July 15th, 2009
How to Stop Bingeing, Unconscious Eating And Diet Relapse: What the Research Says
In a study published in the American Journal OfClinical Nutrition, Susan Kayman and colleaguesset out to discover the difference beteen womenwho took off weight and kept it off succesfully(maintainers), and those who took off weight buteventually regained it all (relapsers). They found many differences between relapsers and successful maintainers, but one of the differences stood out like a sore thumb…
Relapsers were emotional eaters who lacked skillsto respond to and cope with stress and unexpectedproblems.
While almost all of the women reported stressfulissues or problems, there were major differencesin the way the relapsers and maintainers coped withtheir problems.
Very few relapsers used problem-solving or confrontiveways of coping with their problems as compared withmaintainers.
Instead, they were more likely to use emotion-focusedor escape/avoidance behaviors for coping such as eatingmore, sleeping more or just wishing the problem wouldgo away.
Relapsers reported using food to make themselvesfeel better when they were upset. They also attributedweight gain to unexpected or unpredictable stressfullife events.
Maintainers, by contrast, confronted their problemsdirectly and looked for alternative ways to cope withthem (other than eating)
These included relaxation techniques, meditation, exercise,focusing on productive work, seeking social support,getting professional help, or talking out theirfeelings with other people they trusted.
This by the way, confirms previous research in the areaof addiction recovery which found that a person whohas made a successful behavior change will returnto a previous negative pattern if a stressful situationoccurs and no coping skills have been developed todeal with it.
Another big difference between maintainers and relapserswas conscious awareness (or lack of it)
70% of relapsers ate unconsciously in responseto emotions.
Maintainers, on the other hand, were vigilant and consciousof EVERYthing:
- They were conscious of the quantity and type of food they ate
- They were conscious about the amount of activity thatthey needed personally to maintain their weight
- They consciously worked to “keep in shape” after theyreached their initial goal
- They were conscious that they felt uncomfortable intheir clothes after they gained even a little weightsuch as a few pounds after a vacation
- They intentionally wore close-fitting clothes to keepthemselves aware of their bodies, which prompted themto exercise more eat less if their clothes felt tighter.
From these findings emerge two of the very first steps that are absolutely necessary for you to end emotional eating and prevent diet relapse:
1. Develop greater conscious awareness
2. Develop alternative behaviors andcoping mechanisms for dealing with stress and emotions
It takes courage to directly confront your problems andstrength to overcome them, but you can’t even begin to solve aproblem unless you are aware you have one. It all beginswith AWAREness.
One of the best ways to increase conscious awareness of youreating habits is to keep a nutrition diary at least once inyour life for a period of at least 4-12 weeks.
many people are catching on, as reflected in the popularityof sites like fit day, which lets you log in your dailyfood intake, while others keep extensive written journals.
People who are struggling with relapse and weight regain, but who refuse to admit that calories are important, who find keeping journals to be too much like work, or who don’t at least find some other way to raise their awareness about what and how much they are eating, are likely to continue to struggle.
Your friend and coach,
Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com
www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com
PS As you can see, based on research in both obesity andpsychological journals, and as your own instincts probablyhave already told you, emotional eating is not a “women’stabloid magazine” type of topic that can just be brushedover lightly. It is very very real problem, and it affectsmen as well.
Fortunately, there are numerous real solutions for endingemotional eating. You now have two of the first and mostimportant steps.
If you’d like to learn more, I recently wrote a short ebook called,THE A.W.A.R.E. Formula: 5 steps to end emotional eating
5 steps to end emotional eating is now available as a special bonus with the purchase of the Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle ebook from www.BurnTheFat.com and with membership at the Burn The FatInner Circle .
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