We’ve all been hungry before. That’s when you feel your stomach is empty and you need to put something in your mouth, the situations where you’re very hungry, after several hours without eating, identify themselves without problem, but do you know how to distinguish them?situations of moments of emotional hunger?
It is not advisable to be hungry or go more than four hours without eating, even a small snack, but you do not always eat because you are hungry or you feel a real need to eat, sometimes you eat to hide your emotions, stress, sadness, anxiety . . . you’re trying to bury them with unhealthy foods that, in the long run, will make you feel worse than before.
- In order to break this vicious cycle in which you eat without being hungry.
- But to feel better and possibly feel guilty.
- I encourage you to learn to distinguish emotional hunger from hunger that lack of energy produces in your body.
- Emotional hunger and dealing with it.
- Regaining control of life and eating habits are part of this process.
Said that? Let’s learn about some of the characteristics of emotional hunger.
Emotional hunger will never require a plate of vegetables or a salad; it usually requires low-nutrient, high-calorie foods, such as sweets or saturated high-fat foods, which are now called junk food.
When you start to realize you’re hungry, you know more or less how much food you’ll need to be full, when it comes to emotional hunger, you can start eating non-stop, until you feel extremely satisfied. It has a feeling of satiety inhibitor, making us feel full only after eating more than necessary.
A void that’s not exactly in the stomach. It appears in response to emotional discomfort and instead of investigating this discomfort, ends up burying it under all that food with which we were trying to get some relief. A relief that will be momentary and last as long as digestion is done; but it’s not endless. Once the digestion is complete, if we feel bad before, we will probably feel worse afterwards.
Practically no one seeks accompanied food, it is a kind of ritual that is done alone, often loneliness is the trigger. Although this can also occur at social events, such as weddings or anniversaries, to hide emotions.
You know you didn’t have to eat that bag of chips, it raises your cholesterol, it’s full of saturated fats, and after all, you weren’t hungry, but you couldn’t get rid of that need. guilt and the need for self-help after eating this type of food.
When you eat to satisfy your emotional hunger, you act without thinking too much, compulsively. You go to the supermarket in the trinket aisle and buy what you think will serve as “pleasure of the day”.
One day you had to go to work, but wasn’t it to have time to go to the gym or to study? However, he didn’t have the strength and ended up staying home. that anxiety will soon keep you company. That’s when you go to the fridge to find that sweet you like so much to use as an anxiolytic.
As soon as the candy runs out, you realize you’re feeling even worse: you’ve accumulated two flaws, not fulfilling the obligation, and allowing yourself that whim, plus you realize that while you were being ate, you weren’t feeling anxious, so go to the fridge and get another piece of that candy?And repeat the process over and over until you feel very, very satisfied.
All these characteristics correspond to emotional hunger. Now you have to understand them in your life to be able to identify this problem, it’s your turn, it’s time to fight emotional hunger, here are some ideas to contribute to this battle.
If you eat without hunger, you will no longer want to eat and soon you will be satisfied. The body will say that this is not what it wants, and then you will know that it was trying to cheat with the feeling of hunger.
When you know that what you’re feeling isn’t hunger, but a whim? think about what’s behind this feeling. Am I anxious about work?Don’t I stop for a second all day and when I get home I keep up?
Physical activity helps in two ways. First, it is a way to discharge negative emotions, with exercises there is a release of endorphins that is beneficial to your emotional state and that is positive to combat any anxiety, in addition, after practicing a sport your body will need energy. and you’ll also enjoy healthy foods.
This idea will prevent the decision on what to eat from having an impulsive response, after scoring when and how we will have a reference to the times when our body will need an energy recharge, so that it cannot deceive us so easily. In addition, we will have already chosen what we will eat at that time, so the decision is more likely to be smarter.
Despite emotional hunger, which often requires junk food, it is sometimes good to afford a treat, but without letting this practice become an everyday habit.
When we eat a meal in company we tend to eat slower, you will rarely focus on your problems or go to eat, you can also share the source of the pleasure, on the one hand it will be the company and on the other hand the food, this way you will not need to continue eating to maintain the feeling of well-being that it provides at this time.
Sometimes, when you have a bad day, you end up rewarding that fact with unhealthy food, chanting a ‘I deserve it’, getting used to getting up to date with a bad day with this type of food prevents us from doing it with much healthier tools. to perform the same function.
Whether with a friend, family member, partner or partner, or with a professional, it’s clear that attempts to hide and solve this problem alone haven’t worked.
Why do I buy? Do I really need this?
And don’t buy any more stuff than you put on the list, whims don’t usually appear on supermarket lists, they’re an impulsive act.
The best technique is certainly to be aware of the real needs of our body and to know if they correspond to a physical (hunger) or emotional need, to face difficult situations that produce emotional impacts, it is important to address them proactively. , being aware of the nature of the original problem and how it will deal with it. Replace hiding your emotions under food for a mentally and physically healthy life.