Why You "Emotional Eat"

Think you know the difference between emotional and physical hunger?

Not sure why you eat for no reason?? and it’s not from hunger.

To find out if you’re an emotional eater, click here to take the 2 minute quiz from a powerful book by therapist and psychologist Roger Gould called “Shrinking Yourself – Break free from emotional eating forever!“  (Pictured with lunch)

[*Warning*] Michelle recommendation coming up!! Michelle trying to be serious & intellectual to be followed!

A 2-second Sell: Being an EXTREMELY harsh critic on self-help books in general, I’ve really come to find this an excellent read if you are someone who eats even when you’re not hungry. I always knew I was an emotional eater, and I always THOUGHT I did it because I was bored/tired/ “starving”, when in reality there’s much more to that – I wasn’t addressing the TRUE issues in my life.

Here are some enlightening highlights:

• “Emotional eating likely stems from childhood – when you may have adopted food as a method to cope with uncomfortable feelings at some point in your development. You use food, whether consciously or not, to numb your mind so you don’t have to deal with issues you’d rather not confront.” (It could be feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem, frustration, fears of being unloved, incompetent, or imperfect.)

• You may think you’re struggling with feeling powerlessness over your uncontrollable urge to eat, when in reality, the sense of powerlessness over food is really a cover up. It is actually the consequence of a deeper experience of powerlessness…If you are an emotional eater, you eat when you feel powerless in one or more of these 5 ways:

1. You feel powerless about how to deal with your self-doubts. (I’m guilty of this!)
2. You feel powerless about how to get real satisfaction in life. (Sometimes guilty when I question what I’m passionate about in life)
3. You feel powerless to insure your own safety.
4. You feel powerless to appropriately assert your independence.
5. You feel powerless to fill yourself up when you feel empty inside. (I hate being alone or feeling unfulfilled!)

Michelle’s Reflections: Dr. Gould forces me to face my inner struggles in a deeper way than ever before and empowers me to confront it. I recommend this book if you’re interested at all in wanting to beat emotional eating or if you want to seek out the hidden, challenging issues in your life to discover your true self and what you’re passionate about in life.

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Had enough? Want some visual excitement?

Choco-PB Greek Scottish Oats

Everything about this breakfast was SO right…except one problem!

Deconstructed: Plain Chobani, 2 Tbs Chocolate PB2 mix, and 1/3 cup Scottish Oats with cinnamon & H2O.

My first experience with Scottish oats has revealed to me that I don’t like my oats too chewy, which is exactly what it is. Even after 5 minutes in the micro, you can see how “whole” the oats still are!

A half cup of Scottish Oats contains: 150 Calories, 3g fat, 27g carbs, 4g fiber, and 6g protein. Which is pretty much exactly the same as old fashioned oats, so I think I’ll stick to regular oats next time, but it’s great for anyone who likes chewier oats!

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Eating Whole Foods

Dr. Gould’s book accompanied me to lunch at Whole Foods, where I bought a side salad and dessert! I absolutely LOVE their salad bar and dumped 5 different mixes into a container, including: the beet salad, sweet potatoes, tabbouleh, wheat berries with cranberry, and a chickpea salad.

My Main came from home, which is half a cup of short-grain brown rice…

A couple hunks of catfish that I topped with chili, spices, and baked in the oven till done…

And the bottom layer was boiled Chinese broccoli topped with oyster sauce and sesame seeds. My childhood comfort food and a traditional Cantonese veggie dish I’m hooked on.

Check this out. NO MORE SNACKING!!!! when I’m more aware of WHY I’m eating emotionally, I have found ways to occupy myself as soon as I realize the identified triggers for emotional eating is for me. Personally, I snack (and don’t stop) because I’ve used food as entertainment (from boredom) and an escape (from lonelines or work). It keeps me from having to delve into PILES of work since nobody “interrupts” while I’m eating!

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Sweet, Savory, Sweeeet

On the main plate: I ate the english muffin topped with sliced banana, White chocolate cherry almond butter, and rhubarb strawberry butter FIRST (YUUUUUUM!!!!). Then I dove into this honemade plate of grilled shrimp, sauteed bean sprouts, and wild rice. Needless to say, dessert #1 was apple with another tablespoon or two of almond butter!

HOLEY DONUTS Nom-nommm…BATm…nommm!!!

I knew I’ve been itching to try the Holey Donuts I recieved from the generous folks at HD, so I busted out the low-fat lemon vanilla donuts holes!!! Click here for a complete description and nutritional comparison from the website!

I tested out one straight from the box. Here it is after a visit to the microwave for 30 seconds. I ADORE the GOOEY inside of sweet and tart lemon-flavored sticky heaven.

And proceeded to devour two more. The stats for 4 donut holes are 170 calories and 3.5g of fat. This is by no means a SKINNY donut hole, but that’s one thing I love about Holey. They straight up tell you, these aren’t healthy donuts! They’re simply “better for you donuts” that taste just as good, if not BETTER than the full fat ones!

I must say, I love eating them straight out of the freezer. And you know what? I STOPPED after eating three, where usually I would go on to eat other snacks if I am ever home alone. I realized that one of my triggers to emotional eating was when I was home alone. I HATE silence so I fill the quietness and feeling of emptiness with food! This time, I picked up the phone and called the brother to plan for our memorial day BBQ!

All in all, a day I did NOT feel guilty ONCE about eating because I knew I savored every bite and I ate when I was hungry. When it was a treat, I knew I truly wanted it.

So I hope you enjoyed these thoughts about what I’ve identified so far about my own eating habits through Dr. Gould’s book. I highly recommend it and if you’d like I can share some tips from the book when I’m done. What interesting things have you learned about yourself recently?

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Book, Catfish, Chinese Broccoli, Chobani, Greek Yogurt, Holey Donuts, Oikos, Oyster sauce, Scottish Oats, Shrimp, Shrink Yourself, White Chocolate Cherry Almond Butter, Whole Foods

May 23, 2009

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