Any dieter doesn’t really know the difference between true hunger and emotional hunger. In fact expects, estimate that emotional eating causes 75 percent of weight problems. Disginishing true hunger from emotional hunger can mean the difference of successfully losing weight and keeping it off for good. It’s important to learn your eating patterns and start to learn about why you eat. Eating to Cope People develop an idea that if they want to eat, they should eat, says Judith Beck, Ph.D., Director of the Beck Institute of Cognitive Theory and Research and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “When people are upset, they eat instead of using better coping strategies, such as solving the problem that upsets them, talking to a friend or taking a walk. They find that eating distracts and soothes them but only temporarily. They need to learn what people without weight problems do when they’re distressed.” Hardwired to Enjoy Eating Eating does have a claiming effect on mood. Low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates everything in the body from impulses to mood to appetite, can cause feelings of irritability, aniexty, and depression. Serotonin levels can be temporarily increased if a person eats food high in sugar and other carbohydrates. The body under stress also releases large amounts of of the hormone cortisol. Studies in animals have shown that as the concentration of the cortisol increases in animals, they eat more sugar and fat. People aren’t much different. From as early as infancy we are hardwired to enjoy eating. (which is fine, but overeating is what leads to weight gain). Many people don’t realize how much they are over eating because they have no idea what the proper amount of food they really need is. Food is a distraction from feeling bad, it makes you feel calmer even for a little while - but then - shortly after you are done eating you will feel bad again. That’s why you need to learn how to identify why you are eating. Identifying True Hunger If you should eat only when you are hungry, how do you know when you are hungry? Try eating when it’s time to eat and not eating when it’s not. Start with a schedule to follow and get help getting a proper meal plan together. What dieters think will determine their overall weight loss success. “Good teachers know how to make lesson plans,” states Dr. Beck, “Dieters need to think through what they are going to have the next day. They need a plan.” This is where having a program and finding the right support group and assistance can really be of value. If you don’t have a plan you are much more likely to fail - or quit.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:36:46 +0000
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