Some people eat only when they are hungry and stop when they have had enough. These are the lucky ones, people who stay trim and thin without effort. For them food is simply a source of nourishment and energy.

Other people eat to satisfy inner emotional needs and they don’t stop eating when they have had enough. Are you one of these people? Do you eat even when you don’t need nourishment and energy? Do you eat to feel good, or to relieve emotional pain or discomfort? This often leads to serious weight problems, so read on.

Part of the problem is the role that food plays in your life – a role of comfort and entertainment. Culturally and instinctively we prepare and serve foods to comfort those who have experienced loss, to celebrate joy or to show friendship and love.

But the major part of this problem is the way you were raised; the things that happened to you when you were a child that concerned food. This includes the use of food or candy as a reward, the things that the grownups said about food, the withholding of food as a punishment, the lack of food in some families, and the eating habits of the adults who served as examples for you.

WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?

Emotional eating is when a person turns to food as a way to deal with feelings. These feelings can be pain, or anxiety, or boredom, or jealousy, or joy, or any other feeling. Emotional eating also involves obsession with food, weight and dieting.

Emotional eaters use food to avoid dealing with feelings, or to temporarily relieve unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately their eating often leads to guilt which can only be soothed by more eating, or by restrictive dieting, excessive exercise or purging.

Emotional eaters are often obsessive about their weight and how closely they stay with their diet plan. In this case they will panic when their weight goes just above their planned maximum. They will eat only certain foods, and often have an extremely restrictive diet. This type of emotional eating can lead to serious eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, which can be life threatening.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE AN EMOTIONAL EATER?

Do you eat when you are not hungry? Are you obsessed with food – do you think excessively about when you plan to eat, or find yourself concentrating on not eating?

Do you alternately diet and binge, and then fell guilty? This is a strong indication of emotional eating.

Do you purge excess food by throwing up or use laxatives? Do you exercise compulsively? These behaviors are bulimic and are very dangerous to your health.

If you are in the habit of eating to feel better, then you might want to find out the source of your emotional eating and do something about it. In a study of 3,500 people, women suffering from moderate depression or anxiety ate an average of 118 extra calories each day. That could cause a weight gain of 12 pounds over just 1 year.

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING?

Emotional eating is caused by using food as a way to handle emotional situations. Dieting is not recommended, as it can actually create more problems. When you are unable to stay on your diet you suffer guilt feelings that can only be soothed with more food and in turn, more guilt. What is needed is an approach that deals with your basic emotional issues.

Instead of trying to focus on what you are eating, you need to learn new skills to deal with stressful emotions. This can require the help of a Personal Coach or Psychotherapist. There are also many books on the subject, as well as audio programs, self hypnosis programs, and many types of instructional materials. Basically, you need to find replacements for the comfort that food now provides. You need to put food in its rightful place and learn healthy eating habits. There is a lot of help available.

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

Terry Brussel-Gibbons, PhD, is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist with over 30 years experience. She is Director of the Success Center in Encino, California and is a success coach, keynote speaker, and author. Download her free E-book “Weight Loss Secrets”, at www.trimandthin.com

To lose weight you have to change how you think! If you do not change how you think, you will not lose weight and maintain your weight loss.

In the Halifax Today Local News I read a very interesting article, “Women spend 31 yearson a Diet ” or an average of six months a year on a diet. One of ten British women were trying to lose weight and 21% consider themselves to be permanent dieters. This is the week than 75% of dieting women give up their dream of weight loss.

The average diet only lasts 5.48 weeks. Post Christmas diets only last three weeks.

Trying to lose weight by dieting is a form of “messing up”. Why? Dieting is doomed to fail as indicated in my blog, “Don’r Risk Your Unconscious Mind Deleting Your Weight Loss”.

The article in the Halifax Today Local News documented why dieting fails. 50% of “slimmers” gave up because of a lack of will power. 25% of the “slimmers” gave up, because dieting made them “depressed or moody”.

Dieting creates deprivation. What I wrote about in my blog, “Motivations that Create Deprivations” regarding permanently stopping smoking also applies to being permanently thin.

There is a myth about will power. Will power is not necessary for weight loss. Will power is only necessary, because people do not change their overweight thinking. People are overweight, because of their overweight thinking triggers behaviors consistent with being overweight. People need will power to fight against the mind’s overweight thinking. Overweight thinking will always win over will power. Replace overweight thinking with thin thinking, and the need for will power diminishes.

Depression and moodiness are the psychological results of deprivation thinking. No matter what you are deprived of such as a relationship, for example, the psychological results of deprivation are depression, moodiness, anger, anxiety and other disturbing emotions. Fulfilling thinking needs to replace deprivation thinking for permanent weight loss.

Deprivation thinking creates failure. Deprivation thinking actually increases the urge for over-eating. The unconscious and conscious mind are motivated to correct a state of deprivation.

Dr. Hyman discovered in reviewing research that genetically we will be motivated to gain and keep weight gains, when people are in deprivation or starvation conditions.

NeelimaP of Healthy B.P.M. composed a recent article, Avoiding the word “DIET”. She wrote, “When you limit yourself, you are inviting unhappiness”.

In the American Chronicle Elwin Sherman had an interesting title, “Live until you DIET—How to Lose Weight by Downsizing ther D-Word”. His first rule for weight loss is never to say the D-word. He wrote “The D-Word is a prescription for failure”.

If you want to lose and maintain weight loss, don’t even think the D-Word.

Remember, You Live within the Body and Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal
Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

Dr. Hal is a Clinical Psychologist with over 30 years of experience, helping people make new choices in their lives. His interest has been and mental fitness. His website is: North Star Mental Fitness Blog. He has created The North Star Mental Fitness Program and written an e-book, I Live within the Environment Created by My Choices. Dr. Hal coaches people to have the mental strength to actualize themselves and thereby solve the problems in their lives.

A couple of months back I saw this great television cooking show that challenged contestants to make a meal out of the gas station quick mart nearest to them. What ensued was pure creative cooking at its best.

The gas station diet is not the ideal diet for someone trying to eat right, and have energy year round. That said, it’s a nice compliment diet for someone that is visiting friends out of town, or is on a budget and only has access to a local quick mart. The best part of the gas station diet is that most everyone lives, or works near a quick mart, and thus it can generally be utilized by anyone who chooses to eat quick mart foods.

The best way to shop for gas station food is to buy things one meal at a time or two at most. The format of most quick marts is that of short term merchandise. There are not many bulk quantity items available for purchase; therefore it makes sense to shop for the now, rather then for the long term. Keep this attitude while shopping and it will help take away any anxiety of stocking up on goods that don’t seem to be available at the gas station.

The second key ingredient to the gas station diet is a microwave oven. Don’t worry if you don’t have one available, most gas stations offer their own microwaves for the people who don’t have one at home. You should be prepared to microwave about half of what you will buy from the gas station unless you want chips for dinner.

Once you’ve got the ground rules down start buying your foods. Grab some hotdogs from the hotdog warmer, and a few buns from underneath. Reach for a few hot pockets, and select your favorite kind of crackers.

If you are going to be staying for several days you might want to think about getting a small loaf of bread and a small jar of peanut butter. If you can find peanut butter with jelly mixed in, that is even better. Both of these items do not need refrigeration and can make a tasty and inexpensive lunch or dinner.

You may also need some snacks and again the choices are almost limitless. Grab some peanuts for a late night snack, and some chocolate bars for desert. Another good high protein snack is beef jerky or beef sticks. One more excellent snack is popcorn. You can frequently find bags of already popped corn or can pop it yourself in the microwave.

OK, then you will need something to drink. Well, your options here are almost unlimited in this category. You can get soft drinks (just about any kind is available), fruit juices (these may be a little more limited), milk, beer (just the popular domestic ones), and in some states where the law allows, you may even be able to get wine. Remember, this is a diet so you might be well advised to stick with some sort of diet drink especially if the rest of the food you have chosen is high in calories.

There are so many choices that this diet can be varied so that you can enjoy something different every day.

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

Della Franklin is a business owner, successful IT Systems Manager & Internet Marketer. She also counts 10 years experience as a teacher as well as being a Certified Network Engineer, cook, wife & mother. See more about her at www.foodielooksatfood.com & www.dogwoodsquare.com