What is Emotional Eating and "The Mood-Food Cycle"?

 

Do you find that when faced with a difficult problem, feeling stressed or even feeling bored often leads to eating too much — especially too much of high-calorie, sweet and fatty foods? 

Major life events or, more commonly, the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. These triggers might include:

 

• relationship issues

• work or social stressors

• fatigue, mental and/or physical

• financial pressures and worries

• health and fitness problems

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As well as seeking some  emotional support from food because of every day stresses, it may often be the case that if you have a low self-esteem or feel mildly depressed that you will look to food as providing you with some comfort. But of course, this comfort eating is short term and inevitably leaves you with feelings of guilt rather than pleasure, which in turn entraps you into this mood-food cycle.

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Emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts because sometimes the strongest food cravings hit when you're at your weakest point emotionally. You may turn to food for comfort — consciously or unconsciously.

Emotional or comfort eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe these negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness.

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  Why is this?

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Although some people eat less in the face of strong emotions, if you're in emotional distress you might turn to impulsive or binge eating, quickly consuming whatever's convenient without enjoyment, in the same way that others might feel the overriding urge to clean their house - they feel the need to relieve their distress or regain control by cleaning, you on the other hand turn to food.

In fact, your emotions can become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a treat whenever you're angry or stressed without thinking about what you're doing.

Food also serves as a distraction. If you're worried about an upcoming event or stewing over a conflict, for instance, you may focus on eating comfort food instead of dealing with the painful situation.

Whatever emotions drive you to overeat, the end result is often the same. The effect is temporary, the emotions return and you likely then bear the additional burden of guilt about setting back your weight-loss goal. This can also lead to an unhealthy cycle — your emotions trigger you to overeat, you beat yourself up for getting off your weight-loss track, you feel bad and you overeat again.

 

 

 

 

  How Can I Help?

 

The first step will be to discuss your relationship with food and understand when and why you are eating inappropriately. We will devise ways of highlighting how much and what you eat so that you can become more aware of your eating habits. Knowledge is powerful because it provides a clear understanding of the reasons behind your emotional eating, and what limiting beliefs are creating your eating habits. With this knowledge I can give you ways to reduce your stress, erase and replace limiting beliefs and habits, and teach you coping skills to manage the cravings and your emotions. By reducing your stress and controlling your emotions you can break the mood-food cycle.

I can also help you to build your self-esteem and self-confidence and to love the person you are, for who you are, and to love the skin you are in!

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