Weight Loss Information

Overcoming Secretive Eating


Finally - you are alone. No one else is around. Maybe you've waited until they are all soundly asleep. You find yourself in the kitchen sneaking food. Sometimes it's cake, sometimes it's ice cream. Other times you're standing in front of the refrigerator eating leftovers without a plate. Once in a while, you plan ahead, stocking up on your favorite goodies on the drive home.

Almost in a trance-like state, you begin eating the foods you don't want anyone to know you eat... in volumes you don't want anyone to know you want. You eat quickly, not wanting to get caught. The irony is that you're not really enjoying the food, you're not really hungry, and you don't know why you are doing it. Initially there is a sense of freedom, exhilaration, and relief. But something odd also occurs. When eating becomes secretive, it becomes both more exciting and more difficult to give up. A devastating cycle begins. The lure of sneak eating progresses, but so does the sense of guilt and failure. Of course, this leads to more sneak eating and on it goes. It becomes a overwhelming cycle that generates a life of it's own.

EMOTIONAL NEEDS
Sneak eating is a metaphor for real needs. These are needs that are typically not addressed. We think we shouldn't have them. Or we don't know how to deal with them. It's usually a time we can be alone, with all our wants and desires. It is a time we don't have to pretend to be capable, competent, pleasant, likeable, strong, and without needs. It is a time to be entirely self-centered, where you don't have to take care of the needs of anyone else and can focus completely on yourself.

Sneak eating is about hunger. Hunger that develops because of the deprivation of strict diets, restrictive food plans, and the list of "bad" foods that you "shouldn't" be eating. Sneak eating is also a substitute for emotional comfort. A way to nurture the unaddressed feelings of shame, guilt, low self-esteem and loneliness. These feelings may be with you most of the day. It is only when the pace slows down, that the emotions begin to emerge. Not knowing how to handle these powerful emotions, eating follows. Eating in isolation can be a way of stuffing down emotions that seem overwhelming. Eating alone can provide down time without the interruption of family, work, or other responsibilities.

THE 10 MOST POWERFUL FEELINGS YOU EAT TO KILL

1. Hurt

2. Guilt

3. Anger

4. Shame

5. Lonely

6. Anxiety

7. Self-hate

8. Disappointment

9. Emptiness

10. Deprivation

These feelings are normal for every human being. We each need to take the time, and learn the skills, to sit with our emotions. Recognize that it is essential to know what is going on within our bodies. Know that you are important enough to take the time to be still and be with who we really are. Every person has wants, needs, and desires. We need time to focus solely on ourselves and satisfy our needs. Many of us were taught that these things were selfish and unimportant. We learned to disconnect and hide, lie and make excuses about our needs. We pretend we don't need or want pleasure. We substitute food for what we really needed in life. We end up with a love/hate relationship with food. We try to force ourselves not to eat, especially not to sneak eat. And we punish and criticize ourselves for not being able to stop.

Recognize that sneak eating is not about your having shameful desires that cannot be controlled. Instead, sneak eating indicates that you have healthy, natural, human longings that you were not taught how to address.

QUESTIONS
There are a variety of things you can do to help build-up your willpower and let go of the need to sneak eat. Discover what motivates your behavior by asking yourself a few questions as each incident occurs.

* Where are you when you sneak eat?

* What were you thinking about right before you ate it?

* What were you feeling before you began eating?

* What need is this food filling (or stuffing) in your life?

* What else, other than food, would fill the wants and desires that you have?

* What is it that you really need?

Answering these questions and keeping a journal of your answers for future reference will help you understand what prompts your behavior. Your journal entries will serve as a starting place towards noting ideas. These ideas will help you work towards solutions once you are able to more readily recognize your pattern.

Dr. Annette Colby, RD
Nutrition Therapist & Master Energy Healer
For free inspirational newsletter, articles & info visit: http://www.LovingMiracles.com
972.985.8750
"Opening Creative Portals to Success"


MORE RESOURCES:

Call 4 Action: Marketing Of 'Weight Loss' Berry Drawing Fire
MSNBC - 10 hours ago
Dietician Lesli Bonci said there are no studies to back up any weight loss claims of the berries. They actually have fewer cancer-fighting particles than ...
Warning issued about diet supplements ABC7Chicago.com
Acai Promoters Targeted by BBB, Arizona Natural Products Marketplace
all 57 news articles


San Francisco Chronicle

Judd Signs on For Weight Loss Brand
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 3 hours ago
Country singer Wynonna Judd is getting in shape for 2009 as the new face of a weight-loss product. The star, 44, will front slimming pills Alli, ...
Wynonna Partners With Weight Loss Aid Country Weekly
GSK Signs Wynonna Judd to Endorse Alli, Its Flagging Weight Loss Drug BNET
Credit: Arnold Turner/WireImage People Magazine
PR Newswire (press release) - Radar Online
all 34 news articles


ABC News

Steve Jobs' weight loss may be linked to his earlier cancer ...
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - Jan 5, 2009
(MARIA J. AVILA/MERCURY NEWS) Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent weight loss may be linked to his prior surgery for pancreatic cancer and is likely treatable, ...
Video: Steve Jobs Weight Loss Due to Hormone Imbalance AssociatedPress
Steve Jobs Says Hormone Imbalance Caused Weight Loss Bloomberg
Apple's Jobs Blames Weight Loss on Hormones PC Magazine
Taipei Times - Computerworld
all 2,687 news articles


Washington Times

Researchers question whether physical activity contributes to ...
Austin American-Statesman, TX - 7 hours ago
A study, led by a team at Loyola University in Maywood, Ill., questions whether physical activity is important for weight loss. The study compared African ...
Activity Shown To Be Less Important for Weight Loss Than Food eMaxHealth.com
all 12 news articles


CTV.ca

Paul Bettany Talks Wife’s Weight Loss
Just Jared, NY - 7 hours ago
Paul also addressed the weight loss rumors about his wife, Jennifer Connelly. “I will tell you… My wife just lost her father,” he explained to OK!.
PAUL BETTANY - BETTANY: 'WIFE'S WEIGHTLOSS IS DOWN TO GRIEF' Contactmusic.com
all 268 news articles


USA Today

Weight loss tip of 2008: 'The Write Diet'
Examiner.com - 13 hours ago
University-based weight-loss experts and a handful of smaller research studies also have verified that writing down the food and calories you eat each day ...
The key to weight loss: portion control Globe and Mail
EAT THIS, NOT THAT! SUPERMARKET SURVIVAL GUIDE The No-Diet Weight ... Earthtimes (press release)
Eat less, add flavor, lose the weight Boston Globe
Liberty Tribune - WISC
all 25 news articles


A look at weight-loss spokeswomen
Chicago Tribune, United States - 18 hours ago
The actress will continue as a spokeswoman for the weight-loss chain, People.com reports, noting that Latifah, 38, shed 20 pounds in 2008 while maintaining ...


100-calorie packs don’t help much with weight loss, experts say
Newsday, NY - 6 hours ago
Rothstein lost 40 pounds four years ago -- and kept it off -- after trying "every weight loss program you can name." She credits her success to a change in ...


New York Daily News

Food Banks to Benefit from Weight Loss Challenge
Promo Magazine, NY - 12 hours ago
General Mills, NBC’s “Biggest Loser” and Feeding America are collaborating on a weight loss challenge that will deliver a pound of groceries to local food ...
Weight loss program benefits Winchester News Gazette
Let the weight loss begin Martinsburg Journal
'The Biggest Loser: Couples' cuts nine contestants in opening twist Reality TV World
Zap2it.com - Entertainment Weekly
all 84 news articles


Weight loss puts area resident in national spotlight
Keokuk Gate City Daily, IA - 10 hours ago
By Robin Delaney/MVM News Network NAUVOO, Ill. - Losing 45 pounds in six months has many rewards (a lot of positive attention, a new wardrobe of a much ...
Tri-state resident featured in People ConnectTriStates.com powered by KHQA
all 2 news articles

Weight-Loss - Google News

home | site map
© 2006