This article will look at some of the underlying causes which govern food choices and give strategies to help make corrections. If you can identify which scenario fits you best, then that will help bring awareness to the steps you can take which will be more appropriate for your journey.
Stress Eaters
For Stress Eaters the total emotional, physical and mental drain is greater than the body can cope with. Chronic stress depletes the body of its vital resources at an accelerated rate. To recover those resources the body makes you eat whatever, whenever. These are the toughest eating habits to change because:
1) If stress is chronic, you may be numb to it and therefore unaware of it.
2) The underlying fears which keep stress high are often very deep and can only be diffused slowly.
A typical stress eater is always busy, burns the candle at both ends, works to much, may over worry, are not getting enough sleep or have chronic sleep issues, and depend on stimulants like sugar, caffeine and refined carbohydrates to keep them going. This leads to chronic illness, weight gain, inflammation and a whole host of other health issues. When the body is burnt out, it will not respond to traditional exercise and diet programs as it will just shut down under even small stress loads. If you are in this category the focus needs to be on nourishing and healing the body and using mindful techniques to learn how to cope with stress. Rest, recovery and leaning to slow down needs to become a lifestyle. Once the body replenishes its vital reserves then appetite becomes more manageable. Restoring vitality to a depleted body can take years so you will need to be patient. You will likely need a strong support team.
Emotional Eaters
Intense emotions can easily override reason. Emotional Eaters use food to cope with specific events that trigger intense emotional reactions. If emotional stress is chronically high or triggering events are never dealt with, then it becomes an engrained way of eating. Emotions require energy to integrate and if a person does not have enough vitality or the proper skills to cope with their emotions then the body makes you eat to have the energy required to process what you are feeling. Food is also pleasure, so if you are feeling lousy then food can provide a temporary mood boost. But it is only temporary. The key here is to know what situations trigger you. Developing some tools like movement, breathwork, mindfulness or having a coach to talk it out with are all invaluable in helping to process intense emotions. Trigger situations will lose their grip on you and you will be less likely to have your eating habits guided by your reactions. For some intense emotions can have the opposite effect and shutdown appetite. The strategy is the same. If intense emotions can be processed and integrated, then appetite will generally come back over time.
Pleasure Eaters
Of our five senses, we all have one or two which provide more pleasure for us then the others. For some this is taste. Pleasure eaters do not eat to avoid uncomfortable feelings. Food just brings such pleasure they want more of it. Learning to override the unconscious desire for more pleasure is the key to regulate your eating habits if this is you. A good way to do this is to learn to build body awareness. Meditation is great for this. The desire for pleasure often overrides our ability to see the consequences of our actions until its too late. When you really get in touch with how terrible your body feels after you have over done it, you will be able to resist the desire for pleasure because it will not be worth the consequences. Know when your body is telling you enough is enough and trust that.
Social Eaters
Some people eat fine by themselves, and totally lose it in social situations. Trigger situations include business dinners, social/family gatherings, going out with friends to the bar, someone brings treats in to work etc…..These situations tend to trigger people into losing discipline. The mind says “if everyone else is doing it then its okay…. right?” We are all influenced by the world around us. The group mind (and well-meaning grandmothers) have strong influence over the individuals choices causing a loss of discipline. If the group habits are not in your best interest, then the key in these situations is to learn to establish stronger boundaries. Sometimes this may even mean letting go of the group situations for a time until the inner strength necessary for proper boundaries are built. Remember you can still have fun without stuffing your face or drinking yourself silly.
Crazy Health Eaters – Some go so overboard with trying to eat healthy they become obsessive about it. As a result, rigid thinking structures evolve from fear of losing health or performance to such a degree that food choices can become quite restricted. Here a person will find any little excuse to not eat a food if it does not measure up to a crazy high standard which can become very difficult to maintain. This type of rigid thinking is not healthy as it will tend to carry over into all aspects of a person’s life. The underlying issue here is guilt. There is tremendous self judgement and mental self punishment if a Crazy Health Eater does not maintain a very high standard of eating. The mind always wants to control events to avoid consequences. Even if those consequences are not realistic. In falling prey to this you are not actually trusting your body. If you are in this category your mantras are 1) it’s okay to let yourself be human and 2) trust that what you are doing is enough.
Much love to all
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