Emotional Eating

One of the greatest challenges we all have in this life is to control and overcome “the natural man”. As stated in the Book of Mormon:

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
--Mosiah 3:19

Also from the New Testament:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
--I Corinthians 3:16-17

The natural man relates to our natural bodily impulses, urges, and cravings. One of those cravings is food. Meaning, not eating food for nutrition purposes, but for reasons besides nutrition: taste, entertainment, escape, and other emotional shifts. When we have unpleasant emotions such as boredom, loneliness, stress, anger, depression, anxiety, etc., there are numerous ways to combat those feelings—both healthy and unhealthy. The most regrettable choice is to go to an unhealthy addictive outlet and escape. Doing something that will immediately, powerfully, and effectively shift and improve how we are feeling, even though the effect is very temporary and generally harmful to ourselves. This payoff and reinforcement are what makes emotional eating so tempting. Usually, after emotional eating, feelings of guilt, regret, and remorse are common. We feel bloated and know the scale will be heavier the next day. So, what are some ways to battle emotional eating and not give in?

Ideas to Battle Emotional Eating:

*Don’t keep dangerous foods around the house. When you keep foods high sugar, simple carbs, and/or high in saturated or trans fats around the house, you are setting yourself up for temptation and binges of emotional eating. Be minimal with keeping such foods around the house. And any tempting/less healthy foods you do still have at home, don’t place them out so conveniently.

*Avoid fast food. If you plan out your healthy eating and do early meal preparation, you minimize the temptation to give in to fast food. Make an extensive healthy food list to pick up at the store. Plan out your healthy meals and keep healthy snacks around. This makes for a good preventative maintenance again emotional eating with fast food.

*Stock healthy snacks. The safest foods to have around to snack on are sometimes called “negative calorie foods”. These healthy fruits and vegetables are thought to take more energy for your body to burn off that they add, and are pretty safe to not add weight on you. Google negative calorie foods and read up on them, choose accordingly. Here are 11 negative calorie foods to get you started:

Celery
Berries
Grapefruit
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Apples
Zucchini
Broccoli
Lettuce

(Source: https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/11-foods-that-burn-more-calories-than-they-contain-1679965)

*Exercise regularly: the more you exercise, the less likely you will be to emotionally eat. And the reverse is true as well. Exercise promotes health, energy, positive mood, and self-esteem as well. Regular exercise also helps with stress management and the management of other negative moods.

*Drink a lot of water: The less thirsty you are and the more you keep your stomach full of water, the less hungry you will be, less often. Plus, the more water you drink, the more toxins and impurities you flush out of your system and the better you hydrate your cells to help with your overall health. Keep a source of water with and by you at all times. You will drink more just by doing that.

Listen to a hypnosis each night before bed: condition your mind away from emotional eating and towards treating food as fuel and nutrition only. Some good, related sessions from www.hypnosisdownloads.com:

https://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/weight-loss/think-thin
https://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/weight-loss/emotional-eating
https://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/weight-loss/binge-eating
https://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/weight-loss/boredom-eating
https://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/weight-loss/comfort-eating

The more you listen to these kinds of related hypnosis sessions, the better you will train yourself to change and improve your relationships with food and your eating habits. Hypnosis is not a magic bullet and some repetition will be required to recondition your mind. However, the results are worth it.

Final Thoughts:

In previous articles, I talk about weight and weight loss. Emotional eating is also important to conquer if you have an interest in weight loss and maintenance. Overcoming gluttony, binge eating, and emotional eating requires overcoming the natural man and our instinctive urges to eat a lot and eat what is not good for us. The natural man also prompts us to eat when we have no physical need to do so. Control this element of the natural man for optimum health, wellness, fitness, mood, and self-esteem. You will be very glad you did. And remember that “…neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.”—1 Corinthians 11:1.

Dr. G
P.S. If you have any questions, comments, or a future article request for me, feel free to contact me at drgilchrist@yahoo.com.

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About the author

Hello, my name is Dr. Randy Gilchrist (aka "Dr. G"). I am a licensed clinical psychologist, a licensed marriage & family therapist, and a certified hypnotherapist in private practice in Roseville, CA (www.dr-rg.com), practicing since 1997. Also, I am happily married in the temple (Manti) since 1996 and have 4 sons. I am a volunteer writer and contributor to LDS Dimension. I use my training, education, and experience to share insights with LDS Dimension on all things of interest to the LDS dating community. Please read my articles and columns on this site to assist you in your online dating journey. Also, to be considered for an answer in a future Q and A column, please email me your dating/relationship oriented questions to drgilchrist@yahoo.com. Finally, I also offer a powerful, effective worldwide custom hypnosis recording service just for LDS Dimension members for weight loss, pornography, and many other issues of concern to those in the LDS dating community (please learn more now at www.dr-rg.com/lds; email me questions to drgilchrist@yahoo.com).