Why can’t I stop eating?

Feeding ourselves is a basic need for our survival; but, without a doubt, it is also a pleasure. When the line between physical hunger and emotional hunger becomes blurred, problems can arise. If sometimes you feel like you can’t stop eating, here we explain why.

Food is the way we fill our body with “fuel” to function on a day-to-day basis. Ideally, this diet should provide us with the nutrients to maintain good physical and mental condition. However, We live in a hurried and disconnected society, in which unhealthy culinary temptations are many.

The cause of poor nutrition can be found directly on the psychological level.. Most of the time, when a person overeats, he does not do it because he feels excessive physical hunger. Generally the problem is found in an unhealthy psychological relationship with food.

Excessive restriction

Everyone knows that society imposes beauty standards that, more or less clearly, we all try to meet. But the issue is not limited only to the aesthetic aspect, Many times for health reasons we want to lose weight.

To achieve this, we implement various food restriction mechanisms, skipping some meals or stopping eating large food groups. Faced with this drastic and unsustainable change, our mind reveals itself and pushes us to eat food compulsively after a period of restriction. And it is precisely the categories of foods that we have forbidden ourselves that we most want to attack without control.

The problem is that, at some point, we lost sight of the real function of food. Food is not an enemy, it is necessary for our well-being. If we suffer from an overweight problem, the solution will never be to condemn some food groups or impose a level of restriction that we cannot bear. The only way out is to establish a healthy relationship with food.

The process inevitably involves a change in beliefs, in which we begin to see food as allies for our health. In which we manage to start eating in a conscious and balanced way. And, of course, in which we accept that a healthy weight loss process is gradual, not immediate, and is based on a long-term change in habits instead of an impossible and one-time diet.

emotional eating

This is another of the big issues that tend to be at the root of our inability to stop eating. When we eat our brain releases numerous neurotransmitters that cause us pleasant sensations. That is to say, Eating is followed by a heightened feeling of well-being and immediate reward.

Because of this, many people begin to use food as a way to regulate their emotions. When we face high levels of anxiety or depression, we should implement healthy and adaptive coping resources. But if, for whatever reason, we have not managed to acquire or develop them, eating becomes a substitute.

When a person eats emotionally, their hunger does not originate in their stomach but in their mind. The need to eat arises suddenly and urgently. We want to eat certain types of unhealthy foods and we eat automatically, without being aware of the time or amount of food.

Consequently, we end up unpleasantly full and, after a short period of time, we do not feel guilty and ashamed for our behavior. This is why many people who eat emotionally tend to do so out of the way, so that no one can see them.

How can I stop eating?

Give food back its proper function. He tries to stop seeing her as a comfort or an enemy. We encourage you to establish a healthy relationship with food since you simply use them to obtain the nutrients you need.

Learn to differentiate physical hunger from emotional hunger. To do this, you need to connect with yourself and your own sensations. Begin to distinguish when you feel like eating because you are bored, overwhelmed or sad, and when you do it because you truly feel hungry.

Develop healthier emotional regulation mechanisms. Meditation or relaxation techniques are very valid options to manage negative emotions. Finally, youWe encourage you to go to a professional to guide you and guide you through the process.

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