Are You An Emotional Eater?An emotional eater uses food for instant gratification. Emotional eating is one of the main causes of weight gain.
An emotional eater is often out of touch with why they overeat. They find themselves eating when not hungry. Food feels like a friend when lonely, bored or stressed out. It is difficult to understand its forceful power. Dealing with the real issue that triggers overeating may be unpleasant and often even scary. It may bring up old wounds that are hard for you to come to acknowledge and let go of. Emotional eating helps cushion those wounds and encourages denial. Unfortunately,it is only a temporary fix and does more harm than good in the long run.
Burying your emotions with food does not make them go away. The reason you overeat doesn't go away and the weight doesn't go away either. Stop wasting time in denial and focus on finding a solution instead. Food is a temporary cushion between you and your emotions. It may numb unpleasant feelings, but it will never help you form new healthy eating habits.
Being aware of this unconscious cycle is the first meaningful step in losing weight. Acknowledging it and creating a plan to overcome the emotional obstacle is next.
As we grow up and the reason for overeating is no longer present, the habit is secure and sometimes hard to get rid of. This is why you have been unaware this link with emotional eating and food even exists.
A common example of emotional eating beginning in childhood may happen by being rewarded with food. Many emotional eaters remember hearing "Eat all your dinner and clean that plate or you don't get any dessert" kind of reasoning? You did as you were told or went without that piece of chocolate cake! Or how about "If you do a good job and clean your room, we will go get some ice cream." "I know that bruise really hurts! Here, have a cookie, it will make you feel better." A child's mind may naturally equate being good or feeling better with a sugary treat. Give some thought as to whether or not these examples may be one of your causes of weight gain. No wonder overeating and rewards become synonymous in a young mind. As we grow up and take control over the foods, we are totally unaware of the connection of these rewards to overeating as an adult.
If food and weight issues take center stage in your life and you've been unable to break free from the emotional eating cycle, spend some time thinking about you and your relationship to food as a child. Awareness is a wonderful resource for learning what behaviors trigger overeating. You just may discover a starting place of understanding why you are an emotional eater and why it is one of your causes of weight gain.
Emotional Eater back to Change Your Mind
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Some soul searching may be in order to get to the real reasons food is an emotional comfort. Sometimes professional help may be necessary to get to the heart of the problem. Maybe using food as a buffer began in childhood. Using food to replace what is missing as a child starts when very young. A child doesn't uderstand the the process of instant gratification.
