Overcoming Compulsive Overeating
Many people eat too much because it gives them a feeling of being comforted. Maybe this is from when we were a baby and maybe whenever we screamed we were cuddled and fed so we associate food with comfort. Most people know about comfort foods!
Our lives are and always have been full of a mix of good and bad things. Probably some very good things and some very bad things.
If we dwell on the bad things too much, if they are things that cannot be changed then clearly we will want to be comforted. If that means overeating and the overeating makes us way overweight, then we just have one more bad problem with lots of potential health problems.
And just maybe we'll be so upset because we don't look good or feel good that we'll need comforting, and what will we turn to for that but more starchy fatty foods to make us feel better for a short while.
Your body is a finely tuned instrument that knows when it is hungry. When you are hungry eat some healthy food in a reasonable portion. It may take the stomach a bit of time to send a message to the brain that you are full, so eat slowly and thoughtfully. Enjoy what you do eat, and listen to your body. When it tells you you are full, then stop eating. Be busy with something else that you like doing so that you don't obsess about food.
But most of all, look at all the bad things that have happened to you all your life. Write them all down. Be your own good parent - sympathise with yourself for all the bad things. Then tell yourself that that was in the past. The past can't be changed, but there is no need for it to ruin the rest of your life. Look the at all bad things straight on. Tell yourself that they were not your fault and that you are not going to continue to suffer because of them. That this is the beginning of a new happier you.
For a while you will feel different - your stomach is used to being filled up more. But if you don't overeat all the time your stomach will get used to not being filled up so much.
Don't go hungry and starve yourself. That is not going to work in the long run. After a while you'll feel deprived because you are trying to deprive yourself and then you'll quit, and because your body thinks that there was a famine it will have created a pile more fat cells so that when you start binging again you get fatter than ever so that you can survive the next famine.
Our lives are and always have been full of a mix of good and bad things. Probably some very good things and some very bad things.
If we dwell on the bad things too much, if they are things that cannot be changed then clearly we will want to be comforted. If that means overeating and the overeating makes us way overweight, then we just have one more bad problem with lots of potential health problems.
And just maybe we'll be so upset because we don't look good or feel good that we'll need comforting, and what will we turn to for that but more starchy fatty foods to make us feel better for a short while.
Your body is a finely tuned instrument that knows when it is hungry. When you are hungry eat some healthy food in a reasonable portion. It may take the stomach a bit of time to send a message to the brain that you are full, so eat slowly and thoughtfully. Enjoy what you do eat, and listen to your body. When it tells you you are full, then stop eating. Be busy with something else that you like doing so that you don't obsess about food.
But most of all, look at all the bad things that have happened to you all your life. Write them all down. Be your own good parent - sympathise with yourself for all the bad things. Then tell yourself that that was in the past. The past can't be changed, but there is no need for it to ruin the rest of your life. Look the at all bad things straight on. Tell yourself that they were not your fault and that you are not going to continue to suffer because of them. That this is the beginning of a new happier you.
For a while you will feel different - your stomach is used to being filled up more. But if you don't overeat all the time your stomach will get used to not being filled up so much.
Don't go hungry and starve yourself. That is not going to work in the long run. After a while you'll feel deprived because you are trying to deprive yourself and then you'll quit, and because your body thinks that there was a famine it will have created a pile more fat cells so that when you start binging again you get fatter than ever so that you can survive the next famine.
