Do you have food binges? Don’t know what to do to control these impulses? Discover how to deal with emotional eating and what to do to control binge eating.
The food binges They usually come when people are at their weakest emotionally. In this way, food is turned to as a way to find solace, consciously or unconsciously, as well as to address stress or even boredom. Controlling binge eating can seem difficult for those who suffer from it. So much so that only with effort, persistence and work can people know how to combat anxiety over eating. But how can we achieve it?
Emotional eating involves eating as a method to suppress or calm our negative emotions. Typically, people who experience food binges They often face triggers, all linked to anxiety issues, such as the following:
Conflicts in a relationship
Work and stress
Fatigue
Economic problems
Health problems
People experiencing some emotional distress may resort to impulsive eating and compulsive eating to try to calm these kinds of emotions. In fact, anxious eating can become an eating habit such that people who suffer from it directly reach for food every time they are angry, stressed or low in mood, without thinking about what they are doing.
Sometimes food can also serve as a distraction. In this way, people who are worried about an upcoming event or conflict can try reduce your anxiety or stress through comfort eating instead of dealing with the painful situation.
Regardless of the emotions that lead you to the binges, the final result is usually practically the same. The calming effect of these emotions is temporary, which also causes them to return with more emotional charge due to the guilt of consuming excess food.
When negative emotions begin to surface and trigger emotional eating, you can take steps to try to control these. Binge. To reduce anxiety about eating and satisfy emotional hunger, you can follow the following tips:
Keep a food diary: Taking into account what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat it, how you feel and how hungry you are can help you relieve binge eating. Over time of collecting this type of information, you may see patterns that reveal the connection between your mood and food. Therefore, by knowing what prompts you to have this type of relationship with food, you will have an easier time avoiding anxiety about eating.
Control your stress: It is very likely that your stress contributes to you having food binges. In this way, if you manage to control stress you will also know how to combat compulsive eating. There are many ways to deal with stressful times, from having better organization, such as engaging in activities such as yoga, meditation or deep breathing.
Check if you are physically hungry: Before consuming a food, you can perform a small test to verify if you are really experiencing physical or emotional hunger. First, review and become aware of how you feel on a bodily level. If your stomach is growling, you are probably physically hungry. On the other hand, if, on the other hand, you have only eaten a couple of hours and you don’t notice any bodily cues of hunger, you are probably starting to eat out of anxiety. Another way to find out and know how deal with binge eating It is simply drinking a glass of water. If the hunger does not continue after drinking, you are dealing with emotional eating.
Get support: You are more likely to be able to avoid binge eating if you have people by your side who help you in it. Therefore, it may be a good option to tell your closest circle and try to eat with these people in a healthier way. Without a doubt, support will be a good method to counteract compulsive eating and hunger at all hours.
Fight against boredom: Instead of turning to food to deal with boredom, try replacing it with healthier behavior. For example, you can go for a walk, watch a movie, play with the cat or dog, listen to music, read, or call and meet a friend. If you start eating out of boredom, you can end up making it a habit.
Take away the temptation : One of the ways of know how to stop compulsive eating It is precisely by trying not to buy those foods that you go to when you have these types of temptations.
Don’t restrict your meals: Many people at binge eating experience They often try to restrict their meals to try to ‘compensate’ for these excesses of food. This is very counterproductive, since limiting ourselves causes us to experience even more negative emotions and it will be more difficult for us to know how to control these compulsions. Instead of resorting to ‘magic’ formulas of pills to eliminate hunger and anxiety, try a healthier diet.
Learn from setbacks: If you have a anxiety eating or emotional eating episode Instead of blaming yourself for it, try to learn from these moments. Look at what made you unable to stop this impulse and make a plan to prevent it in the future.
Eat consciously : He emotional hunger It often involves rapid, almost mindless eating. In this way, the best way to know how to control binge eating is precisely by being more aware of what we eat and the experience itself. Instead of eating while watching television or chatting with others, try to be completely mindful when eating: enjoy every bite and savor it.
Reflect on your emotions: Learn to be aware of your emotional and mental state. This could help you have more information about those days when you may be more prone to emotional eating.
Do more happy and fun activities: Sometimes people don’t take time to enjoy life. In this way, if we only experience routine and daily stress, it is completely normal that we end up turning to food to deal with it. Have a space to enjoy life and relax from everything accumulated during the week, this will help you know how to calm anxiety about eating.
To deal with binge eating, consider therapy with a mental health professional. Going to a specialist will help you understand why you eat emotionally and learn different coping skills.
