Tips To Help Curb Compulsive Eating
First, a definition: Compulsive overeaters do not attempt to compensate for their bingeing with purging behaviors such as vomiting, fasting, diet pills or laxatives. Compulsive overeating usually leads to weight gain and obesity, but not everyone who is obese is also a compulsive overeater. A person who appears to be of normal or average weight can also be affected by these behaviors.
- Avoid temptation. You’re much more likely to overeat if you have junk food, desserts and unhealthy snacks in the house. Remove the temptation by moving these foods to the back of your fridge and cabinets, so they are not the first foods you see.
- Stop dieting. Strict dieting usually involves hunger and deprivation. This may trigger food cravings and the urge to overeat. Instead of restricting foods, focus on eating in moderation. Find nutritious foods that you enjoy and avoid labeling foods as “good” or “bad.” Try to eat more small meals throughout the day.
- Exercise. Not only will exercise help you lose weight and improve your health, but it also helps depression and reduces stress. Exercise is a natural way to boost your mood and can help put a stop to emotional eating.
- Reduce stress. Learn how to cope with stress in other ways that don’t involve food. Compulsive overeating has little to do with hunger. Individuals will often eat when they are not hungry or use food to fill an emotional need. Impulse eaters may take that extra bite because “it is there” and they often deprive themselves of food.
- Don’t try to change your relationship with food overnight. Set small goals and give yourself some positive feedback. If you tell yourself, “I need to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet,” it will be more positive than saying, “I need to stop eating candy.”
- Be kind to yourself and don’t expect to be perfect. Learn from your experiences and experiment with what works best for you. If you are suffering with compulsive overeating and feel it’s getting out of control, you should really seek professional help to stop the unhealthy, weight-gaining, self destructive behavior.
- Staci Leavitt Kobren, R.D.
(Source: muffintop-less)
I will run today.
With my mom in the hospital last week, I let a lot slide….my eating, working out, running….
Today- I will run. I have to teach, go to a Leadership meeting this afternoon, close at NewSole Running this evening. Then it is ON! I’m taking back my time!!! NO excuses….Will check in later.
So glad this week is over!
My mom finally got to go home from the hospital this evening! This week has been emotionally and physically draining…I am glad to see it come to an end.
Goal for the weekend—get my eating back on track (driving 45 min to a hospital every night—not good for me) and get in a few miles.
Update on my Mom
We finally know what caused all of this! My mom went to one of those “Minute Clinics” at a pharmacy and they gave her a steroid shot. They suspected bronchitis or something similar. Apparently, giving a diabetic a steroid shot is a BIG NO NO. Since she didn’t know she was diabetic—nothing seemed wrong. That’s what landed her in the hospital with high blood sugar, shallow and labored breathing and severely dehydrated….So, the x-ray they took yesterday evening came back and shows “a touch of pneumonia.” They are now treating her for that, but it is playing with her blood sugar at the same time. They are hopeful that they can get it regulated after the antibiotics run their course. Hopefully she will move out of the ICU today and into a regular room! Prayers are still appreciated!
Worthless people don’t run 26.2 miles. They just don’t.
– Pump (via robownslife)So true!
Via Rob OWNS Life.What. a. day.
You know how when you pray for patience, your patience seems to be tested beyond measure? Well, this weekend I’ve found that praying for a distraction is a lot like praying for patience. I’ll be much more careful what I pray for from now on.
My dad took my mom in to the ER today. They tested her blood sugar and it was 377 when she went in to the hospital. Apparently, her body’s not making any insulin at all. They have her in ICU and are trying to level out her blood sugar. They’ve all but actually diagnosed her diabetic. It was horrible seeing my mother in the state she was in—so out of it and completely fragile. Not exactly the distraction I was praying/hoping for.
The nurse was optimistic about being able to get it under control in the next 24-36 hours. I am hoping that she’s right and that my mom is back on her road to recovery soon. I am praying now that my dad will see this as a wake up call (he is very orverweight).
southcarolinagirl asked: Haha, I was looking at the relevance of your post while you were looking at mine! :-) Have a great day!
Talk about timing! Hope you have a great day, too!
I needed this today! Thank you for posting, southcarolinagirl!
This is so, so relevant. I tend to give up on stuff before it’s done, sometimes because I’ve gotten distracted, sometimes because I’ve lost interest or because the end seems hard.
(By the way, this is from the company that did the 212 degrees movie, and if you haven’t seen that, you need to. It takes three minutes.)
About me
As I approach the one year mark of my journey of self-improvement, I look back to how I got where I am. On February 21, 2011, I decided I was worth it.
