Has food become your best friend during times of stress? Rewarding your accomplishments with sweets and junk food? Can't stop your appetite when you're full?
Emotional nutrition is a figure's worst enemy and develops feelings of shame, guilt, and self-pity. How to stop seizing stress and distinguish between physical hunger and hunger based on nervousness, we will describe below.
Causes of nervous overeating
Constant stress raises levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, in the body. It provokes a person into sweets, which, in turn, helps to reduce the hormone for a certain time.
If stressful situations occur in your life, for example, due to work, then the risk of unhealthy appetite increases. Read how to relieve stress at home without going to the refrigerator here.
Food suppresses negative emotions. Experienced a feeling of fear, loneliness, sadness, or excitement, but did you feel better about eating chocolate? This is not for long, but such an "antidepressant" can become a habit.
Boredom and idleness often lead to unreasonable eating, filling the feeling of emptiness. Increased appetite in this case drowns out aimless pastime.
Childhood habits that parents instilled in us, rewarding candy or favorite food for good behavior, became the cause of uncontrollable appetite.
Differences between physical and nervous hunger
Learning to recognize hunger will help control your appetite.
Nervous hunger arises suddenly and requires immediate satisfaction, which the physical does not need.
Physical hunger is manifested by unpleasant sensations in the stomach, while nervous hunger is caused by smells, feelings and situations.
The lack of control in the use of food concerns nervous hunger, in the physical amount of food is regulated.
After physical hunger, thoughts of regret and shame do not arise because of the food eaten, but with a nervous one, such feelings appear.
Coping with Nervous Overeating
Self-control. Treat emotional eating as a bad habit that you need to get rid of. If you feel like sweets due to stress, eat a healthy fruit. Replace junk food with healthier food. Drink a glass of water 20 minutes before meals to reduce appetite.
If the psychological impulse cannot be stopped, buy time for a few minutes. Sit down and analyze what you really want at the moment and what feelings prevail in you. Think about the consequences, such as extra pounds.
Alternative. Replace the trip to the refrigerator with communication with other people or engage in dance training that will not only relieve your emotional hunger, but also get you in shape, more details - here.
When loneliness takes over you, then gossip with a friend, read a fascinating book or take a bath, but refuse to watch a movie, otherwise junk food will imperceptibly penetrate your stomach.
Sports and sleep. Take a walk daily: a walk in the fresh air will relieve stress, improve mood and develop a healthy appetite. Take time to exercise, exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Go to the pool or gym, so you learn to eat in a balanced way. Sleep at least 8 hours a day, lack of sleep replenishes energy reserves with food, which leads to excess weight.
Text: Diana Snetkova
