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My emotions sometimes get the best of me. When I'm blue or bored, I nibble. I try to nosh on carrots or raisins, but it's the sweet stuff that satisfies me the most. Like a Three Musketeers or a heaping scoop of ice cream.
I'm not alone. Everybody seeks solace in food but especially women because we've been taught to connect food with nurturing. Feeling lonely? That apple pie in the frig might just be calling you. Mad at your boss? Then chomp those M&M's.
We're also more likely to be on diets. We restrict our food and ignore our hunger pangs which makes us more vulnerable to overeating when our emotions nosedive. So how can we turn off that emotional hunger? Here's how.
Why emotions rule our hunger
When we eat emotionally, we're responding to external cues, not the grumbling of our tummies. "You're eating past satisfied in an attempt to pacify an emotional issue," says Karin Kratina, M.A., R.D., author of Moving Away From Diets (Helm Publishing, 1996) and a consultant with the Renfrew Center.
We reach for food because it provides immediate relief. "Eating takes no work and offers instant gratification," says Ellie Zografakis, R.D., co-owner of NutriFormance Personal Training and Sports Nutrition in St. Louis.
That relief is often provided by the serotonin and endorphins in the foods you eat. When you eat those carbohydrate-rich foods like cookies, snack cakes and pasta, you're actually increasing serotonin levels in your brain which help boost your mood. Down chocolate, cheeses and other foods and you're tripping endorphins which also lift your mood.
This can start a vicious cycle. "If you train yourself to eat whenever you feel bad," Zografakis says, "you'll continue reaching for food to soothe your mood." Food offers only a temporary fix, though. At some point, you'll have to face your depression, anger or whatever you're feeling to keep from overeating.
Physical hunger versus emotional hunger
Knowing when to eat seems simple. Eat when you're hungry; stop when you're satisfied. But that rule's easier said than followed. So how do you know when you're truly hungry or when your emotions are tugging at your tummy?
Physical hunger hurts slightly. You may have a stomach ache or a headache. You may even feel dazed or lightheaded. And of course, your stomach might grumble.
To determine when you're physically hungry, use the rating of perceived hunger scale which runs from zero, extreme hunger, to 10, extreme fullness. You want to stay between three and eight without hitting zero or 10. To do that, eat about every three hours, Zografakis says. If you're eating several times between then, your emotions may be grumbling.
Controlling those emotional food pangs
If you're concerned about your eating habits, keep a food diary. Don't just list what you ate and how much you ate. Also note what time you ate, what you were doing when you ate, and what you were feeling at that time, Zografakis says. Locate those times when you're most vulnerable to emotional hunger and find other ways to cope. Take a walk, listen to a CD, hit the gym, or call a friend.
Then address the emotional needs driving you to eat. Because it's often hard to identify these feelings, Kratina recommends identifying the place in your body that's asking for food. Certain emotions correlate to different body parts. "It's a window into yourself," she says.
When your lips crave food, you may be feeling sad and needing to be nurtured. Hunger around the mouth indicates a need to talk. If hunger strikes the jaw, you're probably frustrated or angry. If, however, hunger originates in your throat or chest, you may be feeling stifled.
Once you identify the body part, question yourself. If your hunger originates around your lips, ask what could be making you sad. Connect with your feelings to help you learn how to deal with them, Kratina says.
You might also talk with someone, a loved one or a professional therapist, about your struggles. Zografakis also recommends adding exercise to your daily routine to help lift your emotions.
Most importantly, when your emotions cause you to eat, don't beat yourself up. We all surrender to emotions now and then. As along as it's not a daily occurrence, enjoy those cravings.
Karen Asp is a noted health and fitness writer whose work appears in leading publications including Shape, Fitness, Cooking Light, McCalls and Woman's World.
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