There are three reasons why we overeat: Over Hunger, Over Desire and Overeating to deal with our emotions.
I have experienced every one of these.
Over Desire comes from having too much focus on food. We have been conditioned since childhood to desire certain foods. You know how just the smell of those cookies makes you want to taste them? For me, it was chocolate chip cookies.
Our brains learned that when we ate a food that gave us pleasure, dopamine was released. The stronger the dopamine hit, the stronger the response from the brain. Our desire for the food increases and that creates over desire, like with a drug. Over the years, we switched from whole foods to more and more processed food. More sugar and flour products. More desire.
Solution: Downregulate the dopamine response by eating fuel foods and eliminate sugar and flour. By flour I mean foods that are made from flour. These foods cause a strong blood sugar and insulin response. The brain will start to desire these foods less and less. Also, making decisions ahead of time about what you are going to eat uses your reasoning or adult brain. We are much more likely to eat healthy when we use our pre-frontal cortex. Remind yourself you can follow the plan. Plan for that cookie next time. I plan making cookies with my granddaughter, so I can enjoy one.
Over Hunger comes from constant snacking. Our bodies lose track of when we are honestly hungry. Our bodies were not made to eat often during the day. Early man ate when hungry and then fasted until the next meal.
When you have been overeating, you will have more intense feelings of hunger. Foods with sugar and flour stimulates insulin. When insulin is constantly elevated, it is stored in fat cells. This leads to weight gain. Snacking between meals in not necessary. I developed prediabetes and fat around my middle by adhering to the six small meals a day rule.
Solution: Learn to tolerate hunger. When you let your insulin levels come down, your body will access fat stores for energy. This is ideal. You don’t have to act on little waves of hunger. They will pass. Take a break from snacking. When I stopped snacking, my blood sugar and insulin came down. No more prediabetes.
Overeating to deal with positive and negative emotions is a learned habit. We learned as children that certain foods make us feel better. From birthday parties to fights with our parents or friends – eating was the solution. For me, it was both.
Emotional eating is eating for any other reason than for for fuel, like when we treat ourselves to food to make ourselves feel better. For negative emotions, such as feeling sad or mad, eating foods that give us a dopamine hit can make us feel better for a short time. Then we revert back to those negative emotions, usually making us feel worse. This is the same for positive reasons – birthdays. celebrations, eating out. But overeating like this actually neutralizes positive feelings.
Solution: Learn to feel your feelings – about half the time we are going to feel positive emotions and half the time negative emotions, and that’s ok. Social media can make us feel worse – take a break form spending so much time scrolling. Learn how your thoughts create feelings and feelings create actions and results. Most diet companies focus on actions and results, but don’t address the thoughts and feelings that created the overeating in the first place. The solution is to think differently by managing your mind every day.
How can you finally lose the weight for the last time? Let an expert guide you. I can help you come up with a plan that will work for you and your lifestyle. I’ve worked with busy women like you to learn how to eat for fuel, reduce the over hunger and over desire, and feel their feelings without eating to feel better. I have overeaten for much of my life – I just wasn’t sure why. Now I know and I can help you stop.
Are you ready? Shoot me an email at jane@janespringer.com and we’ll chat by phone about your particular challenges and see if we are a good fit to work together. I’m ready, are you? Let’s talk soon!
Much love,
Jane
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.