How to Stop Overeating, Overcoming Overeating

Five Tips to End Emotional Eating

THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

Emotional Eating is the number one reason that diets fail but the good news is that it's a learned behavior that can be stopped.

1. Become aware of the moments when you overeat.
Notice the difference between the times when you eat in a controlled way and the times when you overindulge. Is it when you're alone or in groups? At night or in the afternoon? When you're angry, tired, stressed or bored?

2. Pause.
Take a time-out when you're tempted to overeat and ask yourself the following questions: What am I really hungry for? Is food going to help me get what I really want? What else could I do besides eating?

3. Develop an inventory of other sources of comfort.
You eat to feel better because it works. You do feel better for a few moments after you eat, that is until the guilt settles in. Your mind offers it as an option because you haven't learned better, more effective forms of comfort. When you learn new ways, you won't need food.

4. Put the pieces of your life in order.
The more you know how to manage the details of your life (your past, your self-doubts, your finances, your relationships, your household, your family) the less you'll need the comfort of food.

5. Be happy now.
People are under the false pretense that when they lose weight they'll be happy but it actually happens in reverse. When you are content with who you are and how your life is going you're in a place to make mindful food choices and finally lose the weight you want to lose.

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Top 5 Things That Make You Fat - True or False

TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

1. Carbs make you fat

False: Carbohydrates are actually a necessary part of a balanced diet. However, carbs have become the new scape goat. The French are thin and you don't see them giving up their baguettes.

2. Thyroid problems make you fat

False: While thyroid problems do contribute to a lower metabolism there are many people who have hypothyroidism and maintain a healthy weight.

3. Fat makes you fat

False: Fat is actually your friend. Just like carbs it's important to have good fats in your diet�fats that provide Omega 3 and 6 like flax meal, salmon, olive oil and avocadoes.

4. Genes make you fat

False: While genes can give you a propensity to be overweight they don't make it an absolute inevitability that you'll be fat.

5. Feelings make you fat

True: There are over a dozen studies that were conducted over the past fifty years all over the world that say negative emotions are the number one factor in weight gain.

Some of these answers might make you feel defensive. Genes and hormones are really tricky. I know because all of the women in my family are overweight or obese and many of us (indcluding myself) have hypothryroidism. Those two factors have made it more difficult for me to lose weight and maintain an optimal weight but not impossible. The thing with genes and hormones is that they can make you feel powerless. If your genes or your thyroid dictate that you're more likely to be overweight you might feel defeated. The whole thing is just too hard, so why bother. Right? I know I used to feel that way. If you fall into one of those categories, please don't make the mistake of believing that you have no other choice. It's just not true.

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Weekends Can Be Rough for Emotional Eaters

FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

Weekends can trigger emotional eating for two reasons.

1. If you're a social person you may find yourself in situations where there is a lot of eating and don't know how to control your urges.
2. If you wish you had social engagements and don't, the weekend can be a time of loneliness and isolation.

No matter which category you find yourself in, it all goes back to remembering to pause before you eat and ask yourself if you're really hungry. If you're not hungry, what are you hungry for, and how can you take a step towards getting it?

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What Excuses Do You Make?

FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

There are a thousand excuses to hold onto your emotional eating patterns. The first step to breaking them is to admit you're making them. Below are some of the most common excuses people make to keep overeating.

Eating right now will not really impact my weight loss efforts.
I won't feel any better if I lose weight so there's no point to controlling what I eat.
Even if I lose weight I still won't avoid health problems so it's a waste of energy.
It's not worth 'depriving' myself like this today -- trying later will work better.
I can't really control my urges in the long run so I might as well give up now.
There's no point in trying to lose weight, since I give up on all my diets anyway.
I don't feel ready to make a big dieting effort.
In this moment, I just don't care anymore.

What excuses do you make? Identifying the excuses you make to justify overeating is an essential step towards successful weight loss. Awareness is essential when it comes to excuses. Only through insight and awareness can you stop them from being a problem.

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The Ten Habits of Every Successful Dieter

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

There are 10 habits that every successful dieter must practice. How many are you struggling to master?

1. Listening to Your Body
Listening to your body means that you carefully observe yourself when you are eating to determine when you are physically satisfied. If you practice listening to your body, you can greatly decrease the amount of food you eat. Many people overeat because they feel like they have to clean their plate or because they want to feel stuffed. But these people aren't listening to the signals from their body telling them that they are physically full.

2. Hunger Management
Many people overeat because they don't properly manage their hunger. Some let themselves get too hungry and their hunger forces them to eat too much when they finally see food again. Or, they eat unhealthy food to quickly satisfy their hunger. The best way to manage your hunger is to strategically plan meals ahead of time so you don't get too hungry. The other trick is to carry around healthy snacks so your hunger never gets out of control.

3. Bouncing Back
Let's face it - indulgence is inevitable. If you don't indulge yourself, at least occasionally, you'll eventually feel deprived. And the fact is, you can't feel deprived your whole life. Besides there's no reason to feel deprived. You can lose weight without depriving yourself! You just have to be flexible. If you eat too much one day, you have to compensate for it later by eating less or exercising more. Being flexible and bouncing back is the name of the game. Don't let one little indulgence prevent you from managing your weight for a lifetime.

4. Keeping My Weight In Mind
Keeping your weight in your mind when you're choosing what to eat and what to avoid is a big part of winning the weight loss battle. If your weight loss goal slips out of your mind at the sight of your favorite foods, you'll find yourself sabotaging your own weight loss efforts. It's important to stay focused. You need to understand that weight loss happens in the present. If you tell yourself, "This time it's ok," and go overboard on your favorite food, what will prevent you from telling yourself the same thing the next time, and the time after that? Keep your mind on your goal, but always remember that what you do right now will determine how quickly you reach your goal, or whether you reach it at all.

5. Avoiding Junk Food
I don't have to explain why this is one of the 10 Habits because eating too much junk food is a surefire way of keeping your ideal weight out of reach-that's why it's called junk food. But junk food has a powerful hold over some people that can be hard to break and that's why it deserves special attention.

6. Exercising Enough
Exercise is absolutely essential to weight loss. It doesn't matter how few calories or carbs you eat, if you don't use up that energy throughout the week. Getting out there and getting your heart rate up at least a few times a week is key.

7. Using Portion Control
Consciously controlling how much you eat is important. It means you are in charge of what you eat, rather than food being in charge of you. If you know something's fattening, eat a smaller portion. Eat half of something instead of the whole portion. Cutting back on the portion means cutting back on the pounds. Eating smaller portions will also make listening to your body much easier.

Binge Prevention
People complain of their inability to control binging almost more than any other essential weight loss habit. No matter what they do, people just can't seem to stop the urge to binge. Whether they binge when they're frustrated, unhappy, or faced with their favorite foods, almost everyone who struggles with weight loss is faced with this foe. Conquering the urge to binge is a necessary step in lifelong weight management.

9. Savoring My Food
Eating slowly and attentively enables you to prevent overeating. Not only does it help you listen to your body and enforce portion control, it makes you take note of what you're eating. If you're eating donuts, you'll recognize that and be able to stop yourself before you eat too many, that is, more than one. If you eat quickly or inattentively, you might not really realize that you're eating too much until it's too late.

10. Choosing A Balanced Diet
Choosing a well-balanced diet is key to weight loss. There is plenty of information out there for you. It's not the ability to find a balanced diet plan that's the problem - it's sticking to it. Try to find a well-balanced diet that fits your personal tastes.

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The Eight Signs of Emotional Eating

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

A lot of people ask me, "How do I know if I am overeating for emotional reasons?"

Luckily, figuring this out is one of the easiest things to do. There are very specific symptoms and signs that you can look for. If any of the following statements sound like they could apply to you, then it's likely you are struggling with emotional eating.

1. My hunger comes on suddenly.
Physical hunger comes on slowly. Hunger from emotional eating often comes on quickly and suddenly.

2. I crave specific foods - generally not carrot sticks or steamed broccoli.
Cravings for specific, usually unhealthy foods is a sign of emotional eating. Often people like the rush they get from satisfying their cravings. That rush is fulfilling emotional hunger.

3. My hunger feels urgent - I need a particular food right away and I'm willing to walk out of my way, or get in your car late at night, or raid my kid's Halloween candy to get it.
Physical hunger, unless you haven't eaten for a very long time, is usually pretty patient. It will wait for food. Emotional hunger demands to be satisfied immediately.

4. My hunger is often paired with an upsetting emotion - if I backtrack a few hours or a few days I'll usually find an upsetting event and feeling that triggered the urge.
Hunger that's connected to an upsetting emotion or situation is definitely emotional hunger. Physical hunger is not typically triggered by emotions.

5. My eating habits involve unconscious eating - all of a sudden I'm eating ice-cream and I find the whole container is gone.
When you're eating for physical reasons, you are usually mindful of what you're doing. If you catch yourself eating "just because," then it's likely you're eating for emotional reasons.

6. I don't stop eating in response to being full - I keep wanting more of the taste of the food.
Physical hunger doesn't need to be stuffed in order to be satisfied. Emotional hunger on the other hand often demands more and more food to feel satisfied.

7. My hunger isn't located in belly - I crave the taste of a certain food in my mouth or I can't stop thinking of a certain food.
Feeling hungry in this way is usually a sign of emotional hunger. Physical hunger is happy to get what it can, while emotional hunger usually focuses on specific tastes and textures.

8. After I satisfy my hunger, I am often filled with a sense of regret or guilt.
Feeding your body what it needs is not something to feel guilty about. If you feel guilty after you eat, it's likely because part of you knows you're not eating just to satisfy physical hunger.

If it sounds like you could make any of these statements, it's likely you are struggling with physical hunger.

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Loneliness and Overeating

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2007 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

"The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself."
Mark Twain

Many people have recently posted about their feelings of loneliness. Loneliness is a big issue in our society and it plays a big role in emotional eating.

Loneliness plays a big role in many types of eating but particularly night binging. My son is going to be seven next week. But I have been raising him alone since he was two months old. I used to notice that a couple of hours after dinner I would wander into the kitchen where I'd have a cookie, then I'd need something salty so I'd have a few chips or a piece of cheese, then sweet again so I'd finish a container of ice-cream. I wasn't even hungry in the first place.

So, what was happening?

For many people, and I was one of them, the night brings up a lot of anxiety and loneliness. At night I used to think about how much I missed raising my son with a partner. The house would be quiet without the noise of a toddler and my thoughts and fears would get too loud. The sound of chewing would distract me from the noise in my head. Only you can answer what you are lonely for; is it love, sex, friends, children, family?

We work in cubicles, we live in isolated apartments, and we parent our children alone. Human beings are social creatures. While we may benefit from solitude, most of us don't like to be alone. I wrote the Mark Twain quote on top because, for me, a lot of my loneliness went away as I became more comfortable with myself and my circumstances. I didn't want to be raising a child alone, but I was. I didn't always like that I was at home caring for a child while all my single friends still had their freedom, but it was a choice I made. The more I could accept reality and be comfortable with myself, the less I needed food. Now, my nights are different. I use the nights to read, watch Netflix, catch up with friends on the phone, and take care of the house.

We at Shrink Yourself understand that getting support on this journey is so important. We are currently working on creating message boards so that you can support each other. I will moderate the boards and answer any questions you have. In the meantime, please post your comments on the most current blog post.

As trite as this may sound, you are not alone, I am reading your comments and understand your struggle.

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HOSTED BY...

As a psychiatrist who has worked with thousands of overweight people over four decades, I can understand how much you suffer when you are overweight or think of yourself as fat. Not only do you suffer from the physical and medical consequences of extra weight, but I know that you also suffer from painful feelings, such as disappointment, hopelessness, and guilt.

This program will help you learn the mental skills you need to stop overeating. Because, most of the time, you are really not hungry for food but for something else.

As you uncover and demystify your hidden triggers to eat, you will diminish their power over you, until one day you wake and the cravings will be gone! The new thinner, healthier, happier YOU will emerge.

Find out if you're an emotional eater and what your triggers are. Take my Emotional Eating Diagnostic.

JOIN NOW!