Does stress, anger or sadness make you want to eat? Or will you seek comfort from food when you are bored? Many people will. If you often eat emotionally instead of eating because you are hungry, it may be a problem for you.
Obeying the impulse to overeat will undoubtedly make you fat. Especially if you already have diabetes, obesity or hypertension, the problem will be more serious.
It’s not just a matter of food anymore. Often you don’t even realize that you are eating emotionally. One of the most obvious signs is that you stop when you feel very strong or your stomach is uncomfortable.
Another sign is that you find that you have gained weight, but you don’t know why. Don’t blame this on getting older or exercising less. Think about whether you have emotional behaviors that may affect your eating.
Feel inside and relax yourself
Once you realize that you may have emotional eating behavior, your first priority is to relax yourself.
Self-sympathy is the first step in learning how to make yourself comfortable. Too much pressure will make you more stressed and more likely to lead to emotional eating.
Next, before you eat, please pay attention to your thoughts and feelings. The more you know your inner feelings, the better you can get along with them.
Controlling emotions is the solution.
For emotional eating, solving emotional problems is more important than solving eating problems.
You can start with the simple first step. Make a list of what makes you stressed, and then make a plan to control these factors.
If you can change the situation, try to do it. But if the problem is beyond your control, all you can change is the way you look at the problem. If you are aware of your stress, you can choose the way you deal with it instead of repeating the previous way.
You can try to talk to a consultant so that you can better understand the current situation and find a better way to deal with it. A few conversations may help.
Press [stop key]
Adding a buffer period between what you want to eat and what you actually eat will help. This gives you time to sort out your feelings and why you want to eat.
When you feel like you want a sweet cookie because you are sad or bored, please tell yourself that you can wait. You can buy some buffer time by saying to yourself [I’ll eat it later]. Even if you finally eat it, delaying eating can also make you feel self-control.
Move
When you want to eat snacks for some emotional reasons, try using exercise instead.
Maybe walking for 10 minutes will help. Exercise is an excellent way to relieve stress. And you use it to overcome your desire to eat.
Face it squarely
Not all emotional eating is unhealthy. If you are celebrating with friends or feeling sad, it is natural and normal to occasionally. Only when this behavior occurs frequently and even leads to unhealthy consequences is the problem.
Responsible Editor: Wang Yucheng
Dr. Clove’s exclusive manuscript refuses any other form of reprinting.
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