Are you the type to grab a chocolate bar when recovering from a fight with your guy? Perhaps you tend to drown your sorrows in ice cream or empty the cookie jar in times of stress. While comfort food may seem to lift your spirits, you should be wary of becoming an emotional eater.
According to this article on MedicineNet.com, emotional eating involves consuming large amounts of food as a way of coping with intense feelings. The impulse eventually turns into a habit that has you reaching for food even though you’re not hungry--just to get your mind off your emotions.
Dr. Randy Dellosa, resident psychologist for upcoming reality TV show The Biggest Loser Philippines, says celebrities have a hard time dealing with their weight since they’re always in the public eye. “The tendencies for celebrities to go on crash diets and then to engage in mga surgical interventions,” he is quoted as saying. “However, when they resort to that, nandoon pa rin iyong mga problems nila (their problems still remain).”
Have you had problems battling your weight loss because you tend to eat when you're upset? Before you turn to food as a stress reliever, check out the tips in the slideshow below.
Want to read articles about eating healthy? Check these out on FN:
- Pound Patrol: 7 Bad Eating Habits You Should Drop to Control Your Weight
- Healthy Options: 10 Substitutes for High-Carb Foods
- Tipid Tips: 5 Low-Cost Healthy Foods
- 15 Healthy Foods That Help Reduce Stress
- Hold the Salt: Yummy Low-Salt Recipes for the Health-Conscious
- 22 Yummy Heart-Healthy Recipes
- 20 Meat-Free Recipes Perfect For Lent
(Originally published on Female Network as "Sharon Loses 20 Pounds + 5 Tips for Preventing Emotional Eating" on January 24, 2011. Photo by Aaron Stidwell via Flickr Creative Commons; used for illustrative purposes only.)
