Weight Loss - Emotional Eating
By Jay Bauder, Thu Dec 8th

Food is a source of nourishment and energy. Without food wewould not be able to perform our daily activities. Our muscleswould wither, our nervous system would fail. We all need food.

However, food also has another role in our lives - a role ofcomfort and entertainment. Culturally and instinctively weprepare and serve foods to comfort those who have experiencedloss, to celebrate joy or to show friendship and love.

WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?

Seeing food as more than just a source of energy and enjoying itsimply for the satisfaction it gives is not wrong. In factscience shows that food can promote good feelings by chemicalreactions caused in our brains. What IS a problem is when anindividual cannot experience pain, anxiety, joy or even boredomwithout turning to food as means of dealing with those feelings,or they are obsessed with food, weight and dieting.

Emotional eaters turn to food as a source of distraction fromdealing with feelings. However, eating these foods leads tofeelings of guilt which can only be soothed with more eating,restrictive dieting, excessive exercise or purging.

Emotional eaters tend to value themselves based on their weightand how closely they've stuck to their 'ideal' diet. Because ofthis distorted relationship with food, foods are labeled "GOOD"and "BAD". Emotional eating can lead to serious eating disordersand depression.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M AN EMOTIONAL EATER?

Do

you turn to food for reasons other than hunger? Are youobsessed with thoughts of food - whether you plan to eat it orare concentrating on restricting yourself from eating it?

Do you regularly try diets and fail - leading to guilt andfurther over eating? Do you think about or attempt to purgeexcess food by throwing up or using laxatives? Do you exercisecompulsively when you think you've eaten too much?

HOW DO I OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING?

Since emotional eating is caused by looking to food as a copingstrategy for emotional distress can actually create moreproblems. When the emotional eater fails to stick to a diet theysuffer feelings of guilt that can only be soothed with more foodand in turn, more guilt or punishment.

Instead of trying to focus on what they are eating, theemotional eater needs to learn new skills for coping withstressful emotions. Often this requires the help of a PersonalCoach or Psychotherapist who deals with emotional eating. It isonly by finding replacements for the comfort food provided thatthe individual can put food into its rightful place and learnhealthy eating habits that last a lifetime.

About the author:

Jay is the web owner ofhttp://www.weight-loss.biz/weight-loss-diet/ Weight LossDiet, a website that provides information and resources onnutrition, weight loss programs, and fitness. You can also visithis website at: http://www.diet-pill.info/healthy-diet/ for Healthy Diet