Trying to Lose Weight - Psychological Factors Need Tackling as Well

[Bonita]

It is often useful to consider fat as just a symptom, like a phobia, a headache or alcohol consumption. The psychological issues underlying all these symptoms are usually much the same. We can put a lot of effort into cutting back our eating but if we continue to ignore the “cause”, we will remain on that proverbial roller coaster of weight the rest of our lives.

Different life events raise our stress levels and so we try to relieve stress by eating then overeating. Maybe we don't want to face certain emotions (like anger, rage, grief or love) or maybe we try to deny our competitiveness or aspects of our sexuality. Maybe we have significant childhood trauma associated with food: being overfed, being threatened with hunger, living with a food-manipulative parent, etc. Whatever emotions, or parts of ourselves or traumas we would like to avoid will cause us stress when circumstances trigger mind associations to such avoidances. Those with psychological food problems will then tend to eat to relieve the stress. Simple? Yes. The ultimate solution is also simple - not to get stressed in such situations. But this ultimate solution is much harder to actually carry out. Changing any response from stress to calm takes energy, willingness, and commitment.

Here is a series of steps to institute to start on a path of attacking these underlying causes of eating disorders. (1) Decide you want to change, (2) focus on being freed from the response/cause, (3) ask for help…from friends as a support team, from your spiritual connection (ie turn it over to God and be new in Him), (4) pursue truth and develop alternative habits: Start a food journal and be honest! Notice over a week time, every time you eat:
v Were you hungry?
v If you were not, what emotion were you experiencing?
v Did you eat fast or slow?
v Did you eat until satisfied or past full?
This will show patterns…now, explore better ways to deal with the emotions which are driving your eating disorder. Draft up an alternative way to deal with that emotion:
v Have a hot button to trigger the alternative way
v Repeat the alternative over and over and over until it replaces the other habit
v Pray

It is easier said than done. To change even one of our stress responses to a calm response usually takes energy, willingness and focus on being freed from the commitment to self-change.