Emotional eating sometimes referred to as overeating or compulsive eating, is a condition that affected nearly 40 percent of Americans in 2018. Like drugs and alcohol, food can also become an addiction. Below, we explore where this compulsion comes from and what we can do about it, so keep reading.
1. Figure out what triggers your emotional eating.
The best way to put an end to emotional eating is by figuring out what triggers it. For instance, what emotions or situations make you want to reach for the comfort of food? In most cases, eating can be a way to numb painful or uncomfortable emotions—loneliness, abandonment, sadness, fear, anxiety, anger—arising from difficult situations.
Treatment for emotional eating helps you notice the triggers that cause the eating. With the help of a mental health professional, such as the team at the Therapy Group of Charlotte, North Carolina, you can find a safe place to discover what long-standing behavior patterns trigger your eating habits. Besides this, the mental health counselors at the Charlotte Therapy Center will also help you develop healthier ways to regulate your emotions so you can cope with life stressors or other challenging situations.
Through useful treatments, such as individual therapy, family therapy, CBT, and group therapy, their counselors will offer you counseling support to help you navigate any negative perceptions you may have toward food or your self-esteem, and offer compassion as you embark on your healing journey.
2. Consider going on a detox.
A slim detox tea is a tea with herbal ingredients that can assist with bloating and weight loss. The best detox teas work to improve your body’s metabolism, consequently increasing the body’s ability to burn fat and calories. Detox teas also have mild laxative effects, and because of this, they offer a great way to flush out toxins. To avoid any potential side effects, always consult your nutritionist before starting on a new supplement or slim tea.
3. Cultivate a healthy lifestyle.
If you don’t already, consider making rest a priority in your life. This is because when our bodies are well rested and cared for, we become more resilient in the face of daily struggle, and we’re better equipped to handle any difficult situation that comes our way. Now that you know this, what are some creative and fun ways that you can use to incorporate more rest into your life?
For starters, find ways to move your body. Working out or engaging in an intense form of physical activity can do wonders for your mood and even boost your energy levels. Starting an exercise program doesn’t have to be difficult. Think of the things you like to do. For instance, do you like bike riding? Pencil in a 20-minute bike ride each day and see how you feel after.
4. Learn how to eat for pleasure.
When we eat from a place of emotional hunger, the goal isn’t to savor or enjoy the different textures and flavors that abound in the meal before us. Instead, we’re eating to fill a void. Besides the obvious weight and digestive issues—nausea, abdominal discomfort, inflammation, weight gain—that result from eating too fast, your body’s natural hunger signals may also get dulled.
Mindful eating is a practice that asks us to be more grounded in the present and therefore more aware of what we’re eating. To practice, avoid any distractions while eating and really focus on the action of eating. Notice what your food smells like, and the different colors present on your plate.
By slowing down in this way and learning how to savor every bite, you’ll find you appreciate each mouthful much more. If you really pay attention, you’ll also notice that you can feel full on much less.