Emotional overrating

[tangerine]

I am an emotional eater. I weigh 26stone and have done mywhole adult life. When I get anxious or stressed or both I eat and eat and many times I have no memory of what I've eaten. I'm a post graduate, I'm not stupid but over eating is my problem. I do not smoke or drink. It's hard to access help, dietitian and doctors focus on what I eat and the amounts but they don't understand about emotional over eating. I wonder if I should be referred to a psychiatrist? Any advice truly welcome

[Gary Turner]

Hi Tangerine, hope you are well!

I wonder, as you think of your name, how many vitamins and minerals there are in a tangerine, and also the effects of the glucose and fructose from them? I like tangerines, they're food to go in their own wrapper, and come without pips!!

My friend and peer Adam Eason I'm sure will pop onto this thread. As a hypnotherapist too what you have presented is quite common in our clients, and any psych worker (hypnotherapist, cognitive behavioural therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist) with the right experience will be able to help.

"When I get anxious or stressed" you have attached this stimulus with the action of eating. (See carbohydrate notes in a bit). Replace this action of eating with a new action, that satisfies you every bit as much physically yet even more so emotionally. A skilled psych worker such as me and Adam will attach a negative emotion to the old behaviour (move you away from it) and attach a positive emotion to the new behaviour (guide you to it). We would also help you with any self talk and personality traits driving you towards this behaviour.

Mind you, in the first instance all psych workers will also work with the anxious and stressed!! Stop this, and there is no trigger point!

I would seek help, Adam has THE best school for hypnotherapists in the country (my STRONG! opinion) and should be able to point you in the right referral direction. It is something that I have worked with often, and normally it doesn't take too long to resolve. Every person is an individual though!

Carbohydrates notes:
If you reach for carbs, sugars and so on, you will increase your hunger and this will drive you to eat more carbs, therefore leading to over-eating. So if you must eat, chose foods such as protein and fats instead, or at least if they are carbohydrates choose them from a low GI source.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure the other experts will dive in too!

[Rachel Morris]

Hi Tangerine,

If you check the Beat website and click on HelpFinder you may be able to find an emotional overeating support group local to you. The groups do not discuss calories or weight loss, they are designed to give attendees peer support so you could talk through your feelings surrounding food with people that may share the same or similar feelings.

If you need any more information email us at eosg@b-eat.co.uk

Our other support groups at Beat have proved that talking with others who share similar experiences can be so valuable.

[tangerine]

Wow! How wonderful to receive not only a reply but such a thoughtful reply. Carbs are indeed my weakness. I was recently diagnosed with hypoglycaemia and the low blood sugar is the cause of the fatigue I feel. Hypnotherapy is not something I've ever considered. I'm open to trying anything that can help me break the cycle. I hit 40 this year and ive been size 26/28 my whole adult life. I'm tired of being tired. Thank you so very much for your reply! No one ever seems to want to tackle the behaviour of my over eating. I shall look up the man you name in your reply. You have no idea how much your reply means

[Gary Turner]

I am currently peeling a satsuma. I wanted a tangerine, yet Tescos didn't have any earlier!

Thanks for the feedback! Yep, Adam will be able to give you good recommendations, AND hopefully add to my post above.

Eating carbs, especially simple sugars, gives you a hormonal response that sets you up for fat storage of any excess energy, and also drives your hunger. So you never get sated on a simple carbohydrate snack - so you keep eating.

"Tired of being tired" Bet you have been - the blood glucose will have been spiking and then plummetting all over the place! No wonder you've had hypoglycaemia!

Dietary wise look to replace your simple sugars and carbs with carbohydrates that give less of a glucose spike, Google 'low GI foods' to give yourself the idea. And stop yourself snacking on carbs, find an alternative!

Overeating will have a psychological AND a physiological cause. Hopefully I've given you the heads up on potential causes - and solutions - from both sides...