Emma Jackson 
Binge eating and emotional eating – I am no different from all the other people who happen to be taken over by their emotional self. Depression nowadays is one of the leading causes of death. Let me ask you, what do you do whenever you feel down and alone?
When you feel like the world is on your shoulders but you know that you still have to move forward and forget everything, you tend to divert your depression to some other activities that can help get yourself back up. Meditating,travelling, yoga and eating are just some of our ways to improve our condition and ease our loneliness.
Our most favorite of all – eating, and without us knowing, may lead to binge eating and emotional eating.
In our intention to feel better, we usually crave for our so called “comfort foods”, sometimes, all at the same time. You’ll start by just munching on to some pizza, burger, fries, pasta, chips and many others, not realizing that you are unconsciously bursting your emotions out until it’s out of your control then it becomes part of your habits, and you eventually develop disorders throughout the process.
Binge-eating and emotional eating disorders are just two of those. On special occasions, you may feel the desire of wanting to eat more; you’ll love buffet restaurants, street food markets and the likes.
Even though you keep telling your mind that you want to stop and not eat at all, you just cannot resist the temptation and always ends up still binge eating. When you hear your friends saying, “You’re eating again???”, then it could mean that you already have this disorder. They look for you at cafes, restaurants, grocery store or even see you stuck in your room nibbling on those chocolates, popcorn with soda on your side while watching movies the whole day.
You want to eat even if you are full, or you just don’t feel that you’re full at all. You’re not hungry but why do you still want to eat? You reach to a point where you are asking yourself, why can’t you stop? You already feel embarrassed and you know that you have to stop but you just couldn’t. Now the question is: How to get rid of binge-eating?
Exercise, using diet pills and even diet itself might just make your situation worst. You will feel more embarrassed to the fact that you’re doing this to get rid of a special condition. It is a cause of a psychological issue that can lead to bigger problems if not addressed while it is still on the early stage.
It is better if you open up and talk about it with someone that you completely trust who can also assist and walk you through your personal treatment. If you are someone who has the tendency to keep problems to yourself to avoid people important to you worrying about what you’re going through, then you might be at risk of binge eating.
Do you want an idea on how you can stop binge feeding? Let me share with you a secret. If you know how to control your emotions well, then you are at your own advantage. So in order to prevent binge eating, emotional control is very important.
Once you learn how to control your emotions, you’ll be able to control your binge feeding too. This way, even if the world already broke up with you, you’ll still be okay. Think of all the positive things and convert your hurt and rage to more beautiful things that can help you recover. Do things and join activities that can change your negative perspectives into a positive.
You need to eat healthy, to stay healthy. Stay away from situations such as enticing food and desserts which you know might trigger your binge eating episodes. Another way is to take note of everything that you eat and set up a meal plan for yourself – of course, make sure to stick with it! In socializing or business meetings, choose a place where you don’t have to eat.
Do not meet up at restaurants, food halls or anywhere that might increase your temptation to eat more. You can go hiking, be closer to nature and go to the beach or be more into sports like volleyball, cycling and others. Another secret is to go green. When dining out, choose salad rather that the appetizers and desserts.
You need to learn to control what and how much you eat. Set an exact portion to give yourself the expectation that you are just going to eat this much. Choose meals that are low in calories and fats. It is better to take fruits and vegetables during snacks. They are healthier and will make you and your body in a better shape.
Keep fruits or oatmeal cookies in a re-sealable container and keep an exact amount so that when you feel the need to eat, you can take them instead of buying chips and other snacks elsewhere.
Make eating a professional task by having a mindset that eating should only be done at the dining table and not in front of the television, not while walking and not while studying. Don’t think that you are on a diet.
Keep in mind that, this is not going on a diet, but it is helping your own self recover. At the end, you’ll just be surprised noticing that you’ve become a better version of yourself. Thinking that you are going on a diet might trigger your emotional eating attacks and then you’ll be back to square one. Entertainment is one way to stop emotional eating – but stay away from food networks and reality shows about cooking.
I know it is hard not to be emotional and there are some situations when you will feel that you just can’t help it. However, the truth is – your emotions can eat up all the best in you. Stress and anxiety are big factors that contribute to your overall health, not just emotionally.
So fight them and show them that you are stronger than the negatives around you. Again, this is not just for your body; this is also for your overall health and personal development. Socialize and find a new hobby or another outlet to vent out your frustrations. Establish your own healthy lifestyle program about improved emotional health by eating healthy and staying healthy.
Who knows? Your very own program might just help others who are also experiencing the same. Like you, it might also change their lives for the better.
