Do you eat when you're anxious? Does food makes you feel better? If you see yourself in any of these situations, you are an emotional overeater, a person who eats in response to his or her feelings; a person whose overeating has nothing do with hunger.

Date:   1/21/2010 6:24:34 AM ( 14 y ago)

Do you eat when you're anxious? Does food makes you feel better? If you see yourself in any of these situations, you are an emotional overeater, a person who eats in response to his or her feelings; a person whose overeating has nothing do with hunger.

When we experience overwhelming feelings, it's natural to turn to external things that help us deal with the issue. These coping mechanisms can be constructive, like working out or writing, or destructive, like getting drunk and narcotics. For some people, eating is the outlet they turn to when feeling negative emotions. Emotional eating is a way to suppress worrisome feelings for many people.

What is Emotional Overeating?

When life gets too stressful, boring or tense, food can be the emotional anesthetic that makes someone feel better. For many people, food is an emotionally addictive anesthetic. Hence, to balance those unpleasantly feelings, people start to binge on junk food because these common comfort foods discharge chemicals or hormones that improve your disposition, so they can be chemically as well as psychologically comforting.

Millions of people overeat in an attempt to numb unpleasant feelings with food. It protects them from tension and worries. As strange as it may seem, emotional overeating can be calming; it "works", at least in the short run. Comfort food can be soothing when a person is faced with emotional upheaval. It can remind them of happier or calmer times...

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URL:   http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=1558295

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