Emotional Eating: What’s Eating You?
Posted on November 21, 2007
Filed Under Diet |
What is Emotional Eating?
Are you having a hard time losing weight because you eat mindlessly? Do you have a pattern of eating when you’re bored, lonely, sad or angry? If yes, chances are you’re an emotional eater.
Emotional eating is a self-destructive pattern of eating without feeling hunger. Additionally, if left unchecked, it’s a vicious cycle that may eventually rob you of your self-esteem, health and happiness. In this scenario, food becomes a temporary pick-me-up that does far more harm than good.
I once had a co-worker who weighed more than 400 pounds. She tried every diet you could think of to lose weight. Every time you saw her, she was eating. Her desk drawers were always filled with the three C’s: Chocolates, chips, and crackers. After her numerous diet failures, she decided to get a weight loss surgery. Although it would be very painful and it required a long recovery, she was convinced it was her only solution. When she told me of her decision, I pleaded with her to see a psychologist before having it done. You see, I knew her painful background of being sexually abused. She ignored my advice. In the course of one year and a half, she indeed lose weight, about 150 pounds. She looked great, felt better, and was much happier. However, her success would be short-lived.
By treating (surgery) her symptoms , and not the cause (emotional distress), her eating disorder remained an issue. After having her stomach stapled, she couldn’t eat as much. But that didn’t stop her. She continued to eat and eat. At times, she’d eat so much that she’d feel nauseated. Over time, her over-eating caused her stomach to stretch. As a result, she gained some of the weight back. I’m not insinuating that every plus-size person is an emotional eater or that their situation is this severe. However, what I’m trying to stress here is that my former co-worker was an out of control emotional eater.
Unfortunately, no one is immune to challenges, struggles, stress, boredom, sadness, anger, loneliness, and the like. While we cannot control some aspects of our lives, we can and we should focus on what we can improve. Whether you want to lose or maintain a healthy weight, you must first learn how to eliminate emotional eating.
In my next post, I will explain the first step on how to lose weight by eliminating emotional eating.
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4 Responses to “Emotional Eating: What’s Eating You?”
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I don’t weigh 400 lbs but a lot of what you said is familiar sounding to me. Like eating when I’m not really hungry. I look forward to the next post.
You are a very insightful and smart lady. I am trying to incorporate your wise words for my own struggles with weight. I look forward to your next post.
Dear Shegoddess: I definately use food to hide other problems with daily life. My husband and I are both challenged with weight. It is destroying our marriage. We are always tired and short tempered towards eachother. It is obvious to both of us that losing weight would get us in the right direction. What do you think?
[…] previously stated in my last two posts, emotional eating is an eating disorder that if left unchecked has serious health consequences. To lose weight successfully, one must […]