Help for Emtional Eating

You turn up at home following a rough day at work and discover a frenzied scene. The baby's diaper has not been changed and your older two kids are fighting over a toy. Your dear husband is on the sofa with the clicker. Instead of putting down your effects and sitting down in a quiet room for a few moments, your first reaction is change the baby, resolve the kids' dispute, and then head to the cupboard for a bite. You are not hungry but your irritation causes you to reach for the sweets.

Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is a common response to daily pressures. When you feel frustrated and weary, it is easy to grab comfort foods to raise your spirits. Even though this behavior is damaging, we persist because it gives instant satisfaction, even if that satisfaction is short-lived. The trouble with emotional (or stress) eating is that you often grab sweet or fatty foods. Over time, this unhealthy eating practice will result in obesity, diabetes, hypertension or a heart attack.

What to do About It

Once you realize that you have been stress eating, you can look for ways to contain the problem. Most people believe that strength of will is the answer, but you cannot conquer the problem with resolve alone. We have weak moments and the resulting failure will make you feel guilty, beat yourself up, and then eat more junk food to cope with the consequential anxiety.

Journaling

Journaling is one way to deal with emotional eating. By writing down how you feel during a craving, you will find out what triggers your yen for unhealthy snacks. Writing down your feelings alone can relieve the anxiety and give you a minute to think about what you are doing. Sometimes, you will want to eat anyway, making journaling only a partial solution.

Counseling

There are counselors available to help you deal with stress eating. Through counseling, you will learn to slow down, think about what you are eating, and have a more positive attitude about your body, your life and yourself. There are several web resources for finding the right counselor for you:

http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/prof_search.php

https://www.find-a-therapist.com/

http://www.findcounseling.com/

Hypnotherapy

Another counseling that is effective at managing emotional eating is hypnotherapy. A hypnotherapist is a therapist specializing in mental healing through hypnotism. She will help you to reach a state where your body is thoroughly relaxed, but your mind is aware and awake. The method works to help people control bad habits like smoking or compulsive cleaning. It can also be used to help mothers control birthing pain.

What a Hypnotherapist Does

The hypnotherapist's role is to put you in a comfortable position, either lying down or sitting. She may ask you to use a focal point to keep your mind from wandering. She will also play soothing music while she guides you through mental exercises to help you relax. You will be fully awake and aware throughout the process and will retain full memory of the experience afterwards.

Over several meetings, you will quickly finding the relaxing state needed to help you learn to control your mind and emotions. The hypnotherapist will guide you to learning that you have choices on how you respond to stressors, instead of reacting in an unthinking fashion.

Hypnotherapy Benefits

Hypnotherapy for any condition will have a positive effect on your life. Because you learn to preserve control over your feelings, you will gain a better sense of self-esteem. Your new confidence will help you to make good decisions by controlling the stress that can influence the way you behave.

Take Control

Do not let stress rule your life and damage your health. Get help with your emotional eating before it causes irreversible damage.