Real Hunger VS Emotional Hunger

This topic of understanding Emotional Hunger is easily the biggest culprit for any added weight gain, overeating and unhealthy eating. So let’s learn how we can understand this beast that creates havoc in our daily lives.

Fun Fact… Stressed spelled backwards equals Desserts.

First let’s break down the difference between the two.

Real Hunger -

• Builds gradually
• Strikes below the neck (e.g., growling stomach)
• Not compulsive
• Occurs several hours after a meal
• Goes away when full
• Leads to feeling of satisfaction after eating

Emotional Hunger -

• Develops suddenly
• Hits above the neck (e.g., a “taste” for ice cream)
• Results in an urgent need to eat
• Is unrelated to time since last meal
• Is specific, often for a particular food or brand
• Persists despite fullness

So if  our emotional hunger is created by joy, excitement, anxiety, stress, boredom, anger and so on…

… How did we learn to link food to satisfy our emotions.  Here are a few examples:

• As a child can you recall ever being given a treat to stop crying, or being promised an ice cream cone if you were good?
• Did your parents ever threaten to take away your dessert if you didn’t eat your meal?
• Did your Doctor ever give you a sucker after sticking you with a needle?

This is how we All were conditioned emotionally to food because it was a way of “feeling better”.

Now what can we do about it.

First, know that giving into a craving, in moderation, can be part of a healthy eating pattern as long as you don’t go overboard. Studies suggest that completely avoiding certain foods can make them irresistible and make you crave them even more.  So, go ahead but don’t go head first.

Second, recognize and modify certain behavior’s that Trigger us to Emotionally Eat.

If you find that sitting in front of the television is a major trigger for cravings, plan to do something when you are in that situation. Take up knitting, write letters, or pay your bills when you watch TV. If boredom is a trigger, make a list of alternate activities, such as talking to a friend, taking a walk or washing the car. When you get bored and want to eat, check out your list instead.

The third and last; here are a few simple things you can do to limit your Emotional Food Craving’s.

• Eat At Regular Intervals During The Day. If you skip meals (ex. breakfast) or go too long without eating, your blood sugar levels will fall too low, which is a perfect recipe for food cravings and overeating.
• Stay hydrated. Drink half your body weight in ounces.
• Reduce Your Intake of Drinks That Act As Stimulants – Switch to herbal teas or diluted pure fruit juices.
• Schedule Pizza Night – knowing that Pizza night is tomorrow gives you something to look forward too. Pizza’s fun right!

Here’s a few more…

• Don’t eat the same food everyday. Mix it up… Get some variety. It’s not like a relationship, food doesn’t care about loyalty.
• Eat good Fat everyday (olive oil, any type of nuts or seeds, fish, flax seed or oil…).
• Eat more Fruit and Veggies. If a dozen strawberries or fresh kiwi don’t cure a craving go to the hospital.
• Exercise (ex. – Elite Boot Camp Training) at least 3 times per week.

One more for safe measure…

Get focused on a goal that you want to achieve (fitting into your skinny jeans or climbing the stairs at work without losing your breath) and let that motivate you to take a pass on the comfort food that you’re craving.