Related Articles
How to win over his friends»Read More
Does flirting count as cheating?
»Read More
How to read his body language
»Read More
Maya Villiger on Vogue AU!
»Read More
How to deal with a possessive bf
»Read More
Love it, Win it!
 |
WIN gorgeous treats from Montagne Jeunesse!Enter Now |
|---|
 |
WIN Glee: the Music, the Graduation!Enter Now |
|---|
Are you an emotional eater?
People often eat, or don’t eat, for emotional reasons. Since girls tend to be more easily affected by their emotions than guys, it makes sense that lots of us get caught up in some pretty stressful patterns of emotional eating.
What is it?
Emotional eating can be a horrible thing to deal with - it can totally rob you of enjoying one of the best things in life: food! We get so used to thinking in terms of ‘will that make me fat or not?’, and binging when we can’t be bothered ‘being good’ anymore, we forget that healthy eating habits actually helps us function and feel better.
Obviously, there are many positive emotions that go with eating - the warm, happy feeling in your tummy after a delicious meal is one! - but if eating has turned into a bad time for you, you may be caught in a cycle of emotional eating.
What does it look like?
A sudden/urgent need to eat. Real hunger comes on slowly and can usually wait - emotional ‘hunger’ is often demanding and hurried.
Specific and unhealthy cravings. We all have our comfort foods, but eating them doesn’t always make us happy!
Eating ‘just because’. Whether it’s because of boredom, distraction, or something else, eating ‘just because’ is a bad habit to get into.
Feeling guilty. Satisfying your hunger is nothing to feel guilty or ashamed about - if you often feel bad about eating, ask yourself why.
Emotional eating can lead to some really destructive eating habits: binge eating, bulimia, anorexia, and every other variation of disordered eating.
What can I do?
If you think emotional eating may be a problem for you, it might pay to keep a bit of a diary over the next couple weeks to track your feelings about food and what triggers emotional eating for you. See if you can identify any patterns, e.g. you always feel guilty after eating / you eat when you feel nervous or upset / or you eat or don’t eat as a reaction to other people.
Here are some other things to think about:
Do you feel in control of your eating habits, or like they’re in control of you?
Are your eating decisions mostly based on how you feel emotionally, or how you feel physically (i.e. real hunger).
Do you avoid eating because it stresses you out?
Identifying emotional triggers can be a good starting point for turning bad eating habits around. It’s not just about overeating either - a lot of girls let emotion and stress over eating cause them to undereat too, which can be a dangerous habit.
TIP: next time you find yourself wanting to eat to fix an emotional issue, stop! Call a friend, take a short walk, or do something you’ve been meaning to do. Real hunger will stick around.
Try not to think about food in terms of quality (practically), not ‘fat’ and ‘skinny’ (emotionally) - you’ll find it’s easier to make healthy choices, without swinging between eating extremes.
Read about one girl’s struggle with anorexia here plus check out whether you’re at risk for an eating disorder and what dieting can do to you.
Worried about Eating Disorders? If you’re worried about a friend or about yourself, a great place to start is to talk about it. Our favourite place to start is a group called EDEN. Check them out here: 09 378 9039 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
|
Haha I’ve always known I’m an emotional eater, a have been starting to get my foot on top of it though. Posted by suniasunshine "on" 04/18 "at"12:59 PM |
 |
AARRGGGHH NOOOOO IM AN EMOTIONAL EATER!!! This sucks *munches out on a burger* :D Posted by WekaArt "on" 04/06 "at"06:36 PM |
|
|
Ever since I was really young, I’ve suffered from several different eating disorders. You think it’s not possible? Well, it is. It definitely warps your perception with things but I was told once that if you’re craving something, try eat everything that it’s made of. If it’s chocolate, eat cocoa by itself. It’ll probably disgust you enough to put you off eating it that time. Posted by ghost "on" 04/06 "at"04:31 PM |
Best of the rest
