Sandra found her weight ballooning 60 pounds following her separation from her husband. While part of the weight gain was evidently tied to the drug she was taking, the rest appeared to be the effect of what can be described as emotional eating. In recent years, greater attention has been focused on the dilemma of emotional eating for both women and men. In actual fact, some experts have gone so far as to claim that most weight gain can be blamed on emotional eating. According to Women Today publication, it has been estimated that as much as 75 percent of overeating is attributed to the emotions.

For a number of people, overeating stems from worry. For example, if you find yourself consuming an entire bag of potato chips, it’s likely that worry is the grounds. While a lot of people comprehend that alcohol and illegal drugs are not an antidote to worry, they may not understand that indulging in comfort food in order to fight anxiety can be dangerous too.

In other cases, overeating may be the result of misery. If you feel tired, hopeless, and have lost interest in your normal activities, you may be suffering from a depressive episode. In order to deal with these uneasy feelings, people may turn to food in an effort to cheer up. The problem is that the food can lead to weight gain, which can lead to further misery.

At times, overeating may be a indication of monotony. An individual may figure that he or she has nothing better to do than overeat. This can be particularly true when one is watching TV or surfing the Internet. Rather than trying to determine a cause for the boredom, an individual may just try to “fix” it by indulging in high-fat, high-calorie food.

How do you recognize if you are an emotional eater? Ask yourself some basic questions: Do I tend to eat when I’m worried? Scared? Miserable? Do I find that eating lifts my state of mind? Am I spending more time eating than engaging in other activities I enjoy? Do my binges come after I’ve suffered distress? Am I turning to food in order to deal with the death of a loved one…a divorce…or the defeat of my favorite team? If the answers to any of these questions is “yes,” you might be overeating solely for emotional reasons.

Once you’ve recognized yourself as an emotional eater, you’ll need to take steps to correct your behavior. Perhaps the most effectual technique is leisure activity. In other words, if you find yourself reaching for the cookie jar, find another activity to engage in. The answer could be taking a walk, kickboxing, or dancing. Or it could be something not as much of physically demanding, for example needlepoint or crochet. The plan is to get your hands…and perhaps the rest of your body…moving. In time, you might find the urge to overeat subsides as you become involved with other activities.

An additional effectual step you can take is to identify the triggers for your emotional eating. Do you tend to binge in mid-morning, mid-afternoon, or right before bedtime? Are you snacking while watching TV, while at the computer, or when you’re sitting in your preferred chair? By asking yourself these questions, you can identify the time of day when you overeat, as well as the location for your binging. With this information, you can learn to re-direct your behavior to less calorific pursuits.

Still a different useful method is to develop a support network to help you combat overeating. The members of your support team could incorporate your spouse, children, parents, friends, or other over-eaters. You may even take into account joining a support group which specializes in helping those who engage in binge eating. If you feel the need to overeat, contact a member of your support team. Talking through your emotions could provide you with the emotional release you need, making overeating needless.

If your anxiety or depression persists, consider seeing a analyst. He or she can help you develop more effectual coping mechanisms. If you find it complex to talk to friends or family about your overeating, a analyst can provide you with the talk therapy you need to defeat your problem.

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