How To Find Your Triggers to Emotional Eating

Most people are well acquainted with the knowledge that overeating is unhealthy and can make you vulnerable to various complications, but where do you go to learn what causes lead to these habits? This article will be looking at some of the factors that trigger emotional eating, and sharing some tips on how you can avoid these triggers.

Trigger Foods

Some foods trigger powerful cravings and memories that send a person into a state where they don't consider what they are putting in their body. Strong emotional, or cultural identification with specific foods can begin at an early age, so these habits can become very deeply embedded into an individual's identity. Marketing research companies spend billions of dollars learning how to connect the emotions of the consumer to their products, so thinking about the kinds of food you consider are very important. One extremely effective tool that you can use to help you find out what is happening with your eating habits, is to begin keeping a journal. 

Trigger Emotions

As you write what kind of foods you eat, it's also good to make a note of how you're feeling at the time of the craving. Strong emotions of any kind can affect how you chose to go about your eating habits during meal time, and it's important to note that they can be both positive and negative emotions. When a person is emotionally eating, it frees the mind of the burden of focusing on issues and allows for an escape. It can also provide a pleasurable experience that allows the eater a feeling of being rewarded. Studies have shown that food can light up the same areas of the brain that react in drug addiction, so that means that serious thought and planning must go into combating these habits. 

Trigger Environments

Last, and certainly not least is your environment. This can cover a wide variety of variables such as who you are spending time with, where you are located, and what kinds of events are taking place. Some people find public situations highly stressful, while some others may find alone time to be stressful. Overeating often takes place when the subject is alone, but every case is different. This is another reason why keeping a journal can be very helpful, because it enables and empowers you to take an honest look at your triggering factors. Recording this information can expose a pattern and help you overcome the difficult habit of emotional eating. 

Signs Of Emotional Overeating

Emotional overeating is one of the leading causes of failed diets and weight gain. This can lead to feelings of failure, hopelessness, and a general depression. Unhealthy eating habits often lead to negative physical effects as well, so this article will discuss some of the behaviors that might be signs of emotional overeating.

Food Cravings Appear Out of Nowhere

Physical hunger is most often experienced as gradually intensifying waves signifying that the body requires a form of sustenance. Sometimes it is possible that there is a deficiency of one or more nutrients, but one of the most telling signs of emotional overeating is the sudden, and urgent appearance of food cravings. During these urgent cravings, you are less likely to make healthy food choices, such as fast food, processed snack foods, prepackaged, or otherwise artificial food sources rather than eating healthier traditionally prepared meals.

Your Emotions Drive Your Eating Habits

Mood can affect the speed, and way we eat. Do you sometimes notice that a negative situation can send you running to your car to get a comfort food? In times of intense emotional upheaval, it can easily become a habit to turn to food for emotional management. That cookie or ice cream might feel good during consumption, but it isn’t truly fixing the heart of the issue. 
Many people are conditioned from a young age to associate food with some sort of reward or good times. That is part of the reason for certain restaurants to have places for children to play. 

You Eat While Stressed

Another big sign that that could show that you are emotionally overeating is that you are eating while stressed. Any changes in life large or small can cause a measure of stress. Deteriorating financial health is considered to be a leading cause of stress in many countries around the world, so it is possible that financial stress could lead to comfort food seeking activity. 
Relationships are also a major source of stress due to the tendency for relationships to experience inevitable changes in dynamics. This could be anything from romantic relationships to work relationships. People tend to expect routine, so when relationship changes occur, one or both people can be thrown into a state of uncertainty. 

You Keep Eating Past Being Full

One of the most serious of the signs of emotional overeating, is eating past being full. This is when the need to fill the emotional void exceeds the body's natural feeling of fullness. It can manifest itself in joyless eating, which is eating on autopilot. During this period you might consume empty calories so quickly that you don't even taste the food. You may also find yourself forcing the second half of a meal you could have saved for later, or buying additional snack foods that you will be tempted to eat prematurely. Part of the serious nature of this habit, is that it is a primary mechanism that makes weight gain and other health issues a possibility. 
 

Dangers Of Emotional Eating

There a number of unhealthy habits that can develop over time if eating activities aren't monitored closely. One very easy unhealthy habit to fall into is emotional eating. This can go unnoticed because it's not widely thought of as dangerous compared to life threatening habits such as illegal drug use, and many say they can simply exercise more later, but can eating habits really be a danger to you? We'll be exploring some of these that in the following article. 

You Tend to Eat Unhealthy Food

Emotional eating usually hits very suddenly out of nowhere and seeks out specific cravings to be filled. Often times these powerful cravings are for sugar and fat filled snacks because of the powerful rush that is experienced after consumption. Seeking out comfort food or food that is connected with positive or nostalgic feelings has been common practice for all of recorded history. Many snack foods (especially candy and baked goods) are associated with memories of fun times or loved ones. Some children develop early obesity when they learn this type of self soothing. The methods that are used to produce foods of these types typically contain high levels of salt, sugars, fats and preservative agents. 

It is an Unhealthy Way to Cope with Emotions

Emotional eating is often used as a way to avoid dealing with complex emotions. Not every trigger will be the same for each person, but these could include a range of emotions and feelings including anxiety, boredom, loneliness, disgust, sadness, and even joy. The emotional danger is the continued neglect of the real reasons behind these emotions. A feeling of shame or guilt might follow binges. This is especially true when the behavior is hidden from friends or family. If a person uses eating as a way to escape or distract them self emotionally, a vicious cycle can develop. For example, a person who seeks food to cope with stress will create a paradox where weight-related health issues arise, and the chosen coping method is food. 

There are Weight-Related Health Risks

Emotional overeating can cause devastating health problems. Beyond the difficulties surrounding obesity, these could include other health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, anxiety, malnutrition, digestive problems, menstrual problems, and depression. If you are overeating and appear to be experiencing any of these symptoms or health problems, emotional eating is likely to be a significant factor. Most frightening of all, some of these diseases have dangerous side effects that could interfere with medical responders efforts to carry out life saving procedures. Heart disease and diabetes can also weaken the organs and immune system, leaving you susceptible to infectious disease as well.
 
 

Emotional Eating

What is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating is the practice of managing one's emotions by eating food. Here are some things that can help you figure out how to identify emotional eating, its effects, and a handful of tips on what you can do.

What causes emotional eating?

Major changes in circumstances, relationships, work dynamics, daily stress, and general feelings of a loss of control can be major factors. For example, a recent break up could drive a person to emotional eating. A sudden change in the demeanor of a formally cordial coworker could leave you feeling alienated, or the daily ebb and flow of lives daily activities could put you in mood where food is thought of as a reward, a way to relieve stress, or way to avoid dealing with emotions surrounding a situation.  

How do you detect emotional eating?

There are a few differences between the type of hunger that comes from emotional needs, and that of physical needs. Physical hunger is gradual, and eating fulfills the need for nourishment. When you eat after having been physically hungry, you will most likely feel better or more energized. When the hunger is emotional hunger, eating may not give you the feeling of being filled, which can lead to overeating. At the end of the meal, you might feel tired, or depressed, but there are even more long term effects that can come from emotional eating. 

How can emotional eating affect you?

Along with the emotional effects already mentioned, there are a number of health risks associated with emotional eating. It is one of the leading causes of failed diets and weight gain. Weight gain puts a heavy strain on organs such as the heart, lungs, and liver, which can lead to high blood pressure and diabetes. Yet, not only internal organs are at risk. A person who has gained a substantial amount of weight faces an increased risk of joint injuries of all types. A slip or fall could result in a serious injury that requires surgery, and many months of healing, but what is even more frightening is the fact that a lot weight gain could make it more difficult, or even prevent emergency medical teams from being able to respond in an efficient or timely manner.  

What can you do?

One of the most commonly used methods of determining the source of hunger is the food test. Ask yourself if you want to eat this food, or if there is something else you can eat instead. You can also try habit replacement. Find something positive to do when you feel stressed out. Exercise, deep breathing, or any stress relieving hobby can go a long way to improving your control. 
 

At-Home Workouts That Include Bodyweight Moves

Just because you want to add body-weight exercises to your fitness routine, doesn't
mean you can't do your normal workout as well. There are actually many popular at-
home workouts that incorporate body-weight moves. Here are some of the top ones to
consider.

Yoga

The first type of workout that often incorporates body-weight moves is yoga. There are
different forms of yoga, so you probably want to go for the moderate or advanced
varieties to really do a lot of body-weight moves. For example, the downward dog is
done in yoga, which can be considered body-weight. It is similar to a plank, except
instead of being flat, your buttocks is up in the air. Many times, downward dogs go down
to a full plank, along with many other body-weight movements.

Pilates

Pilates is another good workout that doesn’t use weights or equipment, but can be done
at home and incorporate a lot of floor moves. This is similar to yoga, but really
incorporates more of the core movements. You will learn plenty of difficult body-weight
moves to strengthen your core, improve your flexibility, and work on those abdominal
muscles. Mixing it in with other body-weight moves is a great way to add more to your
workout routine.

High-Intensity Interval Training

Also known as HIIT, High-Intensity Interval Training is an excellent way to get started
with body-weight exercises. This is really going to increase your cardio, endurance, and
strength all at the same time. This will use more jumping and high intensity moves of
body-weight, like your jumping jacks, jumps, and burpees, along with many other moves. 
Another great thing about HIIT is that it is done in less time, so even the busiest person
can get a good workout.

Branded Workouts

There are also some well-known brand workouts you might have heard of that use a lot
of body-weight workouts. For example, if you are familiar with the Beachbody programs, 
you may have heard of PIYO. This is definitely one of the top workouts that uses only
body-weight movements, working out your entire body. It was created by Chalene
Johnson, and will do everything from multiple plank variations, to intense yoga and
Pilates-inspired strengthening moves. CrossFit is another type of workout that
incorporates body-weight along with the weight training, but this is usually done in a gym
and not suitable for home workouts.

At the end of the day, adding in any sort of body-weight moves is going to benefit you, 
whether you are working out at home or in the gym.