DIABETES UPDATE; Emotional Eating/ Feeding your feelings

When you are happy, your choices for food could be steak or pizza, when you are sad it could be ice cream or candy and when you are bored it could be potato chips. Food does more that fill our stomachs. It also satisfies feelings and when you feed those feelings with comport food when you you are not even hunger and your stomach is not growling that is "Emotional Eating"

I was very guilty of being an emotional eater until I took the proper steps to get help and stop the cycle. It was not until I went to overeaters anonymous that I started to realize the seriousness of the problem. I attended meetings for about 1yr in 2002. My realization of what a support group could do was revealed. I than found a wonderful support group called
take off pounds sensibly and have belonged ever since. What a great group of woman I have blessed to have for support. They love me no matter what but are always their to cheer me on with my successes.
Below are some great ways to find out if you are an emotional eater and some great Ideas how to help you if are you. I hope they help you. If you are looking for a support group both overeaters anonymous and take off pounds sensibly are a great help and help you to find your inner strength to help you change your life style and eat right. You can click on the words to go directly to their web sites.

How to know if your are eating to feed a feeling:
1. comes on suddenly, Physical hunger occurs over time.

2. When you are eating to fill a void that is not related to an empty stomach, you crave a specific food such as pizza or ice cream, and only that food will meet your need. When you eat because you are actually hungry, you are open to many options.

3. Emotional hunger makes you feel like it needs to be satisfied right away with a food you crave; physical hunger will wait.

4. Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt; eating when you are physically hungry does not.

5. Even when you are full, if your eating to satisfy an emotional need, you will more likely keep eating. When you are eating because you are hungry, you are more likely to stop when you're full.

When emotional hunger rumbles, one of the distinguishing characteristics is that you are focused on a particulars food, which yes, you know it is more than likely a comfort food.

Comfort foods are foods people eat to obtain or maintain a feeling. "Comfort foods are often Wrongly associated a negative moods, and yes people will often consume then when they are down or depressed, but interestingly enough, comfort foods are also consumed by people to maintain a good mood.

Ice cream it the first on the list for comfort foods. After Ice cream, comfort food breaks
down by sex: for woman it's chocolate and cookies; for men it's pizza, stake and casseroles.

"We all eat for emotional reasons sometimes,"
It's when eating becomes the only or main strategy a person uses to manage emotions. Epically if a person is choosing unhealthy foods to satisfy their emotions.

If you eat and you are not hungry chances are you body does not need the calories. If this happens too often, the extra calories will get stored as fat and too much fat storage cause one to be overweight, which may present some health risks.

Instead of eating your feelings away you can call a friend, take a walk, or clean a room or something productive that will take your mind off the craving.

I know I was an emotional eater it took allot for me to finally admit it but I am so glad I did and was able to stop the bad behaviors and replace them with good ones. Now when I feel like I want to eat because I am stressed, sad, or board I feel those feelings and write them in a journal if I have to take a walk or call a friend I do but most of all I don't give into the craving I identify what is going on and I know how to stop the trap.

Grab a journal or something you can write in. Keep a food journal and write down what you eat. You can also write down the feeling you are having when you are eating. This way you will better understand why and for what reason you are eating. Do this for a minimum of 2 weeks and you will come to know if you are an emotional eater or not. If you are come to find solution's that work for you and you will find that you're eating habit's will change.
Good Luck!! :-)

If I just want to munch I pull out the veggies and feel no guilt for eating them.