Emotional hunger: how to get rid of it?

How to control hunger? Emotional hunger

The feeling of hunger forces a person to look for food in order to get energy for the body. Hunger is programmed genetically, at the level of reflexes.

And we are talking about physiological hunger, about that hunger when a person is ready to eat any food. And again, such hunger occurs if a person goes for a long time without food.

But what to do with hunger if 2 hours or even 15 minutes have passed since eating?

The head and stomach stubbornly send signals that you need to eat, and, moreover, not a dry crust of bread, but, for example, a sandwich or candy.

How to recognize emotional hunger

For modern people, food is not only a way to satisfy hunger, but also a source of gastronomic pleasure. Many of us have noticed that we eat not because we have an appetite, but because we have nothing to do, an attractive package of nuts caught our eye, and we want to treat ourselves to something tasty.

As a result of this, numerous snacks occur and the desire to eat as much as possible. Indeed, it is difficult to resist when there is so much delicious and tempting food around. Many people are emotionally dependent on food; they eat away stress and disappointment, or, conversely, gorge themselves in honor of a joyful event. It is difficult for them to imagine how it is possible to eat only three or four small meals a day, because we are surrounded by so many goodies. And, by the way, such emotional dependence leads to excess weight, which, in turn, leads to health problems.

Nutritionists are confident that snacking between meals is the main cause of excess weight. Therefore, in order to regain your former slimness, you do not need to go on grueling diets, which are often harmful to health. First of all, you need to normalize your diet. Below we will give factors that can help you determine what kind of hunger is driving you: physical or emotional. Having learned to distinguish between them, you can begin to control your appetite and normalize your nutrition system.

If you feel like eating something delicious right after you've had a big meal, you can be sure that it's emotional hunger. Physical hunger appears at least two to four hours after eating. This is the time during which food has time to be digested.

Emotional hunger can occur at any time of the day, even in the middle of the night. Physical hunger occurs only at the time when you usually eat. And, if you didn’t have time to eat, the body reminds you that it would be nice to eat.

Physical hunger is absolutely unpretentious. When you are truly hungry, you don’t care what is in front of you - a plate of buckwheat porridge or a tray of stuffed goose. You want one thing - to eat as quickly as possible. Emotional hunger is selective. If you want crab with avocado or seafood pizza, know that you are affected by emotional, not physical hunger.

Emotional hunger is often triggered through the senses of smell and vision. So, having seen a delicious cake in a store window, you definitely want to eat at least a piece and feel your stomach rumble pitifully, asking for a delicacy. Instead of going to the store and buying a miracle of confectionery art, ask yourself if you want borscht or semolina porridge. If the answer is no, then pass by the tempting display case. If you really wanted to eat, you would agree to both borscht and semolina porridge. By the way, employees of the trade sector are well aware of a person’s emotional dependence on food and successfully use it. So, from the kiosk where grilled chicken is sold, the tempting smell of spices emanates, and in shops everywhere the aromas of freshly baked bread float, which whet the appetite.

Since emotional hunger is a product of our consciousness, you can get rid of it, for example, by switching your attention to something else. There is only one way to get rid of physical hunger - by eating something.

Physical hunger does not lead to the formation of excess weight, since, having received the required amount of food, the body gives a signal of satiety. Emotional hunger forces you to eat more and more, which contributes to extra pounds.

It is very important to pay attention to the following aspect: how do you feel after eating? If, after eating another cutlet, you are firmly convinced that you needed it to satisfy your hunger, and you get healthy satisfaction from food, then you are driven by physical hunger. If you realize that the last cake was clearly too much and feel remorse for having overeaten again, you can rest assured that you have emotional hunger. The same goes for the time you spend at the dinner table. A person only needs about ten minutes to get enough, but if you need half an hour to eat, prolonging the pleasure, emotional hunger is telling you.

If you find yourself showing signs of emotional hunger, don’t worry, everything can be fixed. Try to distract yourself when you realize that you are tormented by emotional hunger, take a certain amount of money to the store so as not to buy too much. If you cannot cope with the problem on your own, contact a psychologist. You just need to want to change yourself, and you will succeed.

There are 2 types of hunger - physiological and emotional.

Today, let's talk about emotional hunger.

If after eating you feel hungry again, then most likely it’s emotional hunger.

And also, there is a desire to chew, nibble, or occupy your mouth with something, this also refers to emotional hunger.

And here, you need to focus your attention on your emotions and inner state.

It will be good to ask yourself questions and answer them yourself.

What I feel?
I am sad?
I'm bored?
I'm upset?
Upset about what?
Am I angry, am I dissatisfied?
Am I worried about something?
I'm tired?
Do I need to rest? After you ask yourself these questions, you will definitely find the reason.
And after that, ask yourself the most important question - can I use food to influence the outcome of this problem?
Of course, if you are sad, then maybe while eating, you will switch your thoughts and feelings to the taste of food, but then?
And then, the feeling of guilt...
Most often, when asking yourself questions, the feeling of emotional hunger decreases, and sometimes disappears completely.
And if you can’t get rid of the desire to eat something, then you need to eat slowly and enjoy it to the maximum.
But be sure, before you start eating, you need to tell yourself:

“I have a problem (emotion, feeling, situation) and at the moment I cannot cope with it without food, but I know about it, and subsequently, I will learn to cope with problems and feelings without food.”

In order to cope with the emotional hunger that arises from boredom, from doing nothing, you definitely need some kind of activity, some kind of occupation.

And switch your attention and apply your efforts to this activity.

It could be some kind of hobby or handicraft, maybe reading or a walk, but you need to keep your brain and hands busy.

How to cope with hunger at home? Science-Based Approaches

It is important to be able to determine what type of hunger you are experiencing. It is also important to choose the right action - to approach the fight against this hunger in the right way. It's also worth noting that the methods you use to combat true hunger may not be the same as those you use to deal with emotional hunger (and vice versa). Much will depend on the specific situation.

We will separate the methods and tell you about the need to take different actions when you feel different types of hunger. However, this does not mean that you cannot combine them with each other, because these methods can replace each other. After all, they target the same sensation: hunger. Only the reasons that cause this feeling are different.

Psychological hunger forum. Psychological hunger. How to eliminate it?

Good evening everyone! The problem is a psychological glutton. I lost 15 extra and 5 not extra weight just by changing the foods, but the problem remained. All my life I eat very simply, it satisfies me, there is no dependence on food, it’s impossible to find fault with breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, about 2 thousand kcal. And satiety right away. I distinguish between a real feeling of hunger (when I’m physically ill), appetite (for example, they give me a treat, I think I want it, but I can easily refuse). And gluttony. Every evening, having had dinner at 7, having eaten enough, at 8 I turn into a zombie. I want to chew every 10 minutes. This is not hunger - there is no desire to repeat dinner, or drink tea with my favorite sandwiches. It doesn’t depend on what I’m doing, idle around / household chores/sports/left home, in any situation I will chew. Previously, it was nuts and seeds, chips and crackers, cookies and crackers, popcorn, and a full bag of sweets and lollipops if not at home. I lost weight by replacing all this with, first, seasonal grapes, berries, then with pieces of apples, now pomegranate, slices tangerine. In a gum bag. This made me lose weight, and I don’t feel like eating nuts and chips, but having realized my problem, how irritating all this began to irritate me. I feel like some kind of animal! This is not hunger, not a craving for tasty things, not munching on boredom (always busy with something) or problems (on weekends, even if I don’t do anything, from morning to evening there will be no hunger). This is some time X, from 8 to 11 evening. I pull myself together, I suffer from this irritation, all my thoughts are only about chewing. I can’t stand it, I go to chew, it’s also annoying, because I understand that this is not normal. I don’t understand the reason, I don’t know how to get rid of it. I have enough willpower, but if I don’t hamster, all my thoughts are only about food, I start to get nervous, it’s unpleasant if I have this condition. Girls, does anyone have similar problems, how to deal with it? How to find the cause and stop this constant multi-hour meal? Thanks in advance for your answers!

How to deal with emotional hunger?

Food for humans is one of the brightest sources of pleasure. And we all want to have fun again and again, which leads to constant snacking anywhere and anytime. Most people have already forgotten what natural, real hunger is, because they have become emotionally dependent on food. How can you differentiate between these things? What are emotional and physiological hunger?1. If you are really hungry, you will eat anything. If emotions are to blame, then you will want something specific, for example, chocolate, ice cream, pizza and other “bad things.”2. Real hunger only appears when the stomach is completely empty. Emotional hunger does not depend on this; it can appear immediately after breakfast or lunch.3. In most cases, emotional hunger can be tolerated; physical hunger requires immediate food intake.4. You can satisfy your real hunger quite quickly - approximately 8 minutes after eating you will feel full. Satisfaction of emotional hunger will take a much longer time.5. “Emotional gluttony” leaves behind a feeling of guilt - for the cost and quantity of food eaten, for excess weight or centimeters on the waist. Satisfying ordinary hunger will leave only a feeling of satisfaction.6. Physiological hunger almost always appears at certain intervals. Emotional hunger can strike suddenly.7. In true hunger, you stop after you are full. Emotional hunger can force you to eat more.8. With physiological hunger, a person wants simple food: porridge, bread, tomato. If it’s emotional, it’s complex food that took quite a long time to prepare, for example, cake, sausage. Remember the historical facts: during times of famine, people asked for bread, not cakes. How to overcome emotional dependence on food? Emotional hunger simply must be fought. It will be difficult, but only the first couple of weeks, after which the body will begin to get used to it.1. First of all, learn to recognize physiological hunger.2. Take a break from obsessive thoughts about snacking: talk with friends, watch a movie, take a walk, do some spring cleaning, find yourself a hobby, clear out your closet.3. Keep a notebook in which you record meal times, as well as the foods and dishes you ate.4. If you really want to eat something harmful, then promise to do it, but only eat three “healthy” foods. For example, before eating your favorite cake, eat a carrot, apple and cucumber. Usually such a small amount of food is enough to satisfy physiological hunger, if that is what you felt. It will become much easier to cope with cravings for treats.5. Healthy sleep is a necessary condition for quitting “emotional gluttons.” Scientists have proven that insomnia increases the feeling of hunger because it reduces the level of the hormone leptin, which signals the brain about satiety and regulates appetite.6. Develop a diet that is convenient for yourself and stick to it, ruthlessly stopping attempts to eat outside of your schedule.7. Fight stress, since it is in a restless state that people cease to control the amount of food they consume. In addition, stressful situations increase the amount of the hormone cortisol, which causes a physiological need for sweet and salty foods.8. Fasting days help cope with emotional dependence on food; by practicing them at least once every couple of weeks, you will notice that you have become less dependent on treats.