From time to time, we all overeat – at a friend’s birthday party, visiting my mother, or just in the evening in the kitchen, left alone with dumplings. And now the dark night, we sneak to the refrigerator … What can be done at this moment to prevent eating everything and everything? The psychologist spoke about three effective techniques.
“It’s hard for me to restrain myself when someone offended me, spoke tactlessly about my new painting or appearance. These days I return home after work and arrange a belly feast for myself, I eat everything that comes to hand, ”says 27-year-old artist Victoria.
Why is this happening?
We broadcast for various reasons, psychologist Tatyana Aksinenko is sure, and often they are not at all related to food. Let’s name the most common of them:
- Shame. Eating disorders are about childish, deep-seated shame. For example, if we are talking about a girl who has been overeating since high school, then most likely at this age a story happened to her when she was ashamed of her body.
- Stress. Very often, stress becomes a trigger that triggers the process of overeating. And if we are going through a period of acute grief, then we are unlikely to eat everything. But with prolonged, prolonged stress, overeating can develop very quickly – we will not even notice how we have gained excess weight.
What can play the role of a trigger? Troubles at work, misunderstanding in communication with a partner, children. We can choose constructive ways to support ourselves, but more often than not those ways are destructive.
- Not accepting yourself. Some of us just can’t accept ourselves for who we are. And this applies not only to appearance. Creative, intellectual abilities, shyness, or, conversely, excessive (in the opinion of the person himself) noise, activity can also cause discontent.
And then the wheel of Samsara turns on – overeating, guilt, depression. Considering that nothing will help anyway, the person begins to eat uncontrollably.
How do you say “stop” to yourself?
At critical moments, when the legs seem to carry themselves to the refrigerator, three effective techniques will help prevent overeating.
1. Reframe your thinking. Before you open the refrigerator and start eating, count to a hundred (or up to a thousand) in the opposite direction. Our goal in this case is to rebuild the brain, to set a direction for thinking.
It’s like writing with your left hand: we start doing something unusual, something that can knock us out of the usual rhythm. The purpose of this exercise is to gain an understanding of what is happening. After a few minutes, you will be distracted from thoughts about food.
Now think about food being just food. This is not love, not communication with loved ones. We pay a lot of attention to food as pleasure, treat food as a resource for saturation. And ask yourself if you are really hungry now.
2. Return yourself to the body. How else can you be aware of yourself on the way to the refrigerator? Try to feel your body. This is a gradual technique: sit down and put your attention on your toes.
Think about whether you can feel your fingers, whether they are cold or warm, relaxed or tense. Feel your shins, rise higher. And so, from the tips of the toes to the top of the head, walk all over the body, feeling every part of it.
So you can return to your body, feel its value and bring yourself back to reality.
3. Do routine work. Any kind of manual work will help to cope with overeating. It can be embroidery, washing dishes, painting or solving puzzles – everything will do.
Any routine work distracts from the mental chewing gum, from the experience that no one loves us and nothing works. You might think about what activities save you from overeating the best, and turn them into evening rituals.
For example, you can make tea and combine a homemade “tea ceremony” with a game of “board” with your family. This will not only help you stop overeating in the evenings, but will also give you the opportunity to spend more time together.
After you have managed to cope with the bout of overeating, think about the fact that food is our primary, basic pleasure. But it is she who gives us a sense of control over our own lives.
In moments of overeating, we feel like we can do something good for ourselves. However, this does not last very long – only when we eat. And then comes a series of reproaches, self-abasement.
So we’re just running in circles. Therefore, the most important thing is to stop, realize that the moment of overeating is close, and try to prevent it.
About expert
Tatyana Aksinenko – psychologist, specialist in work with eating disorders and weight problems. Her website.