Many people eat to improve their mood.
Food is a source of energy . We eat to walk, to work, to think. With emotional overeating, food becomes a pill for quick emotional release. It suppresses sadness, longing, loneliness and other painful feelings. psychologist Lydia Antonenko told a bad idea, and how to build a relationship with food.
Reasons for emotional overeating
Emotional overeating — it is an attempt to drown out uncomfortable emotions. Food increases the level of the pleasure hormone dopamine in the body, helps to distract and have fun.
For example, you have a fight with your husband. You are shaking with rage and anger. An involuntary thought arises in my head: «Should I eat a huge piece of cake?». The cake is sweet, smells of caramel and vanilla sugar. Eating it, you focus on the texture of the dessert, aroma, flavors. At this point, anger and anger fade into the background. The brain is distracted. But the magic doesn't last long. Cake eaten — emotions return with their former strength.
Emotional overeating consists of five stages:
1. irritation of the pain point;
2. an urgent need to relieve stress quickly;
3. selection and absorption of a large portion of delicious food;
4. emotional satisfaction after the meal;
5. sense of regret, guilt, remorse.
The fifth stage is necessarily accompanied by punishment: «Today I don’t have dinner/I don’t have lunch», «tomorrow I will have a grueling workout in the gym». The main emotion of anger after a quarrel with her husband is overlaid with the emotion of irritability, aggression towards oneself.
Why does a person eat problems?
Because he does not know how to manage your emotions and live them without the help of food. Sometimes we think of a piece of cake, a bag of chips, or a burger as part of the — after suffering comes reward. For example, as a child, your mother scolded you for a deuce or bad behavior, put you in a corner, and then offered to eat a piece of cake or ice cream: «Eat and calm down».
Or the second option: mom asked you to behave well so as not to disgrace her in front of the guests. You were a good boy, for which after the holiday you received a chocolate bar or two pieces of cake instead of one. In this case, you will reward yourself with food for the work done or the effort made: «I worked hard/was patient today, which means I deserve a box of donuts».
Emotional and physical hunger
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Physical hunger:
- slowly increases — within 3-5 hours;
- accompanied by a feeling of emptiness, rumbling in the stomach;
- reduces physical and mental strength due to lack of energy;
- can be tolerated;
- disappears after eating.
Emotional hunger:
- comes on suddenly and even after a main meal;
- accompanied by an immediate desire to eat something sweet or fatty;
- out of control;
- insatiable.
Emotional hunger cannot be controlled because the emotion that triggers it lasts longer than a piece of cake in your mouth. The more it hurts, the more a person eats to eat sadness, resentment, anger. Hence — overweight, increased risk of developing diabetes, problems with blood vessels and sleep, emotional swings.
We get rid of emotional hunger
The first rule — don't blame yourself for an extra piece of cake before bed or a fatty steak after dinner. Be kind to yourself, be kind to yourself. When you feel emotionally hungry, ask yourself: «What is happening now?». Name the emotion out loud, say how you feel.
Second Rule — keep a food diary. Write down in bookmarks what you ate during the day, and how you felt at the same time. This will help you understand what foods you sin most often, how often you snack.
Third rule — gradually limit the amount of comfort food. If you really want to, eat a piece of cake, but not all. Learn to tell yourself «stop» without restrictions and strict prohibitions.
The Fourth Rule — when you feel that you are covered, meditate, do yoga, go for a walk outside, breathe deeply for 2-3 minutes. Take your mind off the food.
The Fifth Rule — do not reward yourself with food for success or patience. Food — this is not a prize or a consolation prize.
Write your answer to the following three questions:
1. What do I experience when I get emotional? (peace, a surge of pleasure).
2. When do I overeat? (when I feel mediocre, worthless and useless to anyone).
3. How can I get the right emotions in a stressful moment without food? (through drawing, knitting, dancing, meditation, running, your choice).
Hang a poster in the kitchen that says: «Now I'm sad and hurt, I'm angry, but that's okay. I feel, which means — live. Food, even very tasty, will not help me survive and understand my emotions. And so I will draw/dance/walk. I have time and choice. I choose myself and time for myself».
Don't skip your main meals — Breakfast lunch and dinner. Eat hearty, varied, bright, delicious food. Do not snack more than twice a day (snack -100-150 kcal), catch yourself by the hand when it is already in the refrigerator. Listen to the reactions of your body, learn to distinguish emotions and live them, even if they «bad» and uncomfortable. And you will succeed.