Emotional Eating During The Pandemic

Imagine living in isolation, a vacuum if you will, while watching your life unravel. Trying to provide for your family, home school your children, and watch your savings dwindle if we even have any savings left. This is a very emotional time for millions of people not only in America but across the entire globe.

This can have and will continue to cause what is caused EMOTIONAL EATING. Emotional Eating, We’ve all faced it, we’ve all done it at some point. We’re sure you’ve watched someone on television deal with stress by grabbing a big bowl of ice cream and pouring it on the toppings? Many people will say that when they are stressed out, they reach for chocolate or another yummy treat to soothe their angst.

Emotional eating plays right into the hands of the virus. When you begin emotional eating, you are not thinking about the long-term effects that poor food choices have on your body. Make no mistake your poor food choices do more than cause you to gain weight in most cases, it compromises your internal system, your heart, liver, kidneys pancreas, etc.

Even people who are slim and look like they can eat anything are being affected. They may not see the effects yet, but over time they will. Generally, when it catches up to them, they won’t remember a lot of has to do with the poor food choices they made years ago.. and they cannot go back in time to undo it!

WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?

Emotional eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness, and loneliness. During this pandemic, these feelings are being felt more as we face loss of jobs, can’t look for work, our savings dwindle if we have any left, and talk of the second wave of covid.

If you are alone, the pandemic can be devastating. If you’re a family facing this, it’s devastating. Facing this uncertainty, trying to be brave, going to a quiet place to cry and relieve this incredible stress. What adds to this is unhealthy eating like fast food and quick take out is compromising your health even more. Watching people on television celebrating and laughing and sharing and all the things you used to do and are now missing can be devastating

These things can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. Emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts and have lasting negative effects on your health. It often leads to eating too much, especially high-calorie, sweet and fatty foods, and salt. The good news is that if you’re prone to emotional eating, you can take steps to regain control of your eating habits and get back on track with a healthy eating lifestyle, good food choices, and the great bonus, You will lose weight and improve you’re healthy mental and physical.

We understand that our emotions are difficult to deal with normal and with this pandemic, our emotions can be even more difficult to deal with. We live in a fast paced stress-induced time We are always trying to catch up. With prices steadily climbing, it’s difficult to have extra money for ourselves, much less out families

We used to work very long hours plus travel time to and from work. We’ve spent an awful amount of time away from the people we love and care about, Suddenly we are around each other all day and night with no seeming break for ourselves, and this can cause us to begin emotional eating without being aware we are doing this, especially when you’re riding an emotional roller coaster.

How do we break the cycles that cause us to pack on the pounds while contributing to our poor coping mechanisms?

We’re not perfect, and there are times we eat out of emotion. However, the problem occurs when you turn to food to cope. When your weight becomes negatively affected, your entire body begins to suffer. Did you know that emotional eating has both psychological and physiological components? Stress or times of complete devastation can trigger these binge-eating episodes

However, by developing appropriate coping strategies, you can conquer this bad habit and alleviate the urge to binge. The best diet advice for weight loss and improving your health that any weight loss program could give you is to avoid those things that you cannot control. If you know that you are going to eat an entire bag of chocolate chip cookies, then you should never bring them into your home. If you keep good food in your refrigerator, you will eat good food!

LEARNING TO AVOID CERTAIN TRIGGERS

• There are many emotional driven factors that can cause one to begin emotional eating some of these are:
• Relationship conflict
• Work or other stressors
• Fatigue
• Financial pressures
• Health problems

Although some people eat less in the face of strong emotions, if you’re in emotional distress you might turn to impulsive or binge eating, quickly consuming whatever is convenient without enjoyment.

A typical scenario: Parents that work full-time with many responsibilities in the home. They have young ones that demand their time, plus they have a job that needs them too. They feel pulled in 100 directions and don’t have any time for themselves.

These people may be suffering from many emotional issues that could cause them to eat emotionally. Many people are shocked to find that emotions are not the only things that can trigger you to overeat. Here are some other things to consider.

Emotional eating can be caused by many triggers, both physical and psychological. These triggers might include:

* BAD HABITS *

An article by DW, com states “Bad Food Choices are killing more people than tobacco! Deutsche Welle, or DW, is a German state-owned public international broadcaster. This article states One in every five people across the globe dies of causes associated with a poor diet. A new study published in the scientific

journal “The Lancet” reports overconsumption of red and processed meats, salt, and sugar, and not enough fruit, vegetables, and legumes are to blame for damaging our hearts and causing cancer. Our daily diet, researchers say, is a bigger killer than any other risk factor, including cigarette smoking

Eleven million deaths globally in 2017 can be attributed to cardiovascular disease, which is often caused or made worse by obesity and poor diet particularly an overconsumption of fried foods. This is why you should look at the Diet Rite System. Diet Rite is more than a great weight loss program that offers techniques to make your diet healthier.

Although we are a fantastic weight loss program for women, and a great weight loss program for men, seniors, and children. Diet Rite is more than that!.

We intend to break the bad food habits plaguing people. We intend to continue to speak and educate not only about weight loss but how our eating lifestyle affects every part of our health. Diet Rite states emphatically, “Our food choices are responsible for a lot of the ailments we suffer from.

The reason we are not aware of this is that it takes so much time for these debilitating effects to occur, that we can’t track the ailment to our food. We think we’re getting old and these aches and pains are supposed to happen. We’re getting old and we are supposed to gain weight Sometimes, people develop bad habits without even realizing it. For instance, do you feel that your dinner is not complete unless you have cola? Maybe your mother told you that a nice big brownie was in order if you did something good like getting an “A” on your report card. Or, if you were upset, your grandmother may have offered milk and cookies to ease the pain. Those things that we hold dear as memories could be the key to our bad eating behavior

* FATIGUE *

According to Better Health, fatigue is a feeling of constant tiredness or weakness and can be physical, mental, or a combination of both. It can affect anyone, and most adults will experience fatigue at some point in their life. Each year, around 1.5 million

Australians see their doctor about fatigue. Fatigue is a symptom, not a condition. For many people, fatigue is caused by a combination of lifestyle, social, psychological, and general well-being issues rather than an underlying medical condition.

Fatigue can affect your mood, memory, concentration, decision-making, and emotional state. When suffering these effects your food choices suffer as well, often opting for more sugary foods for quick energy. This will lead to a crash and return to the state of fatigue. If you are getting enough sleep, good nutrition, and exercising regularly but still find it hard to perform everyday activities, concentrate, or be motivated at your normal levels, you may be experiencing fatigue that needs further investigation. Read our article Healthy Diet Advice for More Energy to learn how to diet properly to gain more energy and combat fatigue

* BOREDOM *

We know how easy it is to eat when we are bored mindlessly. How many times have you been sitting at your desk and munching on potatoes chips or candy bars without even thinking of it? Or sitting on the sofa the chomp away at some unhealthy snack to fill the time because what you are watching is just not that interesting?

Eating out of boredom is a big problem. Boredom is almost as big of a trigger as emotional stress.

The University of Limerick conducted a series of studies that indicate that “boredom leads to unhealthy eating, as it helps to distract from the unpleasant boredom experience.”

Certain foods are associated with feelings of enjoyment and celebration. There’s a reason we eat buttery popcorn at the movies and sugar-loaded cake and ice cream at birthday parties. By eating these “junk foods,” we’re attempting to evoke a feeling of reward that maximizes pleasure something that is commonly associated with emotional eating. In addition to being tied to emotions, like sadness and anger, emotional eating is correlated to boredom, as well. This is because eating when bored serves as a coping mechanism. Snacking breaks up the monotony of our boredom, raising our levels of dopamine. We snack continuously because it makes us temporarily feel better, excited.

* SOCIAL INFLUENCES *

Happy foods, happy drinks, happy times, happy friends. Social influences can be a very difficult situation when encountered. Social influence is the change in behavior that one person causes in another, intentionally or unintentionally. This is caused by the way the changed

a person see themselves, in relationship to the influencer, other people, and society in general.

Three areas of social influence are conformity, compliance, and obedience. When in an environment where the atmosphere is not in alignment with your healthy eating lifestyle, the results can be disastrous both on your body for eating foods you know you should avoid and mentally for allowing yourself to give in so easily. During the holidays, these influences are exponentially higher and require greater internal strength and support.

If you have friends or are in an environment that tends to be a bad food influence, then you may need to anticipate these events and restrict your activities or participation. When you have friends and family pushing you for pizza, drinks, and those gooey desserts, then it’s easy to overeat aimlessly. The best dieting advice we offer is to be vigilant and try to stay around people that respect your boundaries.

WAYS TO COPE

We want you to know that you can overcome your urge to splurge on foods that are not good for you. Diet Rite is here to help you. The first step in taking control of the situation is to recognize your triggers and avoid them. The best way to keep track of your foods is by using a journal or app. Diet Rite uses the Meal Tracker Tool to help you

The simple yet widely effective tool does this for you… If you Track what you eat, You will Watch what you eat!).

We find that people often say they are watching what they eat, but this is such a complex and ever-changing event that it is difficult. Here is where the Meal Tracker will help you immensely. The Meal Tracker will make you less likely to overeat Most people have no idea how many calories and carbohydrates they have consumed. This is where their diet goes off the rails

Also, you can keep track of the times that you are eating out of emotional needs based on real hunger. Stay tuned for the announcement of the Diet Rite Weight Tracker coming soon… In fact, it is here along with a free 7-day trial

Second, it’s essential to replace eating with something else. For instance, instead of grabbing a bag of chips and the remote to relax, why not try reading a good book instead? There are lots of relaxing hobbies that can get your mind off food and help you to calm down after a tiring day. Why not incorporate yoga, meditation or a simple exercise into your evenings? Look for our article on simple exercises you can do at home soon.

Also, we encourage people to walk. There’s something about being out in Mother Nature that seems to help one cope with the stress we are dealing with. As a bonus, walking burns calories. If you don’t have a dog, get a pet to take along on the walks. Some people get a few friends together and walk and talk about life. It’s quite therapeutic.

Counseling or support is a great outlet for those who overeat. A therapist has tips and tricks that can help you to break the cycle of emotional eating. We know it’s a lifelong habit that isn’t going to be broken overnight, but you can start by acknowledging the problem and working on a solution. If counseling is not for you, then a nutritionist or your family doctor may be able to help. By learning the causes of your overeating, replacing them with positive habits, then you can have a better relationship with food.

THERE COULD BE PHYSICAL REASONS WHY YOU OVEREAT

Did you know that your passion for overindulging in foods may be caused by a physical issue? When you are under stress, the body raises cortisol levels to combat the angst. Cortisol is known for increasing your appetite and causing cravings for sugary foods. We know there is no way to stop stress in your life, but you can develop coping skills to combat it. Getting your cortisol levels under control is imperative for your well-being.

The best dieting advice we can give you is to learn and understand the difference between emotional and physical hunger. When you’re hungry based on your emotions, it’s a sudden urge to eat that feels like you may pass out if you don’t eat now. However, physical hunger is not so immediate or severe.

Also, if you are craving specific foods, then you can guarantee that it’s an emotional need more than a physical one. We know that it’s going to be a process to get you where you need to be. The weight didn’t come on overnight, and it won’t go away overnight either. You’re on track, and soon you will learn to identify your triggers so that you can get your weight under control.