It was a difficult day, maybe you had an argument with your lover, maybe your work was very busy, maybe you felt more nervous that day for no reason. You are stressed and angry, you are trying hard not to swallow the 'forbidden food'. You had planned a fish and vegetable dish for dinner, but your plan is about to change. You put down the vegetables you were planning to cook, and the chips start going down your throat. After eating a little, your willpower tries to take control and you say, 'I'll stop after eating just a few more', but you can't. After the chips are finished, the cake left over from last night starts to seem irresistible, and a few seconds later you find yourself sticking a fork into it too. When you finally manage to part with all that food, you're scattered with feelings of guilt and regret.
If the above scenario sounds familiar, you're not alone. Many of us turn to food to feel better from time to time. If you search the concept of "emotional eating" on Google, you will see titles such as "stopping emotional eating" and "overcoming emotional eating". This gives the message that emotional eating is a bad thing and should be prevented.
But Psychologist Dr. Pavel Somov thinks a little differently about this issue, as he explains in his book "Mindful Emotional Eating". In his book, Dr. explains that the act of eating can help us cope with problems if done correctly. According to Pavel Somov, the real problem with "emotional eating" is not the act of eating, but the fact that it is done "mindlessly." "Since emotional eating is inevitable, accepting that we eat to cope with our problems and eating with pleasure will reduce our feeling of guilt," he explains. Somov, because in the above scenario, we cannot enjoy what we eat and we feel intense regret afterwards.
Psychologist Dr. Pavel Somov's other suggestions are as follows:
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Make some time to relax before you start emotional eating: Focus on the present moment for a while instead of rushing to meals. You can feel the ground under your feet, the seat you are sitting on, inhale the smell of the food, see the appearances. You can check out.
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Determine 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 more and give our mind the opportunity to rest.
Dr. According to Somov, the relationship between feeling good and eating may date back to our infancy. For example, a mother breastfeeds her crying baby to calm him down. In addition, eating has a "relaxing" effect because when you eat, the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for "rest and digest" activities, is stimulated.
As a research shows, with a little attention and practice, mindful emotional eating, impulse eating, It can be one of the solutions to overeating.
Remember, if we intend to relax and cope with difficult emotions, we can at least be more compassionate with ourselves.
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