Archive | February 2010

Hungry When You’re Not

Feb10

How can you be hungry when you’re not?  Why does your mind tell you one thing and your heart tell you another and both make you feel like eating? Why do feelings and food seem to be so closely related?

Good questions, all. Hunger is a feeling that occurs when the body feels stress. Usually it is a signal that the body needs fuel, and the obvious response is to eat. This relieves the stress and makes us feel balanced again.

We may not think of feelings and stress in the same thought sequence but emotions do create stress. It may be positive stress which has the feeling of abundance or negative stress which has the feeling of lack.

It’s the negative stress that can really get a food addict’s motor running. Emotional eating is an accepted practice in our society. We feel an emptiness inside and it feels natural to want to fill it with food, but a food addict can take that practice to the extreme.

There are different kinds of hunger. Hunger is a feeling with a name and a face. In other words, hunger has an identity, one not always associated with food.

So what about feeling hungry when you’re not hungry? Well, there are those words again. If you’re going to call it hunger, you’re going to think of food.

What emotions make you eat? When someone dies, I don’t feel like eating at all. When sadness or loneliness consumes me, I crave music, fresh air, deep breaths, the sounds of nature.

My heart knows that these things will re-establish my connection with the Universe and get me back on track. Once the harmony returns all is well, but until it does, everything seems a little off-center.

Food is always the answer to hunger, but what kind of food for what kind of hunger? If we are lonely, should we not seek out friendship instead of eating a quart of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream?

If we are hungry for intellectual stimulation, should we not go to a library or an art museum, read a book, or have lunch with someone who speaks in full sentences and present tenses.

There are many kinds of hunger, and food isn’t the only answer. It is one answer, though, and an important answer for emotional eaters and food addicts.

If you feel hungry when you’re not, it’s time to get connected again.

Advice for Food Addicts: Spit It Out

Feb9

An elderly doctor gave me some advice years ago that I was reminded of today. He had retired from his medical practice of nearly half a century and had begun treating patients using nutritional therapies.

This was in the 70’s when nutritional medicine was a more secretive practice than it is today. On one of my evening visits to his Trenton, New Jersey office, Dr. Getlen diagnosed my hypoglycemia.

Until that time, other doctors had attributed my symptoms to a variety of things. Among their suggested diagnoses were newlywed shell shock and a possible brain tumor. I’m not kidding.

That same night I confided to Dr. Getlen that I ate uncontrollably whenever I felt nervous. We didn’t call it stress back then. We didn’t call ourselves emotional eaters or food addicts in those days either.

Whenever my blood sugar would drop, I would crave sweets. Once the addictive feelings began, I ate until the candy was gone. Food addiction creates more problems than just weight gain, and no one knows that better than me.

Today, I was watching a small child eat candy at the urging of her mother. “Try this one, Honey.” The child chewed the jellied candy vigorously and then spit it out. She did this repeatedly until the woman threatened to keep all the candy for herself. No comment on that one.

She asked the little girl why she kept spitting out the candy. The little girl replied very politely and matter-of-factly, “I already tasted it”.

Suddenly, Dr. Getlen’s words came back to me. He told me how to eat what I wanted without having to feel guilty about eating or worrying about gaining weight.

He told me that when I got the urge to overeat sweets to do it. He said to be sure to chew whatever I ate thoroughly and savor every bite.

Then, to my surprise and puzzlement, he told me not to swallow the food, but instead to spit it out. He said it was my mind that was in control and it was only interested in pleasing my taste buds.

He was right. I did it and it worked, especially with jelly beans. That little girl knew the secret and observing her, I was reminded of it.

It may sound like a terrible waste to spit out the food, and it would be rather disgusting if you did it at a restaurant.

The object of the exercise, however, is to satisfy your hunger without turning your body into a garbage dump. So, try it and see if it works for you too. But only at home.

P.S. It doesn’t work with ice cream.

5 Ways to Tell if You Have a Problem With Food Addiction

Feb2

Food addictions are more than just emotional eating or overeating. There are very specific behaviours associated with a food addiction. Here are five ways to tell if your eating pattern signals a food addiction.

  1. Your mind goes to food at the first sign of stress.
  2. You have an uncontrollable urge to eat when you feel uncomfortable, regardless of the situation.
  3. You eat forbidden foods out of sight of others, i.e. the bathroom or the car.
  4. You feel ashamed when you buy a candy bar, chips, or ice cream, often making excuses to the cashier during the purchase.
  5. You continue to eat as if you are starving, even after you feel full and continuing to eat is making you feel uncomfortable.

When you are addicted to something, you feel as though you cannot live without it, as if you will cease to exist if you cannot get what you need immediately.

Food addictions are no different from other types of addictions. First you feel out of control (stress) and then you act out of control (stuffing down your feelings with food).

Regaining control is the only way to pull out of the situation. Sometimes that happens in a matter of minutes. At other times, it may take hours or even days. When my sister died, I ate for several days non-stop.

Everyone is different but two things remain constant. Emotional trauma is always at the root of a food addiction, and stress is always the trigger.

There are many warning signs when it comes to food addictions but if you have these five, chances are you’re in deep. It may be time to ask for help.