All emotional eaters have a trigger. There are many triggers, things that happen in your life that make you just start eating like it was an event or something.

One of mine is lack of sleep. When I don’t get enough sleep, my body will take anything it can use for energy. When you’re up for 20 hours or more a day, it’s all you can do to get through the days.

Somehow I manage to do a pretty good job of it. Yet, I cannot deny that I do not always make the best choices when a few days of 2-3 hours of sleep a night combine to sabotage whatever good run I had going.

Stress is definitely in the other camp. Psychologists talk about good stress and bad stress but I am not convinced that the body can differentiate between the two.

It’s that blasted middle brain that’s the culprit. We still have the same instincts our distant ancestors had when the biggest threat to survival was starvation. Of course, I imagine wild animals and opposing tribes played their parts too.

But let’s talk about starvation for a minute, since it is a strong sensation and motivating factor in food addictions. I use the plural because there are many food addictions and they do not manifest in the same ways, nor are they triggered by generic incidents.

Every food addict is unique in their addiction. Only the addiction can be considered in general terms and/or categorized.

When ancient man had to go for long periods of time without eating, a part of the brain kicked in and said, “Dude, you’re starving but fear not because guess what? I’m going to store everything you eat as fat so you can use it later when you’re really going to need it.” Every time the stress and panic gripped our ancient earthlings, the body was programmed to store food as fat.

Well, guess what? When you get stressed or panicky, that part of the brain that sends the message to the body system to store fat kicks in.

You feel like you’re starving even though the stress is usually caused by something else. And the body does the only thing it knows how to do. And this isn’t the same with everyone. Some people have a metabolism that can cook anything. But not so with food addicts.

Relax, have fun, take it easy, don’t stress. Just listening to those phrases can be stressful.

One of the best things you can do to bust the stress is to get your mind out of the past and the future and focus on what is going on right now at this present moment. It sounds crazy but the hunger seems to fade when you can be in the moment, even if its a short moment.

Baby steps. Only one thing at a time. Take a walk. Contemplate or do a spiritual exercise, or pray. Go within. Open your heart.

Try a new technique. Get healthy. Learn something. Don’t be helpless or let yourself think you’re pathetic, even if your situation is.

Things will change. They always do. Don’t give up.