My addiction to food messed up my relationships. Sometimes I was so hung over from bingeing I couldn’t get out of bed to be in time for meeting friends and couldn’t return calls. I was desperate to feel complete that I took more from friends than I gave. I was in a miserable state of affairs. I often pretended to be interested in others companies but really I had a deep empty hole inside of me and felt self absorbed and selfish.

I had no energy, my self esteem was missing. I just craved all day and night. The thing is it never occurred to me that I had an issue with food. I just thought I had an issue with life. Whenever I went anywhere or did anything the food was my main attraction and even at parties I would eat and eat but try to do it secretly by moving around the room and hiding junky foods under the healthy looking foods. By moving about and talking to lots of people I avoided anyone seeing exactly how much I was eating.

It was only when I came across an article about emotional eating that I realized I had an issue with food and not with life. I learnt about how food is physically addictive and thus can affect your mood that way but also through emotional addiction too. I was trapped and I would never have realized this without being lucky enough to stumble across the info.

I followed the advice on an online book called Combat Your Cravings. I ate properly and found my physical cravings diminished considerably. I felt I was able to function properly and didn’t eat a refined sugar fix as soon as I wok in the morning.

But my biggest properly was my emotional eating. Everyday after work I still found it impossible not to binge and overeat. It was only until I read Shrink Yourself and then enrolled in the online program that I was able to successfully become in charge of my life.

Both the books I mentioned have been my life savers without their information I don’t think I would have overcome my overeating.

If you overeat I highly recommend you read these articles and start working through your issues today!

Stop Overeating

Binge eating disorder is when one uses food to satisfy or cope with emotions/feelings.  People binge in order to repress feelings of anger, sadness, depression, general stress or boredom.  People have used food as a coping mechanism for such a long while that it is now an automatic habit.  When they feel, their “phantom” hunger automatically turns on and they eat and eat.

Bingeing in this way is a sign that one’s needs are not fully met, but instead of facing the emotion head on or listening to our inner critic, we instead suppress the feelings and zone out in front of the TV.  For some reason we believe this is easier than to face our feelings head on.

Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder and it is no wonder why when we live in a society that uses food to celebrate, mourn and for various social gatherings.  Food is very much attached to our emotions and something that is just built into us from an early age.  Unfortunately this leads to many using food as their life crutch, to cope in times of distress.

A person who binges usually will: eat an unusually large amount of food, feel they have no control while eating, consume the food quickly, eat large amounts even when they don’t feel hungry, prefer to eat alone, hide their eating habits, feel guilty, ashamed and disgusted with themselves.

Luckily there are many resources available to people to overcome binge eating.

Roger Gould has created a 12 week intensive emotional eating program online to help people overcome binge eating disorder.  For more information click here or visit ShrinkYourself.com.  He also has a book on the subject of emotional eating that is extremely useful for anyone wanting to educate themselves on how to overcome binge eating (and a great supplement to the 12 week program).

A great starting point though is a book called Combat Your Cravings.  This will help you address whether you are eating properly, whether you know the difference between hunger and true hunger and also will help you determine your emotional eating and help you make an action plan to overcome it with activities and guidance.  You can get this book here: http://www.combatyoucravings.com

Binge eating is something many of us face – yes MANY of us. Whether we binge out of intense physical or emotional cravings depends on the individual, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we had all binged once in our life.

For some though binge eating is something that takes over their lives. Binge eating can be a regular, daily occurrence. The number one issue causing binge eating is usually emotional repression. In a society that encourages us to repress, avoid and take our mind off our feelings, it can be hard to allow ourselves to actually feel due to guilt and shame. When you keep avoiding or distracting yourself from feelings it can be even harder to move from this to a life of feeling. Binge eating is just one way people use to repress feelings.

Overcoming binge eating is a task that can seem quite daunting but taking a few steps in the right direction can really help prevent binges for good. I think it is important that before we address the emotional side of bingeing we must make sure that our body is getting all it needs nutritionally and physically. There are many aspects to overcoming binge eating but I feel the first crucial step is to stop dieting.

Although having a healthy diet is a good thing, the word diet has been used to describe deprivation eating. When you think of the word diet I am sure the first thing that comes into your mind is that you have to “give up” foods you like. This mentality around the term dieting is exactly why most diets fail and most people are unsuccessful at losing weight and preventing themselves from bingeing. One needs to reframe their mind around the word diet in order to be successful in eating better and overcoming cravings.

Thinking of a diet as deprivation will also push you into a panic mode, which can lead you into a binge. I know when I tried diets (or specifically the mainstream diets) I would do ok the first day but by evening I would almost go into a blind panic, as though all food was being taken away from me. This would lead me to a massive binge. This mentality is partly due to the way the word diet is used but also because of my emotional eating. I was going to “deprive” myself of my comfort foods.

As a result I found the best way to eat healthier and to keep cravings at bay was to slowly introduce healthier foods and to nourish my body with the right foods to diminish.

Most diets out there do not nourish your body sufficiently, are not healthy or geared towards the optimum diet for us as a species and leave you feeling deprived. They also do not address emotional and physical cravings either. So you are bound to fail by using these programs or getting wrapped in their use of the word diet.

Your Thinking

The biggest reason for failing at diets is the way we think. We think of food as good and bad and if we eat the bad stuff we feel guilty and ashamed. On top of this we see bad food as something we aren’t allowed or that we are missing out on.

What we should be doing instead is viewing those foods we consider bad as something we have CHOSEN not to eat. You have chosen not to eat that food as opposed to not being allowed to have it. You can freely choose again to have it but you are choosing not to for your health and weight loss goals.

We need to also take the food off the pedestal we have firmly placed it on because those junk foods do not love you like you love them do they? They leave you feeling ashamed, guilty, depressed, sluggish and awful.

If you stop seeing foods as good or as bad, start taking power of your choices and saying to others and to yourself that you are CHOOSING to eat this way, you are CHOOSING to not eat certain foods, then you will find you will have much more success in eating healthy and not bingeing.

They are not forbidden foods, they are just foods you are choosing to no longer eat.

Click here for more information on Overcoming Binge Eating

Cheese addiction is fairly common in the Western world but most people don’t realize they are addicted to it. It seems crazy but a lot of the foods we eat have physically addictive properties and keep us hooked and coming back for more time and time again. Not only do we have to battle with the physical addiction of these foods but also the emotional addiction. We are a society of comfort eaters.

So what makes cheese addictive?

In 1981 Eli Hazum and colleagues (referenced in Breaking The Food Seduction) discovered traces of a chemical in cow milk’s that was similar to morphine. They put it through several tests only to conclude that in fact it WAS morphine. Morphine is a highly addictive opiate, but what is it doing in cow’s milk?

Well cow’s produce morphine in their bodies. This is most likely to cause a calming effect on their young to make sure they continue to feed to get the nutrients they need but also to make sure they bond with their mother.

On top of milk containing morphine, it also contains casein which when broken down during digestion frees a whole host of opiates. Casein is in a much higher concentration than in just milk too. So as you can see cheese is highly addictive.

So how do you overcome your cravings for cheese?

First of all you need to nourish your body properly. Feed your body healthy foods and the right foods so you no longer feel the physical craving for cheese. A tip to get you started is to eat as much fruit as you desire before each meal. This will satisfy you enough for you not to crave anything after your meals.

Cut dairy out completely or reduce it dramatically. Don’t eat cheese, not even a little as it is much harder to avoid the first bite then the second.

Lastly make sure you are not craving cheese for emotional reasons. Observe yourself throughout a day and see if emotions/stress trigger you to crave cheese. If so you can then begin to address the emotions you are feeling and stop using food to suppress them. If need be get support from others so you can turn to them when you are feeling stressed as opposed to cheese.

You can overcome cheese addiction, you just need to become aware of your triggers and nourish your body with the right foods to stop physical cravings arising.

Overcome Cheese Addiction

Overeating is something we all do once in a while. Usually we blame it on the holiday season or the fact that we are on vacation and in these times we don’t see it as such a big deal. Other times of overeating are when our emotional needs are not met and we are trying to suppress emotions.

Those of us who overeat to numb feelings or are suffering from an overeating disorder have to make extra efforts to overcome our overeating. Here are 5 tips to overcome your issue with food.

1. Become aware of the problem – often we aren’t aware of when we eat or even why we eat. Not every time is about being hungry. If we become aware of our reasons for eating and start living in the present moment we can see exactly why we overeat and are better able to overcome it.

2. Regularly eating – overeating can be harder to overcome if we aren’t eating regularly or if we skip a meal. When we are consumed by hunger we can find it very difficult not to eat rapidly and pig out. Make sure you are eating regularly and nutritious food.

3. Drink plenty of water – most people often mistake thirst for hunger. So before eating drink plenty of water to make sure you aren’t just dehydrated.

4. Eat fruit! Make sure you are eating plenty of fruit. Eating lots of fruit before meals will give you the nutrition an water your body needs and will stop you overeating on other foods.

5. Get support. When we overeat it may just be emotions trying to get out. Instead, either sit and allow the feelings to wash over you and come out or find a friend you can talk with about how you are feeling.

For more information on cravings and overeating Overeating Help

For more information on emotional eating and overeating click here

Overeating and cravings are common in the Western world and are often not given the proper attention they deserve. They are seen as something that individuals really should be able to control and if you can’t control them then apparently you don’t have enough willpower and are weak.Overeating can stem from two things cravings and emotional eating.

The word “craving” seems harmless and is just a nicer way, in most cases, to say addiction. Craving is almost an acceptable addiction because we don’t place much importance on its seriousness and we find it harmless. But cravings are not harmless – they are a symptom of underlying issues and can result in you overeating on foods you really wish you wouldn’t!

Most people think addiction is a strong word to use but that is in most cases what the issue is when it comes to cravings and overeating.

So in order to overcome overeating we must address the physical addictiveness of food or our cravings. Cravings are a sign of physical addiction, emotional addiction and also can be a result of not getting enough of a certain nutrient possibly.

The first step to eliminate physical cravings is to supply the body with the nutrients it requires. Most people don’t do this, don’t know what is right for adequate nutrition and just accept cravings as part and parcel of life. They don’t have to be! When you provide your body with the right nutrients you can eliminate physical cravings completely.

Second one needs to address any emotional relationship they have with food. Do you crave when you are bored, stressed or feeling? Take a day out to be completely self aware and note down when you crave and whether it’s as a result of having skipped a meal or because of an emotional need. Self-awareness in general is very helpful to you and good to continue to do as much as possible. Being in the present moment and practising being in the moment (as opposed to daydreaming or thinking about the past etc) will allow you to overcome your overeating triggers.

If your overeating is more emotionally related then the best thing can be to get support for from a friend or familiy member who can almost take the place of the food in comforting you. Who can allow tyou to feel your emotions with them if its too difficult for you to do alone. There is also a great step by step intensive program online you can follow over 12 weeks, if becoming self aware and facing your emotional demons is too difficult.

So provide your body with the right nutrition and face your emotions. This is the only way to truly overcome the overeating that is ruining your weight loss goals and life!

For more information about how to overcome overeating: Overcoming Overeating

To visit the Shrink Yourself website click here (12 week intensive program)

Previous Post: Overcoming Overeating & Emotional Eating with the Shrink Yourself  Program

Do you eat until your stomach is bursting and you are in pain? Do you eat in private or hide food from others? Have you tried diets with little success, gaining every inch back because you can’t stop binge eating?

Here are 3 tips to help you stop binge eating once and for all.

1. Start observing yourself – take a few days to just observe your eating patterns. Keep a journal to record how you feel before, during and after bingeing. Write down whether an emotion is attached to your eating e.g. you are bored so you grab a bag of chips. By taking the time to observe you will be able to see when and why you use food other than for nutritional purposes or true hunger. This is the first step in being able to overcome binge eating – by being aware of your triggers and feelings.

2. Feel your feelings – if your binges revolve around emotions then you need to start learning how to feel your feelings. . Both digestion and feeling emotion are two energy-consuming activities, so the body can only do one at a time. Eating therefore is a great way to numb yourself but isn’t good for your health.

When you start to allow yourself to feel, at first you may have a rush of heavy emotion flood out of you. This will not happen every time and the more you practice being in the present moment with your feelings, the easier they become to manage and the less frightening or intense they will be. Letting go can be quite daunting but remember the feeling will pass and it will only last a short period of time. The relief and feelings of satisfaction and calm you get after allowing yourself to feel is amazing. Don’t be afraid of emotion. If you find it too much of a challenge to feeling emotions there is a great 12 week program by ShrinkYourself.com that can help you address your underlying concerns and aid you in overcoming your fear of emotions.

3. Exercise. Exercise has many benefits including:

• A great stress reliever (stress is a major contributor to binge eating – if you don’t exercise you may resort to eating to cope with stress)

• Makes you more productive – you will find exercise will give you more energy and keep you more positive. I always feel really good after exercise, not as hungry and just overall feel healthy.

• Weight loss – of course exercise is helpful in losing weight.

If you implement these 3 tips, you will find that you have more control over your binges and they may happen less often. If you know exactly what causes you to binge, why you do it and how you feel before, during and after – you are well on your way to stop binge eating.

Conclusion: Know Your Enemy!

Previous Post: How To Beat Food Cravings with Free to Eat’s Combat Your Cravings Ebook