What I wish I’d known before I ate cheesecake.
Food is a beautiful evil.
Not long ago I almost ate an entire chocolate cheesecake. I bought it as a mid-week treat. I say ‘treat’ as if I’d done something to deserve it when, in fact, I just fancied a sweet, chocolatey dessert. I thought it’d be a good alternative to dinner, however, after one bowlful one thing lead to another and nearly half the cake was gone. Shameful, I know. I gave my housemate a bowl so I knew it wasn’t just me eating it… a strange way to make myself feel better. When it came to the last bit I had to chuck it in the bin or its creamy goodness would have persuaded me to eat the rest. I felt sick. I didn’t dare think of how fattening that was for me. I decided not to eat anything the next day until dinner…
‘Food is fuel’… Bollocks.
Comfort eating is a risky, RISKY game to play and one you are probably, most definitely, going to lose at. Telling yourself that you are going to have ONE chocolate digestive and then ending up having six will cause you to feel even worse… You’ve already had six, you may as well finish the packet.
People eat for all different types of reasons, not just to stop their tummy growling. There can be situational and emotional factors that can force any person to the depths of comfort eating. In more serious situations, comfort eating can lead to much worse, such as excessively overeating and binge eating. During the summer of 2014, Beat carried out a national survey into emotional overeating. The purpose of the survey was to learn more about the personal experiences of people who are affected by emotional overeating, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the issue. The Survey aimed at over 18s who binge eat, compulsively overeat, feel they have emotional eating issues and are obese or struggling with their weight. The main results were:
85% of respondents have a negative body image of themselves.
79% felt pressure from society to lose weight.
Of the respondents who saw their GP about their weight, only 21% were asked about their emotional health.
91% of respondents said they would like peer support, either in person or online, to help them with their emotional overeating.
No matter how many times we are called overweight and unhealthy, no matter the amount of calories on a food packet, sometimes eating is the only thing that improves a situation. Even if it’s just for a second. Food both helps and destroys. It isn’t something that should just be swept under the carpet.
People out there who actually manage to keep to the rule ‘Food if Fuel’ must be superhuman. Or not human at all. Do they not dander down each aisle of a supermarket and get flirted by a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate? I certainly do. Yes, food gives you energy and makes you feel better, but so does a good cup of coffee. As well as food being a source of energy, it’s also bloody nice.
Time heals, not food.
After a traumatic experience or before a big event, you can either go two ways; eat your heart out or not eat at all, or at least not want to. Food often is a good way of telling what kind of state of mind someone’s in. If someones eating too much- it’s a worry. If someones not eating at all- it’s an even bigger worry. We forward our feelings onto food, in some way, which, although is a good indicator into someone’s well being, it can often just make your physical and emotional situation worse.
Stress is usually a big contributor towards eating or not eating. An article by Harvard Heath explains ‘In the short term, stress can shut down appetite. The nervous system sends messages to the adrenal glands atop the kidneys to pump out the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline). Epinephrine helps trigger the body’s fight-or-flight response, a revved-up physiological state that temporarily puts eating on hold.’
‘But if stress persists, it’s a different story. The adrenal glands release another hormone called cortisol, and cortisol increases appetite and may also ramp up motivation in general, including the motivation to eat. Once a stressful episode is over, cortisol levels should fall, but if the stress doesn’t go away — or if a person’s stress response gets stuck in the “on” position — cortisol may stay elevated.’
Therefore, there is also a biological response behind why and how much food we eat and getting into a stressful situation has a big effect on our bodies natural response.
In order to reduce the need for both comfort eating and emotional eating, we need to know the differences. When being physically hungry you are usually up for eating anything to feed that hunger, and it usually comes on gradually. Plus there would be little to no guilt after you’ve eaten. However, if you are craving a specific food, such as sugary, sweet things, and you aren’t satisfied with a full stomach then comfort eating has probably kicked in. That’s when you really have to focus your mind on something else… Not the contents of your fridge.
Meditation- focusing the mind on what’s healthy for you and reduce stress levels.
Exercise- An IMPORTANT way to distract yourself, release negative energy and overall make you feel a lot better about yourself.
Support- If you find yourself in an unbearable and stressful situation then reach out to somebody. Talking about the situation you are in is an easy way to automatically reduce stress and get the help you need. Confide in friends, not your food.
