So how emotional are you over food? Some people regard food
just as a source of fuel. They skip meals because they
literally forget to eat and it will only be that gnawing
hunger in their stomach that drives them to food. Lucky
them, you might think. Actually, that's not that case.
People who are VERY food unaware can easily make poor food
choices because they are just not paying attention to what
they eat. They won't overeat, but nor will they choose good
quality nosh. They wait till they are hungry and could
almost choose food randomly.
I'm assuming, if you're reading this article, that
overeating might be something you do. It could be for the
sheer love of food (let's not knock it; eating is one of
the great pleasures in life). And we all do that
occasionally - we need our family celebrations and feast
days. But if you find that you eat so much that it affects
your weight and your health, then emotional eating is the
problem.
People who overeat because they've simply got into bad
habits can usually correct that fairly quickly and once
they start paying attention to their food they will shed
the pounds quite easily. They have got into the habit of
eating poor foods, but given new dietary suggestions they
can change their eating habits quite easily. For them,
their bad habits are simply a result of inattention and
once they focus on their food they can easily eat well.
Bur perhaps for you, food is more than just a source of
fuel and nutrients. Do you find yourself choosing a food
because you "deserve a treat"? And do you need that treat
every day? If you find this happening to you and if you
have difficulty dieting or maintaining your weight at the
end of a diet, you are an emotional eater.
You, too, wait till you are hungry before your eat. Trouble
is, this is not true physical hunger. You may well feel
hungry because you are getting physical signals from your
body and your brain interprets these signals as hunger. But
your need to eat may have little to do with calories or
nutrition. So, obviously, after eating when you get that
"full" signal from your tummy you may ignore it. Perhaps
you have ignored it for so long that you no longer get the
"full" signal. And then you can just keep on eating because
your emotional hunger can go on forever.
And what does this have to do with Snow White?
Well, do you eat when you are Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy,
Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey or needing a Doc(tor)?
It is so easy to use food to feed the emotions when what
you might need is a hug, a chat with a friend, a walk in
the sunshine, a refreshing cup of tea (the British cure for
a crisis), or some type of physical activity! Or perhaps
you need a rest, some sleep or a good laugh.
So... when you feel like overeating, what are you really
feeling? And how else can you deal with that emotion?
Take action...and decide what you can do instead of eating.
You can feed your emotions with so much more than food. And
when you do eat, you can really enjoy your food and not
feel guilty!
----------------------------------------------------
As a Nutrition Coach Liz Copeland shows people who find
healthy eating difficult how to change their beliefs and
behaviours around food so they can eat well, look good and
feel great. Receive her 5-lesson mini ecourse "Conquer
Emotional Eating Forever" and a complimentary subscription
to her newsletter No More Rabbit Food - weight loss tips
for people who love food at
http://www.ConquerEmotionalEatingForever.com
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