Weight Loss Information

Overcoming Secretive Eating


Finally - you are alone. No one else is around. Maybe you've waited until they are all soundly asleep. You find yourself in the kitchen sneaking food. Sometimes it's cake, sometimes it's ice cream. Other times you're standing in front of the refrigerator eating leftovers without a plate. Once in a while, you plan ahead, stocking up on your favorite goodies on the drive home.

Almost in a trance-like state, you begin eating the foods you don't want anyone to know you eat... in volumes you don't want anyone to know you want. You eat quickly, not wanting to get caught. The irony is that you're not really enjoying the food, you're not really hungry, and you don't know why you are doing it. Initially there is a sense of freedom, exhilaration, and relief. But something odd also occurs. When eating becomes secretive, it becomes both more exciting and more difficult to give up. A devastating cycle begins. The lure of sneak eating progresses, but so does the sense of guilt and failure. Of course, this leads to more sneak eating and on it goes. It becomes a overwhelming cycle that generates a life of it's own.

EMOTIONAL NEEDS
Sneak eating is a metaphor for real needs. These are needs that are typically not addressed. We think we shouldn't have them. Or we don't know how to deal with them. It's usually a time we can be alone, with all our wants and desires. It is a time we don't have to pretend to be capable, competent, pleasant, likeable, strong, and without needs. It is a time to be entirely self-centered, where you don't have to take care of the needs of anyone else and can focus completely on yourself.

Sneak eating is about hunger. Hunger that develops because of the deprivation of strict diets, restrictive food plans, and the list of "bad" foods that you "shouldn't" be eating. Sneak eating is also a substitute for emotional comfort. A way to nurture the unaddressed feelings of shame, guilt, low self-esteem and loneliness. These feelings may be with you most of the day. It is only when the pace slows down, that the emotions begin to emerge. Not knowing how to handle these powerful emotions, eating follows. Eating in isolation can be a way of stuffing down emotions that seem overwhelming. Eating alone can provide down time without the interruption of family, work, or other responsibilities.

THE 10 MOST POWERFUL FEELINGS YOU EAT TO KILL

1. Hurt

2. Guilt

3. Anger

4. Shame

5. Lonely

6. Anxiety

7. Self-hate

8. Disappointment

9. Emptiness

10. Deprivation

These feelings are normal for every human being. We each need to take the time, and learn the skills, to sit with our emotions. Recognize that it is essential to know what is going on within our bodies. Know that you are important enough to take the time to be still and be with who we really are. Every person has wants, needs, and desires. We need time to focus solely on ourselves and satisfy our needs. Many of us were taught that these things were selfish and unimportant. We learned to disconnect and hide, lie and make excuses about our needs. We pretend we don't need or want pleasure. We substitute food for what we really needed in life. We end up with a love/hate relationship with food. We try to force ourselves not to eat, especially not to sneak eat. And we punish and criticize ourselves for not being able to stop.

Recognize that sneak eating is not about your having shameful desires that cannot be controlled. Instead, sneak eating indicates that you have healthy, natural, human longings that you were not taught how to address.

QUESTIONS
There are a variety of things you can do to help build-up your willpower and let go of the need to sneak eat. Discover what motivates your behavior by asking yourself a few questions as each incident occurs.

* Where are you when you sneak eat?

* What were you thinking about right before you ate it?

* What were you feeling before you began eating?

* What need is this food filling (or stuffing) in your life?

* What else, other than food, would fill the wants and desires that you have?

* What is it that you really need?

Answering these questions and keeping a journal of your answers for future reference will help you understand what prompts your behavior. Your journal entries will serve as a starting place towards noting ideas. These ideas will help you work towards solutions once you are able to more readily recognize your pattern.

Dr. Annette Colby, RD
Nutrition Therapist & Master Energy Healer
For free inspirational newsletter, articles & info visit: http://www.LovingMiracles.com
972.985.8750
"Opening Creative Portals to Success"


MORE RESOURCES:

CBC.ca

Going Online May Help Overcome Hurdles to Weight Loss
FOXNews
For this Web-based phase, the study's authors asked users to log on to a weight-loss support website and record their weight and the amount of exercise they ...
Recording Weight Loss Online Could Help You Lose MoreRTT News
The Internet may be a good weight loss tool -- as long as you log onLos Angeles Times
Motivation Speeds Weight Loss Results, Keeps Weight OffTechnorati (blog)
MedPage Today -Dr. Cutler -kgw.com
all 112 news articles »


Us Magazine

Drew Carey Weight Loss:Diabetes Cured?
Health Related Infos (blog)
Drew Carey's weight loss has drastically improved his health on many fronts. Previously, the actor suffered from diabetes. Losing the weight helped curb his ...
Drew Carey on 80-Pound Weight Loss: "It Sucks Being Fat"Seattle Post Intelligencer
Drew Carey's dramatic 80 pound weight loss, before and after photosExaminer.com
Drew Carey shows off 80-pound weight lossTbo.com
New York Daily News -Right TV -Celebrities With Diseases
all 185 news articles »


Daily News & Analysis

Next Weight Loss Drug on FDA Agenda: Contrave
HealthNews
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began reviews this month on three new weight loss drugs. The first to be reviewed, Qnexa developed by ...
Weight-Loss Combo Appears EffectiveMedPage Today
Combo Weight Loss Pill Fights Cravings and AppetiteWebMD
Orexigen weight-loss drug shows positive results in studyFierceBiotech
MSN Health & Fitness -NASDAQ -ABC News
all 61 news articles »


New Study Suggests Online Diet Programs Are Very Effective for Weight-Loss ...
MarketWatch (press release)
The study by Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research found that regular users of a weight-loss site developed specifically for the study maintained ...

and more »


Sydney Morning Herald

Chelsea Clinton's stunning wedding makeover: Weight loss & plastic surgery
Examiner.com
So how's Bill wedding weight-loss plan going? "I'm halfway home," he says. Chelsea, who went through some awkward adolescent years during her dad's ...
Chelsea Clinton's wedding: ready for her big moment and moreTelegraph.co.uk

all 4,048 news articles »


Fairfax principal apologizes for yearbook ad, stops selling weight-loss products
Washington Post
An advertisement that Principal Nardos King placed in the Mount Vernon High School yearbook, for weight-loss products she sold in ...



How unrealistic expectations could affect your weight loss
Helium
When you weigh over fifty more pounds than you should it is going to take quite awhile to shift the weight if you stick to the recommended weight loss of ...
Quick Wedding Weight Loss Can Be DangerouseMaxHealth
Weight Loss: Chelsea Clinton's Wedding--Who's Fat?Huffington Post (blog)
Why women often gain weight after their weddingHelium

all 5 news articles »


ModernMedicine

Combination Weight Loss Drugs Appear Effective for Obesity Naltrexone and ...
ModernMedicine
FRIDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment with two obesity drugs, naltrexone and bupropion, plus lifestyle modification appears effective in helping ...

and more »


Washington Post

Ellen DeGeneres Resigns in American Idol – Contrave Promises Weight Loss
Zacquisha
We go to another health story, a new supplement promises weight loss but it is still on its experimental stage. Orexigen's experimental drug Contrave is ...
Drew Carey Weight Loss Secret; Ellen DeGeneres Leaves American IdolSassyqarla Entertainment Blog Site
Jennifer Lopez To Join The American Idol JudgesGaea Times (blog)

all 2,408 news articles »


TopNews Arab Emirates

Addiction drugs 'aid weight loss'
BBC News
The Lancet reports that Naltrexone, commonly used to treat alcoholics and heroin addicts, and the anti-smoking drug bupropion led to greater weight loss ...
Addiction drugs “aid weight lossPharmacy Europe
Addiction drugs 'aid weight loss'One News Page
Anti-addiction drugs 'improve weight loss'Nursing Times
TopNews Arab Emirates -Belfast Telegraph -Behavioral Health Central (blog)
all 38 news articles »

Google News

home | site map
©EmptyNestNow.com 2006