Emotional eating is a dysfunctional form of using food
to cope with stress, and various difficult feelings, such as boredom, pain, anger,
and loneliness. If emotional eating is something you struggle with you might
not be surprised to hear that food is not a solution and can eating behind your
emotions can lead to serious medical and mental health problems such as
obesity, overweight and depression.
If you are overweight or obese, it is time to take a
hard and long look at your eating patterns and to see how food temporarily helps
you to avoid negative feelings and emotions, but does not really solve the root
of the problem. That ice cream may feel really good going down at the moment,
but likely after the binge is over, your distress remains and you probably feel
even worse than before because of post-binge guilt and shame.
If food truly relaxes you and you recognize that in
yourself, it stands to reason that there may be other, healthier ways of
dealing with stress through other relaxation techniques that will eventually
take the place of emotional eating.
Here are
some relaxation techniques you can use instead of emotional overeating that can
help you get on a path to better health:
·
Meditation.
The art of relaxing your body completely and focusing on your
breath and your mind can cause the same release of feel-good hormones in your
brain that occurs when you eat junk food, except it has absolutely zero
negative effects. There are many types of meditation methods and it may take
some time for you to learn the techniques that will help you the best. Learning
meditation and practising it daily can eliminate the impact of stressors in
your life so you can finally quit eating to overcome stress.
·
Visualization.
This is similar to meditation except that you use your mind to “see” yourself
making good food choices and being thinner as a result. If you are overweight
or obese because of your eating habits, you can use visualization to help you
establish a thin body image of yourself that is unencumbered by the constant
need to eat in order to feel relaxed.
·
Exercise.
When you exercise for relaxation, you are not simply trying to burn calories
but you are trying to find some source of happiness in simply being more active.
Exercise can be a simple part of your daily life; you don’t have to be a star
jogger or world-class athlete. Taking a simple walk around the block before
dinner can relax your body so that you are only eating for good health and
because you are hungry from exercise. Exercise releases positive endorphins in
the brain that makes us feel better, and is an all-natural stress reducer that
also has zero negative side effects.
·
Tai
chi.
Tai chi is an ancient form of Chinese martial arts
that has been found to be a great source of relaxation for many Westerners as
well. Tai chi involves going through a series of martial arts type of movements
done at a slow and fluid pace. The practice of Tai chi will not only relax you
but it will burn calories and give you a better posture and better balance. It
can be practiced by people of just about any fitness level.
·
Yoga.
There are many different types of yoga you can practice. Some are specifically
designed for relaxation and comfort so you feel less of an urge to eat for
comfort. Others are more strenuous, involving more complex poses that, when
combined with meditation and breathing, serve to relax you and improve your
level of well-being.
·
Qi
Gong.
This is another practice we Westerners have picked up
from ancient traditional Chinese medicine. It is similar to tai chi but is not
as taxing. You use qi gong to enhance the flow of vital qi energy through your
body to encourage balance of self, to feel better about yourself and live a
healthier life without overeating.
Any of these measures, when practiced daily, can help
you improve your quality of life and can replace the negative habit of
emotional eating and making poor food choices. Try them and you might be
surprised at how effective they can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment