Are you finding emotional or comfort eating an obstacle to your weight loss plan?

By Nil Pozcu - Clinical Hypnotherapist

Everyone knows diets can be difficult to stick to and that weight loss is very hard when you feel like you are depriving yourself. Instead of being a positive and exciting experience, losing weight becomes a struggle against yourself, especially when certain foods and patterns of eating have become a habit. Emotional or comfort eating, can be the one glitch in an otherwise healthy lifestyle.

Human beings have certain basic needs in life ranging from companionship, a sense of control, a sense of security, comfort, feeling stretched and stimulated to having purpose and meaning in life. Even more basic are the needs for water, sleep and relaxation and nutrition to provide energy for the body. We usually meet these basic needs in an unconscious instinctive way and don’t need to think about them on a conscious level. Sometimes, though, our signals get crossed and we mistake the signs of the more complex needs for the basic physical needs. For example someone who is feeling anxious or on edge needs rest and relaxation but may instead reach for sweet or carbohydrate filled snacks to try and satisfy the need.

One of the biggest obstacles to curbing emotional or comfort eating is that many people actually confuse emotional hunger with true physical hunger. So the first step is to learn to differentiate between the two, luckily it’s easy when you know what to look for. Physical hunger is usually a slow, deep, gradual feeling that builds up over time letting the body know it needs more fuel. Emotional hunger is usually quick, sharp and sudden, typified by cravings for specific, usually unhealthy, food. Emotional hunger feels urgent and demanding to the point that you might be willing to go out of your way to satisfy a particular craving whereas physical hunger is quite patient, unless you haven’t eaten in a very long time. If you don’t stop eating when you’re full because you want more of the taste of the food then that is also emotional hunger as opposed to physical hunger which doesn’t need to be stuffed to be satisfied. If your eating is followed by feelings of guilt it’s usually because part of you knows you’re not eating just to satisfy pure physical hunger.

The trigger for emotional eating may have started out as an emotion such as anxiety, sadness, loneliness, boredom or anger. In these instances you might have reached out for ‘comfort’ food, which could have provided a short relief from the situation, this action may then have been repeated in other similar situations enough times to form a pattern or habit. Once the pattern is set the unconscious mind can associate any number of triggers to the same situation. This means the triggers could include certain moods or times of the day or stressful situations or even the weather . For example if you got into the habit of eating ice cream on the sofa while watching TV because you were feeling sad or lonely then each time you sit on the sofa watching TV your unconscious mind can trigger the same emotional hunger response, regardless of your emotional state. Eating food to satiate a need other than hunger can feel effective for a short time as it is instant gratification but of course it only serves as a distraction. Not only does misguided eating leave the true need unattended to, it adds to the problem leaving unwanted extra fat cells to burn off. It’s like filling your car with fuel when it actually needs to have a tyre changed. What typical times or situations are there in your life where you’ve got into an unhealthy pattern of emotional eating?

The second important step is to try to rediscover what the actual need is that you’re trying to fill with food. So the next time you’re tempted to comfort eat, stop and think about what would really fulfill you in that moment. Would it be to do some exercise? Would it be having a chat to a friend? Would it be doing something fun and creative? Would it be to do something that stimulates your brain? What is your real need in the situation? Because if you are attempting to fill the wrong need then eating just won’t work.

If you have been comfort eating then of course you are trying to feel comforted by the food. We need comforting when we feel anxious. Regular deep relaxation is the real nourishment you need. The more you relax day to day the more you actually feel, and are, comforted because there’s nothing truly comforting about getting an expanding waistline or deteriorating health.

You can re-educate your unconscious mind to recognise the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger and to respond appropriately. You can develop mindful eating and stop craving fatty, high-sugar foods as well as develop a healthy eating habit that feels like second nature, of course, for lasting weight loss, this needs to be part of a healthy lifestyle. Once you have got your unconscious mind on your side, things are so much easier and this is where hypnosis can be really effective. For your free consultation and introduction to hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques contact Nil Pozcu at nil@boostyourhealthnow.com

Sydney-based Clinical Hypnotherapist Nil Pozcu is a regular contributor to the celebrated ‘Natural Health Booster’ fortnightly ezine with 1,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to optimise your health, wellbeing and fertility, get your FREE tips now at www.boostyourhealthnow.com or www.boostyourfertilitynow.com.

Nil has private consultations available, to make an appointment please phone us on 1300 85 84 90.

Keywords: Hypnotherapy > Weight Loss