People have some basic needs to continue their lives; Some of these are shelter, sleep, rest and of course food. In addition to being a primary need, the need for food is also a way for people who are social beings to socialize. A huge part of your plans are about food. Beyond that, eating is a habit that accompanies people's emotions. You eat when you're happy, you eat when you're feeling enthusiastic, you eat when you're stressed, you eat when you're feeling down. When you put personal differences aside, you will see that food is the biggest common point of many people, and this common point can sometimes turn into a problem rather than a pleasure, a need, or a social activity. The way the problem arises is: emotional eating.
What is it?
Emotional eating is an eating disorder that develops in response to negative emotions. The most common situation in these behaviors is eating more than usual or choosing different types of food; such as preferring sweeter, saltier or fattier foods. According to research, it has been suggested that emotional eating occurs especially during periods when emotions such as intense anxiety, stress, depression, and anger are intensely experienced, and occurs when alone. Additionally, this situation has been associated with feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. So, in this case, eating becomes a tool rather than a goal. Negativities experienced in life greatly affect eating habits. The feeling of emptiness created by negative emotions makes it difficult to cope with loneliness. The person tries to fill this void by eating something. But unfortunately emotional hunger cannot be satisfied with food. Moreover, excess calories taken in can start to threaten your health after a point.
What is not?
First of all, you need to know what distinguishes emotional hunger from physical hunger. Emotional hunger occurs in certain situations, and unlike physical hunger, you suddenly feel like your stomach is starting to pile up. Without thinking, you start eating everything you find. Healthy foods do not seem to satisfy you and you turn to junk food. In emotional hunger, you should choose food that is healthier for your body and can be eaten sitting down and with a knife and fork. Instead of eating, you find and eat foods that will reach your stomach first and won't cause you any hassle while eating them, without even thinking about it.
In physical hunger, you think about what you will eat and prepare a meal accordingly. You are in control. However, with emotional hunger, you lose your sense of control over what you eat. You start labeling foods as “good foods” and “bad foods” and constantly count calories.
When you finish eating, you feel guilty, whereas when there is no problem, a person does not feel bad for eating. You constantly criticize yourself. We can say that this feeling of guilt is the most important thing that distinguishes emotional hunger from physical hunger.
Solutions
Emotional eating is a process that occurs through your emotions and you can get rid of it when you start to realize yourself. A situation. The first thing you need to do is accept that you have an emotional eating problem. Something is wrong, after realizing and accepting this thought, we need to understand in which situations you do this and what pushes you to eat. At this point, you should not forget to get help from a professional because it is not a process you have to be alone in, it is very normal to need support. Of course, the transition from emotional eating to healthy eating will not be easy, but it is possible.
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Discovering moments when emotional eating is triggered and developing ways to cope with these triggers.
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Reviewing your eating habits.
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Adopting the mindful eating method.
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Discovering the situation that causes emotional eating, that is, its origin, and using all these solutions strategically and correctly. to receive psychological support for its implementation.
Mindful Eating
As the name suggests, what you eat is It means being aware. To eat mindfully, you first need to read your hunger signal well. Your body's true hunger Knowing the time, that is, physical hunger, and distinguishing when you are full are two important starting points. With the help of these two points, you can determine when and how much you should eat.
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Create some time to relax before you start emotional eating: Instead of rushing to meals, focus on the present moment for a while. You can feel the ground under your feet, the seat you are sitting on, inhale the smell of the food, and examine their appearance.
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Set a routine with a specific beginning and end. Consumer emotional eating is “impulsive” and “mindless.” You may be eating standing at the kitchen counter. To make the “eating” experience more enjoyable, more controlled and more conscious, consciously prepare a beautiful place for yourself to eat, and if possible, visually beautify this place.
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To stay in the moment, follow the routine. change: In order to stay in the moment and prevent our mind from wandering to other things, we can change the chair we are sitting on and hold the glass in our other hand that we do not use.
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Carefully choosing the foods that will give us the most pleasure: The foods we choose will generally make us feel most comfortable. Not the ones that are available, but the foods that are readily available at home. With the increased attention we pay to emotional eating, we can turn to foods that will comfort us the most and give us the most pleasure.
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Avoiding foods that have a high potential for regret: The purpose of mindful eating is to increase our general state of well-being. Therefore, it would be appropriate not to choose foods that are likely to make our stomach ache and raise our blood sugar suddenly.
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Paying attention to quality rather than quantity: The comfort of food is not related to how much we eat, but how much we enjoy eating. For example, the satisfaction we get from a small piece of very delicious and high-quality chocolate is much greater than the satisfaction we get from a huge pack of poor quality candy.
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Focusing on the eating experience: Our mind is focused on something else rather than the activity we are doing at the moment. We tend to get busy with things, which makes us feel scattered. By focusing on eating while eating, we both enjoy it more and give our mind the opportunity to rest. he said food Smell before swallowing. Feel the taste of the food you put in your mouth. Chew slowly and swallow thoroughly.
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