Millions of people on earth dream of losing weight. Who just does not undertake to help them in this! Dietitians, trainers, authors of books and methods All these "specialists" know exactly what to do in order for us to lose weight and make money on it. Unfortunately, excess weight does not go away forever, and the struggle begins anew. So the task of making money is ultimately solved much more successfully than the task of gaining a slender figure.
Therefore, psychologists are increasingly advising, instead of exhausting yourself with diets and training, to look for an answer to the question: "Why am I eating?"
What we eat without realizing it
“People often eat not because they are hungry, but because they experience emotional states that they don’t want to feel and experience,” says Tatiana Moskvitina, psychologist, specialist in transpersonal psychotherapy. - And often it happens unconsciously. This is the so-called emotional overeating. That is, food is not intended to satisfy the needs of the body, it is superfluous for the body, and therefore is deposited in the folds. Let's figure out what is behind this or that meal and what to do with it.
One of the most common conditions that people seize is fatigue. In this case, by and large, a person does not care what is. After all, the most important thing is to stay in a state of rest and relaxation for a longer time. If at this moment close people or colleagues will tell you with their problems, then food is a convenient, socially acceptable way to "get rid of" them at least for a while.
And if you do not allow yourself to relax and work intensively, then fatigue and a desire to rest can be transformed into the absorption of simple carbohydrates: sweets, cookies, waffles. And sometimes chocolate and tonic drinks: strong tea or coffee, coca-cola, energy drinks. After all, all this has an exciting effect on the nervous system and helps not to feel a decline in vitality. And meanwhile, you only need rest!
Boredom and melancholy
Other most "seized" emotions are boredom and longing, and sometimes the loss of the meaning of life. When a person is not interested and sad, he needs variety, violent emotions, a vibrant life, new meanings that are worth living for. But he looks for this diversity not in going on adventures or planning his leisure time, and not in changing jobs or falling in love. No, he diversifies his life in a simpler and safer way - through new taste sensations.
Interestingly, two people in two different emotional states will choose different foods and their eating patterns will be different. And by the way a person eats and what foods he chooses, it is possible to determine with a sufficient degree of accuracy what kind of condition is behind this.
Resentment and anger
When a person seizes anger, he eats quickly and greedily, bites off in large chunks, almost does not chew food. Unconsciously chooses everything related to meat - sausage, sausages, small sausages - or gnaws on something tough, crunchy. The meaning of this is something like this: if I cannot bite someone I am angry with, then I will bite at least something that resembles flesh.
All emotional gradations of anger: disagreement, discontent, annoyance, irritation, anger, rabies, rage, disgust - are almost always accompanied by uncontrollable perversion of eating behavior. But the last three are more likely to deprive of appetite, while a person wants to drown out less vivid manifestations in himself with the help of active food.
As for the resentment, then, in fact, it is also anger, which is directed inward. And from resentment, people very often eat so that they feel bad. Sometimes even with the thought: "Let it be worse for me!" It is interesting that when offended, people give preference to "baby" products: sweets, fruits, ice cream, because this is a way to feel sorry for themselves, as in childhood.
Anxiety
- Anxiety is very strongly associated with the gastrointestinal tract, - says Tatyana Moskvitina. - With anxiety, the secretion of gastric juice increases. And the whole gastrointestinal tract comes to a state of tone. Therefore, with anxiety, it can very often suck in the stomach - sensations similar to hunger.
Just like anger, anxiety has many levels: excitement, anxiety, apprehension, fear, anxiety, fear, fear, horror, panic. And if the anxiety intensifies to horror, then at this time it is no longer time to eat. Food appears when anxiety is rather mild and often not realized by a person.
A person in a state of anxiety nibbles: running past food, puts it in his mouth and does not even notice it. Since food comes in small portions, it has time to be digested rather quickly, and it seems to a person that he is hungry again.
In anxiety, people often consume warm drinks such as tea. The fact is that when something warm enters the stomach, then under the influence of the heat, its muscles relax - and it seems that it is not so alarming. In all these cases, food acts as a sedative.
Guilt and shame
Guilt arises when a person harms someone by their actions or acts contrary to their own values. Shame is always associated with inner condemnation. If, when experiencing guilt, a person remains more or less integral inside, then shame splits the personality into two parts, one of which morally incinerates the other. Very often, these two feelings are adjacent to each other: a person commits some act that, in his opinion, he should not have done, and feels guilty for him. And then shame joins in, that is, a person begins to "attack" himself, condemn and destroy.
Shame has many shades: embarrassment, awkwardness, inconvenience, embarrassment, shame, embarrassment, shame. Both feelings - guilt and shame - are difficult feelings, they are not easy to experience. Therefore, seizing is a natural need to somehow reduce the intensity of experiences, to get distracted from them.
Loneliness and the need for love
The most important and deepest reason for any addiction, and food in the first place, is the feeling of loneliness.
People trying to drown out their loneliness prefer warm, soft and delicate products: buns, cakes and cakes with tender cream, marshmallows, sweets with soft filling And also dairy products: milk, kefir, yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese Or else they like food by associations from the past: for example, as a child, my grandmother baked cherry pie on Sundays - and the whole family gathered at the table, and there was a kind, friendly and very warm atmosphere at this table. And no, no, let me remember this cake and want it strongly, strongly.
In fact, all these preferences speak of the need for love, intimacy, care, tenderness and affection.
What to do?
Suppose we managed to find a connection between emotions and the way we choose. What to do next?
“If you understand that there is a connection between your emotional state and overeating, that’s very good,” says Sergei Leonov, psychologist, specialist in psychotherapy of eating disorders. - After all, many people struggling with weight do not realize the reasons for their overeating. Or they find false reasons: there is no willpower, not enough motivation, and so on."
But awareness alone is not enough - it is important to break this connection. And here there are two ways of action: the first is to try to do it yourself, the second is to seek help from a specialist.
As for the independent change of the situation, keeping a so-called diary of feelings can help here, where every time you are drawn to another "tasty treat", you will write down what emotion you are experiencing at the moment and what you really want (not about food, but about feelings). Let's say that you feel anxious, but you want peace of mind and a sense of security. In some other situation, it may be a feeling of fatigue and a need for rest. And so on. By writing down your feelings and true needs each time, you will gradually retrain yourself. Over time, you will learn not to reach out for the candy first thing, but to listen to your feelings and understand what you really want.
The second method is suitable for those who could not cope on their own. We can not always look at ourselves from the outside in an unbiased and objective way. So, to see the true reasons for overeating. This is where it can be useful to seek advice from a psychologist or psychotherapist.
In addition, it is important to remember that in some cases, overeating is one of the signs of a serious eating disorder (such as bulimia). And in this case it is simply impossible to cope on your own.
