Permanent weight loss for Emotional Eaters

Can emotional eating cause weight gain and obesity? Yes, however…

Could it explain why you are losing the battle of the bulge? Well, to some degree.

However, emotional eating is only a part of the answer and looking at emotional eating in isolation can be very misleading. As Paul Harvey, a well known radio commentator so often said: "Now, for the rest of the story."

Blaming our struggles with weight on emotional eating is misleading because it has a ring of truth that encourages us to settle on it as the only explanation. The problem with this reaction is that we stop looking for answers. The very idea of 'emotional eating' allows for both a shallow or deeper interpretation. So often we stop at the shallow when we need to look deep within ourselves for the reasons we are really overweight. With those reasons, may well come the answers we need.

Throughout the years I have had the opportunity to discuss weight issues with many people. A lot of them confess to being emotional eaters but unfortunately don't take the idea any further. They simply think that the stress that has triggered the emotions will cause the weight to fall away. Rarely, does this actually happen. There are two main problems with this approach: Firstly, stress is a fact of life and there is no avoiding it completely. Secondly, even if you learn stress management techniques such as meditation, you will probably find the weight does not miraculously disappear.

Of course reducing stress will help. At least it will stop the extra eating so a program or at least some helpful hints on stress reduction are important.

• Get a good night’s sleep
• Avoid drinks with caffeine
• Avoid drinks with a lot of sugar
• Do some physical activity – work out play a sport
• Choose to be calm – “easy to say, you say” – It really is easier than many people think. For starters, just chose not to raise your voice. Unless it is an emergency situation there really are very few reasons to yell.
• Make time to take time for yourself. Many overweight people are care givers first and care receivers somewhere way down the list. Take the time to give a little emotional care to yourself and de-stress the day.
• If so inclined, learn to meditate, or calmly pray (two very different activities)
• Learn a stress reduction technique such as HeartMath (www.heartmath.com)

If you believe you are an emotional eater, you are no doubt correct. What I would ask you to do is go a step further and ask yourself why you are an emotional eater.

Most of us know at least one person who has the opposite problem. When some people are highly stressed, they lose weight because they lose their appetite and stop eating. Our emotions can affect us in different ways and it is certainly true that many people do overeat when they feel pressured and stressed while others do the exact opposite. Still others do not have their eating patterns affected by stress at all.

In other words, emotional eating is not the only possible response to stress so there must be a reason why some people respond in this way and not others. This is an important point. Emotional eaters need to to discover why they respond as they do to stress.

The stress itself is not the main issue. It is the response to stress that is significant.

Why are you responding to emotional triggers or stress by turning to food?

We really need to seek the underlying reason we eat emotionally. That inner drive to eat rather than to refrain from eating when we are experiencing emotional stress is the real cause of our weight difficulties, not the stress itself. Nevertheless, even though emotional eating isn't really the cause of our struggles with weight, it can point us in the right direction to discover the true culprit.

In seeking the truth about our weight issues we need to be very honest with ourselves. We need to ask the question: "Do I only overeat when I am upset or stressed?" If you answer honestly, you will probably find that you overeat at other times too. Many people who are overweight are inclined to snack even when they aren't hungry or continue eating even when they are full. They may do this even when they are not particularly stressed, however this pattern may well be amplified under stress. In other words, stress is not itself the underlying cause of so called emotional eating.

Rather, the real culprit is that ever present, internal pressure to eat. This drive has us going to the cupboard or fridge looking for something to graze on when we are not even hungry. Neither are we likely to be satisfied if we succumb. It drives us to eat a snack straight after lunch or to end up eating the equivalent of two dinners because we feel the need to keep on eating. This powerful urge to eat even when we want to resist, is like a monster that takes over. It is never silent; it does not give up and it is strongest when we are emotional.

This powerful drive to eat, even when you are not hungry, is the Food Monster you must conquer. It is the real cause of your battle with weight; the reason behind your inability to keep the weight off after a diet. Yet, you are not at fault! You are not to blame for being the victim of this monster, nor are you to blame because you have been unable to vanquish it. The reason you have not been able to defeat this villain is because it hides within your subconscious mind where it is extremely powerful and effective because you only experience it as a feeling of anxiety that must someohow be satisfied but is really never quite understood. However, your Food Monster can be tamed. You can discover how this Food Monster operates and how you can tame it by reading "Taming Your Food Monster." Do this and take your first real step towards getting back to your ideal weight.

Look for my other articles about how your Food Monster compulsion is really behind your weight gain and why it is so hard to lose it once you have it.