Food Talk : Weight becomes cycle of losing, gaining
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
QUESTION: It seems every time I get upset I want to eat. I end up gaining weight than I am upset and I eat again. It is such a vicious circle, do you have any advice. ANSWER: You are right, emotional eating can become a vicious circle. Sometimes we tend to use food as a form of relief or reward. When we get upset or stressed we eat. If we are angry or sad or bored we eat. And, usually it is too much food and of course the work kind of food. It is often said," Americans are "in love"with food. Food serves many different functions in our lives, not just nourishment. We may even measure how we feel about ourselves by our food selection. If we make good food choices today we are a good person. If we make bad choices we are a bad person. In truth our food choices have very little to do with the fact we are good or bad.
The more we turn to food rather than deal with a problem the greater the problem, fear or feeling becomes and the vicious circle begins. As we deal with the day and the going gets tough it is easy to turn to food and completely forget the day even though it may have offered great promise had we "hung in there."
To an emotional eater food is a drug. A legal, socially acceptable drug. Some researchers claim we can actually put ourselves in a "food trance. "This is the pleasurable feeling that food gives us and allows us a temporary escape from our problems. The escape is immediate and provides an instant relief. The problem is that the escape is addictive, just like an area. This makes us tend to turn to food again and again and again. We may be paying a very high price for a very brief respite from our problems or negative emotions.
So what can we do ? Start by recognizing you are an emotional eater. When you eat to fill yourself emotionally, you will not ever get enough food. Food cannot satisfy emotional hunger. Make a list of behaviors you can turn to other than food.
Plan ahead. Have a decent knowledge base of good food choices. Keep your courage up. It takes courage to make changes, especially in stressful times. We all experience negative emotions, just try not to let food be your soother.
I once read," You will never live above the image you have of yourself. "Keep a great one.
You are your cure.
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