Exploring Your Relationship with Food, PART TWO:
Emotional Eating: The Connection Between Thoughts, Feelings and Food Choices
Last month's article provided some ideas for increasing awareness through use of the hunger and fullness scale. Perhaps you are not physically hungry but consistently eat anyway and are not sure why. Have you found it difficult to separate physical hunger from "emotional eating?" Being aware of a concerning pattern and unsure about how to change it can be extremely upsetting. While reading this article will not eliminate these feelings of frustration it may help pinpoint underlying reasons for emotional eating. I will explain how noticing and adjusting your thinking can help you feel more successful and encouraged.
Believe it or not, some of what we label "emotional eating" is actually perfectly normal. It's normal to crave warm, comfort foods on a cold, rainy day or to enjoy food as part of a celebration with loved ones. Food can be incredibly nourishing for the body and mind. For example, many people crave different foods as the seasons change. This is one way our body can communicate what nutrients we need. Certain foods also affect neurotransmitters in our brain that provide temporary but powerful feelings of happiness and relaxation.
Eating in response to emotions becomes a problem, however, when food becomes the primary way we cope with overwhelming feelings. If you feel out of control, guilty, and unable to limit portion sizes on a regular basis, it is likely food may be one of your main coping mechanisms.
And these overwhelming feelings usually stem from a pattern of thinking we're often not even aware we've fallen into.
Understanding the power of automatic thoughts:
The diagram below outlines how our thinking about an event influences our feelings. One of the main goals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to replace distorted thoughts that impede progress and leave us discouraged with more reasonable thoughts.
A B C
Activating (or upsetting) event Belief (or automatic thoughts) Consequence (feeling)
Example: Boss scowls at you "He/She thinks I'm not doing a good job." Discouraged/ Feel like a failure
Developed by: Albert Ellis, PhD
Once you're aware of the belief, and its effect on your actions, you can start arguing with the belief: "Wait a minute – I do a good job and my reviews have been positive. He/she is obviously stressed about something else."
Here are just some of the many distorted thought patterns we may experience. Which ones seem familiar to you?
1. All-or-nothing thinking. You tend to perceive everything in extremes, leaving very little room for a middle ground. Things are black or white, good or bad. If you're not a hero you're a complete failure.
2. Overgeneralization. Whenever something bad happens, you believe it will happen again and again. Keys you may be stuck in this thinking pattern are frequent use of extreme words like "always," "no one," "everyone," and "never."
3. SMOG ("Should," "Must," "Ought to," "Got to"). "I should go to the gym." "I must be happy and never tired or sad." We try to motivate ourselves with statements like these but we end up feeling inadequate, guilty and ashamed. It may be helpful to try substituting "want to" or "choose to" for these words.
4. Filtering. You magnify the negative details of a situation while filtering out anything positive. When negative aspects of a situation are pulled out of context, they seem larger and more awful than they really are.
5. Diminishing the positive. It is very difficult for you to give yourself credit or accept compliments from others. For example, if you successfully made it to the gym on a busy day, you may criticize yourself for not exercising longer.
6. Assuming. You assume the worst without testing the evidence. If your boss seems distracted or upset you assume he/she dislikes you or you did something wrong. Other examples include: "I know I won't have fun at the party" or "Even though I'm prepared, I know I'll do an awful job."
Consider recording your automatic thoughts along with more positive responses in a format like this:
|
Event |
Automatic Thought(s) |
Type of Distortion |
Reasonable Response |
|
You had seconds at a buffet dinner and feel stuffed. |
"I am never going to lose weight."
"This was an awful day."
I should be able to control myself at these functions. |
Overgeneralization
All-or-Nothing
Diminishing the positive
SMOG |
"One challenging meal doesn't mean I will never lose weight."
"I feel discouraged about this one meal, but the day itself has been okay; I made it to the gym, I packed a healthy lunch. Nobody is perfect."
"Events with a lot of food choices and people I don't know are difficult for me. I can learn from this and have a better plan next time." |
The Exploring Your Relationship with Food series will continue next month with PART 3: Feelings, Food, and Coping Mechanisms.
References:
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Revised and Updated by David D. Burns
The Self-Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi
These styles of distorted thinking were gleaned from the work of several authors, including Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck.
By Julie Taborsky, MS RD