It is amazing how many reactions I have received after the eating disorder column last week.
A dear friend did tell me that people need to come forward to have an eating disorder specialist here in Rowan County. If our medical professionals do not know that there is a problem, how can they address it?
So for those struggling with an eating disorder, take that first huge step of accepting something is out of control. Talk to your doctor about it. For those who have loved ones struggling with an eating disorder (young and old), make your doctor aware of it. Maybe he or she can guide you in the right direction to seek help for them.
A couple of years ago, I followed the eating disorder column with a comfort eating column. After seeing the feedback, I believe the need is there again.
Many people don’t have the characteristics of someone with an eating disorder, but they do have a love/hate relationship with food. And as I mentioned last week, you cannot live without food.
Comfort eating, also called emotional eating, is the practice of consuming large amounts of food in response to certain feelings instead of being hungry. Experts tell us that at least 75 percent of overeating is caused by feelings and emotions. Food becomes your “friend.”
Food is your friend, except when it becomes something to soothe your feelings. You may think food will bring comfort (at least for a short time), but when it becomes the “pacifier,” it prevents you from learning effective skills to deal with the issues/emotions that made you reach for the “comfort food” in the first place.
And, of course, the calories you are consuming are usually very high. Comfort foods are typically “junk” foods or high calorie foods.
We know that stress, loneliness, frustration and all other kinds of emotions can trigger this comfort eating episode. So my first question is, what are the triggers?
Is it a stressful day at work? A relationship? School, sports or loneliness?
To get a good picture of why and what makes you reach for comfort foods, write down when you have these episodes. Are these situations you can control? Or are these things you can avoid?
Awareness of your feelings, your body and surroundings is important to a healthy lifestyle. Too often, people just “are.” They reach for foods just “because.” They are in shock when they go to their annual visit with their doctor and have gained “x” amount of pounds. As a recovered bulimic, I do know how difficult it is to deal with eating disorders and “normal” eating habits.
However, awareness, acceptance and support will give you a greater chance to overcome your challenges. Besides writing down when and why you eat, record what you eat throughout the day. The most successful people who have lost weight (or follow healthy eating habits) and kept it off are the ones recording what they eat.
Even if you think you can remember what you ate, experience shows that most of the time there were a lot more calories consumed but you weren’t really aware of it. That is one of the greatest “extra calories” mysteries.
One of my volunteers and licensed nutritionist Liz Friedrich had a client years ago who was eating all the right kinds of foods, but the weight would not budge. After lots of prying and talking, she found out her client drank a gallon of sweet tea a day. That is about 1,440 extra calories (two cups of sugar in gallon of tea) a day!
As soon as that changed, the weight started flying off.
Don’t stock your house with “comfort foods.” Try not to have high caloric foods readily available.
After you identify your triggers, you have to find responses. When you start to reach for food, try:
g Going for a walk or jog
g Reading a book or magazine
g Listening to your favorite music
g Taking a bubble bath
g Doing house work, yard work, or other work
g Calling a friend
g Washing your car
g Getting some exercise!