Do you emotionally eat?
What is it?
According to medicinenet "emotional eating is the practice of consuming large quantities of food - usually "comfort" or junk foods - in response to feelings instead of hunger. Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions."
There are many ways to deal with difficult emotions, some of the avenues of stress-release can be escessive sex, entertainment or drug use. Almost anything that is stimulative can be used as ways of distracting ourselves.
It's not a surprise that food is used quite often in this fashion. Since food is very stimulative to our senses and also affects us greatly physically and emotionally. Studies confirms that there is a very real connection between our emotions and gut.
When we choose to eat to out of negative emotions there is a tendency to overeat, but it's not a prerequisite as we can also snack or graze throughout the day - the simplest way of defining it, is just to consider if the urge to eat comes from truly being hungry, or from a state of emotional lack, unease or maybe physically stress or fatigue.
Do we all emotionally eat?
Well, it depends on how we look at it. Not everyone will agree that they do, and there are very different manifestations of how people act it out. Nevertheless, who hasn't found themselves open up the fridge in a moment of boredom? Who hasn't gotten almost uncontrollable cravings at certain moments in their life? What I've personally seen from people experimenting with their diets, is that they find themselves emotionally eat more often then before. There are propably several reasons for this, but what I would like to suggest is the possibility that by becoming more aware in terms of our dietary choices, it often lead us to realize and acknowledge more of our unhealthy relationships with food.
As many of you have experienced in different areas of life, it's usually not before we change our undesired habits, that we notice how much we were attached and influenced by them. It's clearer in hindsight, and for people that have been eating the same foods their whole lives - they propably haven't exposed and noticed their own unhealthy habits to different foods yet.
I'm not saying everyone does this, I do however propose the idea that many people do it unconsciously or consciously in different degrees and often in very subtle ways.
Why do we do it? What happens?
Physically speaking our body often receives stimulative substances as sugar, salt, spices and all sorts of matters that the body need to immediately focus on. Simultaneously the process of digestion are taken place and as a result of this, the body needs to move its focus and energy away from dealing with negative emotions and towards digesting the food. The heavier and more unhealthy foods, the more attention are being distracted away from our feelings.
Psychologically and emotionally speaking we can also observe that our focus gets captivated by the explosive taste, smells of the food that attract us away from our emotions. The food can also have various mental and emotional qualities for us individually, nostalgic or sentimental assosiations are not uncommon.
Have you ever been treated with comfort food as a child? Maybe at times you were sick or upset?
I've observed several parents when being confronted with their baby's cry, their first response is to give it food. In many cases, this is what the baby is asking for, but in other situations they're actually asking for other needs to be met. That can be all from human contact, attention, protection or simply love.
Since many parents first response is to feed the childrens emotional needs with a bottle of cow's milk - there's no surprise that many of us deal with our emotions the same way.
We've learned this from a very early age, many of us haven't been given the tools to deal with some of our emotions and has been conditioned to use food as a substitute for this. Even kids know this; they act out in the local supermarket because they know if they act out enough their parent will give them what they want. Instead of taking responsibility and relate with their experience, the easiet option is to just buy them what they want.
Food is co-linked to our emotions, embedded in our culture, upbringing and all aspects of our lives. Emotional associations are impossible to avoid, but what do we do if they are unhealthy and impact our lives in a negative way?
How can we deal with it?
One approach is to deal with the primary cause which is the feeling. What feeling are you having when craving certain types of comfort foods? Be with the feeling and meet its need in another way of giving in to the craving.
Basically, this approach is about dealing with the essential matter, as previously discussed we might haven't been properly educated by our parents or culture about dealing with our emotions, so this can be a wise place to start and maybe also consider different methods going about that, whether therapy, journaling or meditation to name a few.
Sometimes it's hard to resist and we do succumb to our cravings and then it is in our best interest to bring more awareness into our emotional eating. Become more observant and contemplative about why, how and when we do it. See for yourself if your eating in a trance-like way, maybe obsessively losing awareness of your surroundings? Can you be present while eating? Be aware of your feelings and reactions before, during and after your "comfort meal".
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou
Lastly, I'd like to leave you with the word; determination. Our desire to change has to be greater than our desire to stay the same, having the same patterns of reactive emotional eating is something that we need to be determined to change - if development is what we want. Having that said, always be kind and gentle with yourself. Experiment and have fun, don't take it seriously if you relapse and eat a whole box of chocolate ice-cream. If we meet ourselves with compassion it is easier to turn around the focus again to what we really want to achieve. Also, make sure to meet all your nutritional needs so you don't turn to different "comfort foods" because they have certain nutrients you're lacking. Most importantly - trust your own body and its emotions instead of the unhealthy cravings, and let it guide you to greater health!
I like your point about how it affects us physically. I think that's something a lot of people don't realise is happening as well as the emotional components.
Depending on what the comfort food is I think a good alternative approach that a lot of people try to go for is replacing the "unhealthy" junk with a much healthier alternative when they feel the emotional eating cravings. For e.g. instead of deep fried french fries they go for baked potato fries.
Hey @fruitarianism, nice to meet you. You've got a well-covered post here.
I would like to add my opinion that food is the most widespread addiction in the world, 100% of people are addicted, haha!
When you look at it from a chemical perspective, the dopamine mechanism is what makes us eat all the time. I look at mind-altering drugs as a hack that utilizes the same mechanism as food. That's why drug addicts get skinny fast, because they don't have a lack of dopamine which would normally make them eat.
Don't get me wrong, I was kind-of joking when saying that food itself is addiction. It kind-of is, but it's a neccessity too.
Oftentimes, the lack of calories is what makes us overeat or opt out for fast foods. Seriously, this can be consistently tested on almost all people. Don't eat anything for a day and go to a supermarket - what are you most likely to choose, a candybar or some potatoes and a piece of cabbage you're going to cook for hours and is going to give you less calories?
OFC, that wasn't a question for you since you're fruitarian, but it can be applied to almost anyone. Starving yourself clouds your mind and the brain looks for the most calorie dense food you have around you. Which is fast food, not fruit or other whole plant foods.
Cheers new friend, I invite you to check out my project eco+, a platform for vegans and environmentalists, fundamentals post is here.
Yes, Food is a necessity. I won't argue against that... About your example of the candybar, I guess it all comes down to our own way of acting and perceiving the hunger feeling. As I've come to learn about myself is that many times I feel very hungry, but it's not actually true hunger because if I wait it our it dissipates, This happens when I fast, and what I've come to realize is that just because we feel like eating, doesnt necesarily means that we're truly hungry... You might want to eat a candybar after a day of fasting, however that doesn't necesarily mean that you're body NEED it at that moment, because if you wait one more day of not eating you might find yourself not craving it anymore, it dissipates when fasting, like all addictions do - When you truly NEED food the signal of hunger will feel different, and grow to a higher degree the longer you wait, fasting shows us that usually the opposite happens, because the body is happy about having a break for all the digestion it's been doing its whole life.
@fruitarianism, I think all that happens when you fast is that your body gets used to the emptiness of the stomach and finds new ways to satisfy dopamine receptors. I feel bad about hacking the mechanism because it served us well for thousands of years, the only problem are the foods with too much calories and too little nutrients, like refined sugar, oils and fat.
Fasting is not proven to be safe (except for very short periods), so I'm careful when speaking about it publicly.
Plus, some people tend to find themselves in everything, so someone who doesn't really have a food addiction might think he has a problem and do dangerous measures about it.
Veganism, on the other hand, is proven to be safe (unless you're a fast food vegan or limit your calories too much) and our population has the lowest numbers of overweight people.
just as a counter to that, then why do ppl on high calories junk food diet constantly eat and want more and more? Sometime when ppl dont eat much at all (its not always starving, they are just used to eating less are able to function perfectly well?) im vegan and only eat natural products, when I get really hungry, I just want to eat whole grain, like spelt pasta, bread and lentils. people who reach for junk food already have a bad habit and are living unprepared. A vegan like me never goes on a long journey with out a bag full of nuts, sandwiches and dates. If there is a situation where i'm over extended without supplies, i'd rather go hungry than go to buy a mcvegan. Actually sometimes its good to train your body to push through the hunger state, like our primitive self would have done. People who reach for fast food, don't plan ahead and therefore aren't taking proper care of themselves. People who emotionally eat junk food are different, there reason is psychological and not about being starved of calories.
To answer your question, I think the reason is a simple lack of dietary fibre which fills up the stomach for longer time making you feel full. It's the same reason why some people feel weak when they first start a vegan diet - they feel full with less calories, therefore, become calorie deficient very soon.
@celestialcow, I think the reason you won't buy a mcvegan is the same as mine, your mind doesn't really recognize it as food. I'm sure true emotional eating is not the same as reaching for fast food when you're hungry, but I'm just very reluctant to draw a definite line between the two, since the cause of both is the lack of dopamine.
the reason i wouldn't buy is it because it's not vegan. https://steemit.com/anarchy/@celestialcow/why-mc-donald-s-vegan-burger-is-not-vegan-friendly
I have a banana a day, i think that is enough to keep serotonin up and sometimes cacao. If more ppl educated themselves on what natural food actually helps and heals you then, there would be alot happier and healthier ppl in the world. Most ppl need to cleanse there bodies whilst transitioning to vegan diet. I noticed alot of toxins leave my body when I started transitioning. Beans especially adzuki were good for making you fill full, providing iron and cleansing toxins from the gut.
To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:
Hi! I'm a bot, and this answer was posted automatically. Check this post out for more information.
Yes, I am a terrible emotional eater. When I'm stressed, for sure, but also when I am bored or just feeling down. I think it's the taste that distracts me from my issues, if only just for a few minutes. I am trying hard to resist the urge for comfort food, however, since I am trying to get healthier by making good food choices and exercising at a local gym.
I tend to eat out of boredom, especially while I work in front of the computer. I thin it''s because my job is boring in a way. I need to change that, definitely
I may eat emotionally before but not anymore this time. I need to control my eating habit because I already have high cholesterol and high bp.
Great post my friend. I think that we all indulge in emotionall eating at some point in our life. Without knowing it or being completely aware.
For me it's all about asking myself what I'm doing in the situation and what feelings I try to avoid.
Starting to be aware of how you feel and why is an important part of changing any behavour.
Loved your post :)