If we ate only when we felt physiological hunger, when energy reserves are low and the body signals the brain that it needs more “fuel”, the problem of overweight would not exist. In this article, we are going to present how to overcome emotional hunger. It is an intuition to infants and young children that tells them what to eat and how much, but once we pass through the sieve of socialization, our relationship with food becomes much more complex.
How to overcome emotional hunger
The practice of conscious eating can help you detect emotional hunger and remedy it. It is basically about following these four guidelines:
1. Recognize how you feel
The first step to overcome the hunger that makes us eat compulsively without ever reaching satisfaction is to learn to recognize this type of hunger.
Observing the emotion that drives us to eat and being aware of how we feel is the next step in not diverting the emotion towards food. Most of the unbalanced relationships with food are caused by the fact that we are not aware of the hunger of the heart, to fill it we must learn how to nourish our hearts. Take a diary to write down what you eat when you feel lonely, sad, angry or nervous.
2. Observe yourself well before and after
Before chopping, what happens? Just when you feel the need to eat something outside the usual hours of food, notice how you felt before. And ask yourself if that snack or drink has changed your mood.
3. Comfort your heart hunger
When you feel hungry, try to discover what type it is. If it is emotional, choose that food that comforts you. But only a small portion, such as a piece of chocolate, a single truffle or a single-ball ice cream.
Sit and watch the food with love. While you chew each bite very slowly, imagine that you send it to your heart, putting in that image all your affection and affection.
4. Do not deny your emotions: give them an outlet
The best way to deal with your compulsions is to give a real outlet to the emotions that are experienced: if you are depressed, sad or lonely, you can first cry, vent, but then it is better to go out with friends, sign up for workshops to make new friendships or going to the movies or the theater. If you have anxiety, walking or playing sports helps you overcome it. If you are bored, look for a hobby and explore all its possibilities (playing an instrument, writing …).
It is, therefore, to seek activities that “feed you” as a person when you feel this type of hunger: do things that nurture your heart, talk to someone who you want, play with your children or your pet, work for a while in the garden or the garden, listen to your favorite music or make a small gift. It is important to always look for activities focused on satisfying the emotion, but not to deny it.
Characteristics of emotional hunger
Need to eat even if you do not feel physiological hunger: You need to introduce food into your body even if you do not experience the common hunger.
Eating impulsively: This type of emotional hunger is characterized because the origin of that need is unknown, but it can not be controlled. This causes the act of eating to be done impulsively and uncontrollably.
Feeling guilty: It is very common that, after this attack of hunger, people feel guilty because they still do not feel well or satisfied. This is because the origin of your problem has not been solved with food.
Eating to be better: There is a background in this behavior that pursues a feeling of improvement and well-being by eating. However, when not resolved, it is common for the person to feel sad and disappointed after bingeing.
