Becoming Depressed
Some people have become depressed and they continue to put on more pounds, especially if they have
been involved in a diet program and haven't seen any results because they aren't doing it right.
Some research even suggests that a poor diet made up of mostly processed junk food can even
contribute to depression.
The good news is a proper diet can help with those depression symptoms. Proper diet and control foods
are quickly becoming a part of a successful diet and weight loss programs.
Emotional Eating
Many people are aware of how their emotions influence their eating patterns but they usually recognize
it in hind-sight. “Oh I ate that entire chocolate cake for dinner last night because I was lonely”, is
usually an afterthought and not something people process in the middle of their cake fueled gluttony.
Here are some tips to help you recognize if you are eating out of hunger or for emotional reasons.
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You have a craving for specific food such as sausage pizza, chocolate fudge brownies, or Baskin
Robbins vanilla ice-cream cake. When you have a craving for a specific food like this, it’s usually
a comfort food that you have associated with happy times. But this can create a bad
association that is harmful to your diet success.
Your hunger feels urgent and is paired with some upsetting emotion. The two events may not
be completely side-by-side. For instance you might get fired from your job in the morning but
you don’t run out and devour a dozen doughnuts right then and there. But rather it may be
that evening or the next day. Even if you start to feel better about your emotional state, the
trigger has still set you on the path for your emotional eating.
One of the big clues to let you know that you are an emotional eater is that you continue to eat
your craving food even after you are full. This is because this is not a physical hunger and
therefore requires more and more food with each binge before you feels better.
This may be one of the most difficult diet problems to overcome especially when you are conscious of
the behavior and totally aware that you are eating emotionally, but cannot stop yourself from doing it.
This may be the point where you have to seek professional help.