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Emotional Eating part 3 – Breaking the Cycle

In Emotional Eating parts one and two I discussed various reasons why we eat, not all of them relating to hunger. I also introduced the idea that we turn to certain foods for emotional reasons, often not being aware that our emotions are in control of what we are doing. In this blog I will talk about ways to break the emotional eating cycle.

As we live our day to day lives there are things that we deal with, things that impact our lives.  I will refer to these “things” as stimulus. Our reaction to stimulus I will call a “response”.  I am sure many of you have heard the  concept of stimulus/response  before. Often our response to stimuli happens so quickly, almost automatic, or so it feels. Yet, it does not have to be automatic.  Between the stimulus and the response  one can put in a “pause”. That pause holds our power and can help us to CHOOSE  a response that can be a healthier one.

Before you eat in response to an emotional stimulus you can pause and ask yourself;

Am I hungry?    Are you aware of the feelings of hunger?

What am I  feeling? Is it an emotion , what does it feel like.

What do I really need? This may be sleep, or a time to relax and get un-stressed

What else can I do? What are some alternatives in the moment. Read a book, take a walk, call a friend, listen to some music, take a deep breath, take a soothing bath.

Can I wait 5 minutes? Often the intensity of the emotion will subside if you ride it out.

How will I feel afterwards? Once you feel in control of how you deal with the emotional stimuli you will feel strong , empowered, focused and in control of the direction you go.

By creating a pause and asking yourself these questions you can choose to respond in a healthier way and begin to break the cycle of swallowing your emotions with food.

To your health,

Lucie

Lucie A. Knapp MSW,LCSW, behavioral therapist and certified life coach. Her website Commit2self.com provides ongoing education, support and motivation for weight loss and total health. Lucie has over 20 years working in weight loss starting as a personal trainer, and then working as a counselor in a major weight loss chain and finally as the Program coordinator of the Lifestyle Coaching Program at the oldest residential weight loss center in the world. 

You can email questions or comments to: Lucie@commit2self.com.

Emotional  Eating –Part 2

In Emotional Eating Part 1 I discussed various types of hunger and suggested various questions one could ask themselves to help determine the type of “hunger “ one may be reacting to.

I now want to explore the foods that are associated with emotional eating.  A Food Craving Inventory which was developed in  2002 by White, Whisenhunt, Williamson, Greenway and Netemeyer  identified four categories of foods associated with emotional eating. The FCI scale measured specific food cravings using  2 subscales : subjective cravings and consumption of  particular foods. The foods that were identified as being associated with emotional  eating were:

1. High fats
2.  Sweets
3. Carbohydrates
4. Fast Food

Isn’t it interesting that foods such as carrots or tomatoes were not foods that people turned to at emotional eating events.

So why do we turn to the foods that were included in the FCI scale? There may be several reasons worth exploring.

1.  First of all they work in the moment to ease emotions, but they only work for a short period of time. They provide a temporary escape

2. Research has shown that they do activate the brain’s reward center – they are reinforcing!

3. They associate us with our childhood memories which may include safety, love, comfort,etc.

In my work with many  clients over my many years in the field I have had clients tell me that they feel that food is an addiction.  Research has NOT identified an addictive quality of food as there is to certain drugs and alcohol. BUT, food can be a  REINFORCER  that produces a “reward”. This “reward” may reinforce a preference for foods that are most closely associated with specific feelings.

Our response to our emotions which may lead us to eat emotionally rather than for actual physical hunger may seem automatic at times.  Yet, there is room for making a different decision.

I will be exploring this in more depth in Emotional Eating part 3.

To your health,

Lucie

Lucie A. Knapp MSW,LCSW, behavioral therapist and certified life coach. Her website Commit2self.com provides ongoing education, support and motivation for weight loss and total health. Lucie has over 20 years working in weight loss starting as a personal trainer, and then working as a counselor in a major weight loss chain and finally as the Program coordinator of the Lifestyle Coaching Program at the oldest residential weight loss center in the world. 

You can email questions or comments to: Lucie@commit2self.com.

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EMOTIONAL  EATING- Part 1 – Identification

I am sure most of you have heard this phrase before.  What does this mean exactly?  How does one know that one is eating emotionally and  once that knowledge presents itself what does one do about it.

We eat for several different   reasons:

PHYSICAL  HUNGER – We feel  the hunger in our stomachs when we get hungry after 3-4 hours

HABITS – Each one of us has habits regarding food eating – eating in front of the TV , eating in the car when traveling, eating when we see  someone else eating, eating before going to bed to make us feel sleepy

“SEE FOOD DIET”  When we see a food we want it and eat it even if we are not physically hungry

EMOTIONAL  HUNGER – We eat to cope with emotions. If this becomes a habit and it happens all the time we will gain weight.

Would you know the difference?  It would help to ask yourself some questions so that you could determine if you are an emotional eater. Below are some questions to consider:

Do I  eat when I get home after a busy day at work?  I need a reward!

Do I experience sudden food cravings?

Do I tend to eat fast and not really taste what I am putting into my mouth?

Do I eat standing up?

Am I eating when I am not even hungry ?

Am I eating just to be social with others  because I want to feel like I am fitting in?

If you can answer yes to any of those questions then you are an emotional eater.

Emotions are part of our lives. Emotions can motivate us to take action about things we feel for. Yet for many emotions can be scary and push us to do things to avoid having the feeling. We may stuff our emotions down with food. Eating can numb us from the feeling for a short period of time. Food can help us to escape from our feelings.

It is very important to remember that “emotions” cannot harm us. The “harm” comes from how we deal with our emotions. Imagine a life without feeling – difficult to imagine right?   For example suppose you feel intense anger and you take it out on someone else such as punching them. Well you would probably get into trouble for your actions. It is not the emotion of anger that caused the harm. It is what you did with that feeling  , the emotion, that did the harm.

I will explore this in more depth in upcoming blogs . You can also contact me for a free consultation at lucie@Commit2self.com

To your health,

Lucie

Lucie A. Knapp MSW,LCSW, behavioral therapist and certified life coach. Her website Commit2self.com provides ongoing education, support and motivation for weight loss and total health. Lucie has over 20 years working in weight loss starting as a personal trainer, and then working as a counselor in a major weight loss chain and finally as the Program coordinator of the Lifestyle Coaching Program at the oldest residential weight loss center in the world. 

You can email questions or comments to: Lucie@commit2self.com.

REMEMBER –  leave your comments using the facebook comments on the bottom after the video – to your health, Lucie

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