Overcoming Emotional Eating

Have you ever found yourself being defensive over what others have said? Do you react to comments and take it upon yourself to prove that you are right?

This tactic only ever makes us feel vulnerable, insecure and small. It is an experience that will inevitably lead us to either binge or restrict our food intake. Either way, we lose if we cannot overcome emotional eating.

Let's take time to explore what triggers these eating disorders for you by examining your behaviour pattern.

Be aware of when:

1. You feel like you have been put on the defensive (you're being attacked or judged by others).

2. You are suddenly anxious or feeling insecure with someone.

3. You feel like to have to have the "right" answer on the fly.

4. You hear yourself explaining your reasons for certain choices, actions or beliefs in a tone other than peaceful and chill.

5. You hear yourself justifying your behaviour; arguing about your rightness; rather than just acknowledging it didn't work for the other person or that you dropped the ball, forgot, or chose not to follow through.

When you notice these indicators of defensiveness and excuse making, start by stop talking, even if you're in mid-sentence. Remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible.

Then sit down with you pen and paper or lap top/ipad/etc. and ask yourself the following questions:

1. What are you telling yourself about yourself vs. that person/situation? What do they have or know that you don't?

2. Is there really a right and a wrong? They might think so, but do you have to agree with them? Can't you both be right?

3. What do you know that led you to think or behave as you did? What do they believe or know that led them to judge that or think and behave as they did? What was their part in it and what was yours? Could you own your part without taking all the responsibility? Can you simply say, "You know, I was thinking about X and I can see what you mean...." And let go of whether they own their bit or not. You know your part has been taken care of; you did the adult thing; and you know that it wasn't all you, that your perspective had validity too.

4. Defensiveness implies that you are feeling anxious because you believe you need that person's approval and you believe that you're not getting it or not going to get it. Can you let go of needing their agreement or approval in order to be able to see the truth in your perspective? If they never ever saw "it" your way, could you still be right in your actions based on your perspective at the time?

5. Defensiveness implies that you have given yourself just two options - your way or their way. Explore how you could make room for both. What truth can you find in their perspective? What truth can you find in yours?

6. What solution could you come to that meets the needs of all parties? DO NOT ever agree to something that doesn't meet your needs. If you can't find a solution that meets your needs as well as theirs in some way, your responsibility is to yourself first and the two of you are going to have to agree to take care of your own needs in this situation. (This is exceptionally rare! Maybe one situation in 100.)

Review your answers and explore your thoughts in response to a situation that triggered some insecurity or defensiveness for you.

Remember, your use of food to cope and your body image stress are inextricably linked to how you are thinking in these or similar situations. The more you understand what triggers your eating disorder, the less you'll need to engage in restriction (dieting, anorexia), binging (overeating) or purging. You can learn to recover from your eating disorder.

For over 15 years, personal change-agent Michelle Morand has been helping people of all ages and all walks of life stop using food to cope. A recovered compulsive eater, her personal story, and her professional caring and gentle approach, continually inspires those who struggle with eating disorders.

Through her company, The CEDRIC Centre for Counselling, inc., she provides face-to-face, email, and telephone coaching to people around the globe. Products include a variety of downloadable audio and video selections, print and downloadable workbooks, live workshops and a web-based group counselling program.

Author of Food is not the Problem: Deal With What Is! Michelle is a skilled educator and lecturer and frequently appears at live health shows, on radio and TV, and in print media.

Visit The CEDRIC Centre website and sign up for the free newsletter at http://www.cedriccentre.com/

View the original article here

Can Mental And Emotional Stress Cause Cancer And Other Diseases?

Before we talk about whether mental and emotional stress can cause cancer, there is one other thing you need to understand well.

Stress affects your body tremendously.

I don't know if you have heard of Hans Selye, but he's known to be the father of stress research. He's extremely well respected in that field, and he claimed that there are two forms of stress:

Eustress, which is positive and makes you energized and invigorated after you do a little exercise, and Distress, which is negative, makes you exhausted and ruins your immune system.

Your body and stress.

How your body deals with stress is controlled in the part of your brain called the hypothalamus. This is where all of the biochemical changes are carefully tracked.

If anything goes out of balance, your brain responds immediately. That response happens through the use of a great hormone called cortisol.

Now, if everything is fine, cortisol is awesome for your health. If you're constantly stressed, however, and the cortisol levels are either too low or too high for extended periods of time, your immune system goes bonkers and...

... you get cancer.

See, every single person out there has cancer cells in them.

This is completely physiological and your immune system takes care of them properly if it's working like it should.

If, on the other hand, it's compromised, those individual cancer cells form into colonies which we commonly call tumors.

That's where problems start to happen.

So, how do you prevent cancer from occurring?

The answer is very simple: by not stressing too much.

You also should make sure that your cortisol levels are normal through proper diet, a decent amount of total (and pre-midnight) sleep every day, and a healthy amount of exercise.

Is this really that easy?

Well, it really is.

The easiest way I found to deal with stress is to remember that, as they say, perception is everything.

You can take any situation from your life and if you think about it, you'll realize that you can look at it from a ton of different perspectives. Some will be negative and others will be positive. If you keep a positive outlook on life, you'll keep your mental and emotional stress in check.

Now...

I want you to do me a favor and think about something for a moment, OK?

Do you remember the last time you did something that scared you for a long time? Maybe it was a visit at the dentist's you've been planning for weeks, maybe a confession to your spouse or maybe something else.

You choose.

... did you notice how after you actually did it, the situation seemed much easier to handle than you thought?

We have a natural tendency to exaggerate the negative because we're spoon-fed it almost all the time.

We're hard wired to pay attention to the bad news. You can train your mind to think more positive, and when you do, you'll be healthier, happier and...
... healthy for a long, long time. Remember: your health is all about your mental and emotional health.

Copyright 2012. Boro Petric. All rights reserved.

Get Your 2 FREE Special Reports Revealing The Fast-Track To Super Health & Success

About the Author

Boro Petric is an international med-tech trader, financial expert and Super Health advocate, born and raised in Switzerland.

He is best known for his website, LongevityStrategist.com, one of the world's most trusted resources for maximum health and success, geared towards people who want to live longer, happier, healthier and wealthier lives.

View the original article here

Stop Emotional Eating Solutions

Life is going great, and then one day, it seems like no matter what, nothing is going right. What do you do? Head straight to the fridge and gorge yourself to feel better. Next day, you step on the scale and you have gained weight. You feel like crap and wish you wouldn't have eaten all that food yesterday so you think, what the heck, you have already gained weight and feeling even worse, you head straight to the pantry and stuff yourself with everything in sight.

Is this you? What should you do when you realize what you have done? What is the next step?

Once your state of mind settles back to normal you can move forward. Stop the gorging, think for a minute, shut your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

If you are on a diet, move forward from where you left off before the incident that put you into that frenzy. No need to start over on your diet, because if you keep restarting, you might not succeed in actually finishing the diet. Think about that situation. Is it a pattern?
If you aren't on a diet, or don't need to diet, think about the situation and your past. Is this a pattern for you?

If you answered yes to it being a pattern in either of these questions, it might be an emotional eating problem rather than an occasional downfall.

If it is an emotional eating problem, most people need a support group to help them get through it.

Rather it be anorexia, bulimia or compulsive eating, it is suggested that you call the national hotline for referral: 800-931-2237 and depending on the severity of the emotional eating problem, they will get you to the right professional.
In any case, see your doctor. They can refer you to a specialist, if need be.
Another solution is one that many people can use for their off days. It is a modern technology program that works to help change your current feeling of anger, anxiety, or frustration into a more peaceful and positive state of mind. It teaches you to increase your coherence baseline and your ability to take charge of your emotional reactions, thus increasing your health, and improving your communication, relationships, and quality of life.

A behavior modification program, rather it be from a professional or from technology device, or both, is great for anyone whose weight gain stem from emotional reactions, stress, anxiety, or depression and also is great for keeping focused on exercising. The biggest plus is that it changes lives, not by medicine, but by behavior modification.

Need more information?

Jacki L Syverson, of jackiweightlosstips.com invites you to continue reading her full review regarding stopping emotional eating program at jackiweightlosstips.com/the-emwave2-program-for-stopping-emotional-eating-review/

View the original article here

Emotional Eating Is Not Just About Eating When You Feel Emotional

If you are someone who has been on a diet your whole life then you probably do not have a loving functional relationship with food. You probably know more about nutrition than some professionals, however, you just cannot seem to release yourself from the obsession of food and body. Through my practice I have seen common mindset issues, which often sabotage even the most diligent efforts.

Dieter's Mindset #1: "Eating something just because it is healthy. "

This may sound like the ideal plan to lose weight however, it often backfires! When you eat something "just because it is healthy", you may be positively reinforcing some negative core beliefs like, "I don't deserve to enjoy my food" or "I deserve to suffer".

You may unconsciously think you have to suffer because you have this over weight body. In reality, you have the over-weight body because you are suffering.

Although you really do love food, and why not, it is a good thing and it does keep the body alive; often when you eat there is a blanket of shame and tension attached to every bite. This emotional charge often leads to feelings of insecurity and acting out in sabotaging ways, like mindless grazing.

Dieter's Mindset #2: "Ignoring or not listening to your body's natural hunger signals."

Often times, when I interview a client for the first time they tell me they cannot understand why they are over weight because they really aren't that hungry, most of the time.

When you do not have a healthy relationship with food; i.e. one that is NOT laced with shame and frustration, you will try to ignore the hunger signals in an attempt to control your appetite because you are trying to "be good". This behavior allows for an unhealthy length of time to lapse between meals or worse, you may skip meals altogether.

This is usually an attempt to trying to get away with the fact that the body needs food. It is crucial to come to terms with the fact that the body needs to eat in order for the mind and body to function optimally.

It is always most effective to develop a balanced rhythm of eating. Eating every three to four hours will balance the blood sugar and therefore set up the natural conditions for the body to release weight.

Dieter's Mindset #3 "Not eating enough food during a meal"

Once again, this behavior stems from having a dysfunctional relationship you're your food and body.

As a life long dieter you may have actually become afraid and maybe even very angry at food, as food has become the necessary evil.

Mealtime denotes a certain level of conscious eating; therefore when you are more consciousness you can fool yourself into thinking that you eat like a slim person. This tactic will backfire in either of two ways.

The first way this backfires is you will unconsciously give yourself permission to eat empty calories later on. The second way being, there is never a sense of closure on a meal. In this scenario, food becomes the open-ended focal point, thereby leading to even more obsession and frustration.

In contrast, if you would fill up on real food, while giving yourself permission to enjoy every bite, and feeding yourself from a place of self-love and self-care, it often leaves no room for empty calories.

The sooner you participate in a mature relationship with food, the quicker you will release yourself from the food prison and begin to commit to a healthy lifestyle which will ultimately give you the body you desire.

In short, the quicker you can release what you think you know and focus more on what you feel in your body, the sooner you will create the body of your dreams.

About Author:

Susan Kullman, founder and CEO of Bodyology System, is a certified Spiritual Life coach, Psychology of Eating Coach, Yoga Therapist and an expert at turning fear and confusion into health and freedom. For almost two decades, Susan has empowered, celebrities, college students, and individuals to a live a life of intentional health and wellness. Susan launched Bodyology System as one of the best holistic weight loss programs to end emotional eating, without guilt, without stress, and to achieve total self-mastery. For more information please visit http://www.bodyologysystem.com/

View the original article here