’s started. You eat because you’re sad, then you feel even more blue because you’ve eaten so much; this can lead to a “what-the-heck” attitude, increasing the likelihood of overeating when the next bout of the blues hits.

Healthy alternatives:

1. Talk it out.如果您觉得蓝色,它可能与发生的令人沮丧的事件有关,您可能会感觉好多了,可以通过打电话给朋友并分享自己的感受来将其从胸口脱身。

2. Exercise.研究一遍又一遍地表明,与蓝调作斗争的最佳方法之一是移动身体并吸引心脏。即使进行30分钟的适度运动也可以增强大脑中的“感觉良好”化学物质。

3.嘘声。This is the non-technical term for having a “pity party for one.” Really indulge yourself here: Take a hot bath and light candles, listen to sad music, and cry until you run out of tears. You’ll feel a whole lot better after.

Anxious Eating

Many of us eat in an attempt to lower anxiety and a way of self-medicating ourselves. In fact, research has shown that carbohydrate-rich foods actually boost serotonin levels, a chemical that makes you feel calm. This explains why we often reach for carbohydrate-rich comfort foods when we’re stressed.

Healthy alternatives:

1.小睡或提早上床睡觉。Research has shown that people who are well-rested are less susceptible to anxiety and stress, and are better at resisting the urge to overeat. Strive to get at least 8 ½ hours of sleep each night to reduce the urge to overeat in your waking hours.

2. Do something relaxing and calming.我们都有不同的放松方式。下次您感到压力,焦虑,本能地转向食物时,抵制跑到橱柜或冰箱的冲动,而是练习最喜欢的轻松活动之一。

愤怒的饮食

Often we will eat instead of focusing on what is “eating us.” We stuff our anger down with food to cope but, unfortunately, this doesn’t get rid of our anger. It simply buries it and if we don’t deal with it, it will keep popping up until we do. To make matter worse, we hurt our bodies by overeating and then add the feelings of guilt and shame to the anger we started with.

Healthy alternatives:

A way to get out of the “angry-eating trap” is to delay eating (even 10 minutes will do). Sit down, take a deep breath, and tune into what you’re really feeling and what you need to do to let go of your anger. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • 今天发生了什么,这可能会让我生气?
  • Why did that event stir up angry feelings?
  • What do I need to do in order to let go of this anger and feel peaceful?

About the Author

Esther Kane

Esther Kaneis a psychotherapist with almost 20 years experience specializing in food, weight and body image, and is the author of这与食物无关:女性与食物和我们的身体和平的指南. She is one of Canada’s foremost experts on eating disorders, especiallyorthorexia,对健康饮食的痴迷。

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