The days are getting shorter and the holidays will soon be far behind us. During the winter months, many people turn to food for comfort and wind up gaining weight. Are you an emotional eater? Find the reasons behind emotional eating and learn how to avoid the weight gain that comes with it.

What is emotional eating?
Eating impulsively when in emotional distress

Why we emotional eat
To deal with and distract yourself from negative emotions such as fear, stress, anger, sadness and loneliness

What it does
It can cause you to gain weight because you may eat too fast when emotional or you eat too much because you are distracted by the negative emotions. It can also cause you to feel even worse over the resulting weight loss, which can trigger an ugly cycle of overeating and feeling bad.

How to get help
-Learn effective ways to cope with your stress, be it everyday stress or a major stressful event in life.
-Find something to do when you get bored instead of reaching for food. Go for a walk, do a craft or clean the house.
-Eat a healthy diet and don't deprive or starve yourself into losing weight. It takes time, so don't stress yourself out about it!
-Get therapy if you find yourself unable to deal with the cause of your emotional eating.
-Make an appointment with Dr. Aron to address your emotional eating and get on a path to weight loss success.

Source: Mayo Clinic

Labels: 718-491-5525, appetite, diet, dieting, emotional eating, success, weight gain, weight loss