Emotional Eating

Recognizing Your Emotional Eating Triggers

by Travis Sago on June 27, 2011

emotional overeating

When a person formed a pattern of reaching for junk food any time that stress levels and emotions are running high, it is referred to as emotional eating. When they make the decision to lose weight and attempt to change this type of behavior they must take the time to learn how to recognize the emotional eating triggers that are responsible for causing them to overeat.

Sitting down with a paper and pen in hand to write down each of the situations that cause a person to eat during stressful times when emotions are high is often rather easy for a lot of people. The hard part comes in when it is time to begin changing the old behaviors that they have formed. The men and women that are used to giving in to their emotional eating triggers and have done so for quite a few years will often find this particular challenge much more difficult than a person that has just started this bad habit.

Once you have taken a long hard look at the emotional eating triggers that have taken over your life, you can then begin to replace the habit of reaching for food with a much better and healthier action. If there are times you face that are completely overwhelming and you feel like you cannot resist the urge to eat, make sure that you reach for healthy snacks like carrot sticks, an orange, or other type of fruit or vegetable that contains a high level of the essential vitamins and minerals. The key is to stay completely away from the foods that are known for their power to pack on the extra weight.
There are many men and women that are able to get through times they are experiencing emotional eating triggers without reaching for food by grabbing one of their favorite books instead. Keeping the hands busy during these times is important. Activities like crocheting, playing cards, working word search or crossword puzzles have also been found to help a great deal.

Another important aspect of successfully learning how to ignore emotional eating triggers that have had their hold on you for years is to make certain you have a caring and helpful support system. Close friends and family members can provide lots of help during stressful times that you feel you are going to give in to the urges you are experiencing. Many people tend to also find that they can often suggest other helpful tools to win the battle against the emotional eating triggers that provoke the unhealthy habit of reaching for junk food.

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Stress Eating Can Add on the Pounds

by Travis Sago on June 21, 2011

stress eating

As quite a few men and women find out each year, stress eating is a problem that can quickly begin to add on the pounds. This in turn can begin a vicious cycle of numerous other emotional and physical health problems appearing. Everyone knows that being overweight is unhealthy. However, not as many people understand just how unhealthy it can be to cover up stress with this type of behavior, rather than using coping skills to deal with stressful situations.

A vast majority of the time, when a person battles the poor habit of stress eating, they tend to reach for food items that do not contain any type of nutritive value. Instead many men and women with this type of problem will frequently reach for junk foods that are high in salt and sugar content. This brings us to the first and most important step that a person should take when they find themselves grabbing unhealthy foods when times become stressful and overwhelming.

To effectively be able to break the bad habit of stress eating, it is vital for all types of junk foods and drinks to be removed from the home. Food items like this will also need to remain off the grocery list, and replaced with better choices that include fruits and vegetables that are high in vitamins and minerals. When sugary, salty, or oily foods are not obtainable during times when stressful situations arise and become overwhelming, the person can then replace these items with a healthy snack. Not only do snacks like celery or carrot sticks, grapes, and oranges taste great, but they also supply the body with essential vitamins and minerals that are good for you. These snacks decrease the likelihood that a person will run into problems with being overweight in the future.

Another great way that several people have found to be quite effective when they are attempting to begin a life that does not involve stress eating, is keeping numbers handy of those that will provide positive support. Many people are often surprised at how many of their friends and family have also experienced problems with stress eating when they begin building a contact list for support. It is often much easier to overcome problems like this when you have someone to talk to that has already walked in your shoes. They can also share effective approaches that they have found to help them beat the urges to eat when stress and emotions run high.

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Stop Emotional Eating and Regain Control of Your Food

June 19, 2011
stop overeating

Men and women that struggle with the urge to eat when strong feelings of emotion and stress overwhelm them into eating often feel completely out of control. This is an eating disorder that affects numerous people, and it can ultimately cause depression and numerous other health problems. When a person eats during times of stress, [...]

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Steps to Overcoming Emotional Eating

June 17, 2011
overcoming emotional eating

When some people have problems in being able to deal with stress they face in their life, they turn to other things for relief. In a lot of cases a person will begin eating excessive amounts of food to find relief and comfort from the stress they are experiencing. Unfortunately, this type of behavior will [...]

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Emotional Eating – Tips for Better Emotional Wellbeing

June 13, 2011
emotional eating

There can be quite a few triggers that can happen in a person’s life that can lead to overeating to deal with stressful situations. As a matter of fact there are numerous men and women that form a strong habit of overeating during times of stress. This of course generally results in even more problems [...]

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Emotional Eating Definition – When Food Becomes Harmful

June 11, 2011
emotional overeating

There are many people that take a lot of comfort in being able to eat while they are stressed out or have run into an excessively emotional circumstance or situation in their life. However, the fact of the matter is that this type of behavior can actually be harmful to a person’s overall health and [...]

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Emotional Eating – Stress Management Tactics That Can Help

June 9, 2011
emotional eating

For those who are having problems due to emotional eating, stress management tactics may be able to help. Often people have turned to food as a coping mechanism because they were never taught any other way to deal with stress in their lives. This is something that can quite often be traced back to childhood. [...]

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Do You Need Emotional Eating Help?

June 5, 2011
emoitional eating

Before someone can get emotional eating help, they must first recognize that emotional eating is a problem. Many people will “munch out” when they are bored or stressed. Others become unable to eat when very angry or upset. That is perfectly normal behavior. When it becomes a problem is when this type of emotional eating [...]

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