Many of our contemporaries have at least once found themselves in a situation when they wanted to say to themselves: “Eat less!” Psychologists say that the problem of excessive absorption of food is one of the most pressing issues today. Many people do not have the proper culture of food consumption and do not even know about it, and this gives rise to a variety of negative consequences, ranging from aesthetic to severe physiological and psychological ones.
What is this about?
It happens that a person seems to be ready to give himself the “Eat less!” Attitude, but in practice it is completely impossible to implement. Most often, people who are overweight, cellulite think about such a correction of their daily routine. According to psychologists, the first step on the path to beauty and health is to accept yourself as you are at the moment. You need to learn to love yourself, respect and appreciate - only such a start of the program will simultaneously increase self-esteem and improve the appearance, general condition of the body. There are four main reasons why a person eats unreasonably much. Almost in first place in terms of prevalence are stresses and an insufficient number of positive emotions, combined with insecurity in oneself and one's strengths.
What is the right way then?
One important reason for overeating is a lack of food culture. Many of our contemporaries simply do not have information on how to eat properly and correctly. The culture of food consumption in our country practically does not exist, and this is especially noticeable if you look at the broad masses. Others, although they have a general idea of how to eat properly, neglect such recommendations, simply not wanting to get rid of bad habits.
There has been a stereotype for a long time: if all family members are overweight, we can confidently talk about well-being in the house, love between relatives, a stable financial situation. Psychologists, however, are calling for a more critical attitude. Parents are those who first of all form bad eating habits among the younger generation. The worse the elders eat, the worse the eating habits of the younger ones will be. This is in some way a tradition accepted in the family, and even supported by genetic prerequisites.
Experiences
Some seriously think about how to stop seizing stress. This problem has recently been very relevant. Constant experiences, regular stress on the nerves, overstrain in everyday life - all this becomes the cause of overeating. Often people don’t even notice how they turn food into a sort of antidepressant. If the working situation is in conflict, if there are problems at home, it’s very easy to make it a habit to calm down by eating another chocolate bar or a hamburger. As static studies show, such habits appear in many and often remain for a long time. If a person turns food into a kind of medicine, he cannot be kept within a reasonable framework of consumption and eats a lot.
About speed
No less significant human problem at present is lack of time. Trying to save as many minutes as possible, people eat on the run, in a hurry and literally swallowing food. A snack is one of the worst eating habits, as many nutritionists believe. It so happened that at home a person can not always eat: some - only once or twice a day, others - once every few days. People are used to snacks between urgent matters. Between main meals, such individuals unconsciously begin to eat constantly. At work, many drink tea, literally not stopping. While relaxing and watching TV, our contemporaries are used to eating sweets all the time.
Hurry hurry
As experts have long established, the faster a person eats, the harder he rushes, the worse the absorbed is absorbed. The body lacks vitamins, mineral elements. Eating irregularly, eating plentifully in the evening, the person harms himself and his health. According to nutritionists, it is precisely because of the tense schedule, lack of time during the day that a person does not realize hunger. This sensation appears only in the evening, when there is a free minute. A person immediately loads the stomach, having the opportunity, but evening loads are difficult. In addition, hungry for the day, he eats much more than the body needs.
Love and eat
Sometimes it happens that a person admits: "They love me a little, so I eat a lot." As doctors have established, when the human stomach is full of food, all the forces of the body are aimed at digesting foods, and other needs are blocked, becoming less important. If a person lacks love, if he lacks attention, he unconsciously resorts to food. Often a person does not even understand where the true appetite ends and gluttony begins. Such people are gradually becoming dependent on the stomach.
According to psychologists, very often nervous people who seize a lack of love are the result of improper upbringing. Parents, trying to cover the need of the younger generation for care, instead of affection, give a child of sweets or other food that they love. Food replaces games and constant communication, takes a place in life, which is normally allotted for interaction with relatives. Having matured, such a person feels good in communicating with others only in a state when the stomach is full.
Can I fix it?
Since the psychology of overeating has been studied for a long time, the optimal tactics of dealing with the problem are determined. The first and main step is to identify the causes of gluttony. Only knowing what triggered the problem, you can begin to solve it. Do not neglect the first symptoms. Gradually, the need for food only grows, overeating turns into a stable habit, which is categorically difficult to cope with. Psychological dependence is formed for many years, imperceptibly, gradually. To avoid such a development of events, you need to carefully control yourself in everyday life.
There are four basic rules to deal with a problem or prevent its occurrence. First of all, this is the regularity of nutrition. You need to eat often in small portions. Normally, a person should receive food 5 times a day. It is necessary to adjust the regime so that there is no feeling of hunger, there are no snacks. The second rule concerns speed. Need to eat slowly. It is important to eat at a table while sitting. Snacks while standing, in movement, lead to the absorption of a larger volume of food than necessary. Finally, the fourth rule is a balanced diet. You need to eat natural food, light meals. Nutrition should be rational.
Compulsive gluttony
Compulsive is a condition in which a person does something that he cannot control on his own. This word means obsessive actions. If overeating becomes an uncontrollable person, he is characterized as compulsive. You can notice this state in accelerating the absorption process, write and eat food alone due to the feeling of shame from absorbing such a volume of food. Compulsive overeating is detected if a person eats food until he feels physically ill. Such a person absorbs a lot of food, regardless of the awareness of hunger, and after taking the next portion, he feels depressed, guilty, disgusted by what he ate.
Scientists involved in the psychology of overeating note: compulsive gluttony is observed both against the background of bulimia, and with anorexia. Persons with such a violation do not resort to the use of drugs, as is typical for people with other eating disorders. If overeating is observed up to three times a week for a quarter of a year or more, the doctor will diagnose a compulsive eating disorder.
Status Features
Although compulsive overeating in psychology has been studied in sufficient detail, certain issues still remain unresolved. It is noted that people suffering from such a problem almost always realize that they consume too much food and cannot control this process. If a person eats a lot, this does not mean the presence of compulsive disorder. It is noted that this condition is always combined with stress, problems of the emotional front. Scientists tried to analyze how much food a person absorbs during an attack, but the observations give very different ideas. For example, if usually a person consumes 1-2 thousand kcal per day, during the period of exacerbation, she can eat the amount of products with a total energy value of 15-20 thousand kcal.
Experts involved in the psychology of overeating, note that people suffering from compulsive disorder, most often try to adhere to diet programs. In most patients of clinics suffering from this condition, excess weight was observed in young years. More than half experienced severe stress in childhood. They admit that they absorb food, trying to cope with anger or self-doubt, boredom and a sad state. Often, such individuals tend to avoid publicity and feel uncomfortable in society.
Urgency of the problem
A study of a la “Anonymous Glutton” communities and other groups devoted to the problems of appetite and combating them showed that compulsive malnutrition is the most common on the planet in terms of eating. According to American scientists, about 3% of the citizens of their country suffer from this problem. More often it bothers people over 46 years old. There are more women among patients than men.
The majority of overweight patients do not have this disorder. Among those who developed compulsive overeating, people with excess weight are more common, less often with normal weight. All these persons more often than ordinary people encounter weight gain and get rid of it, which creates a kind of wave of change.
Reasons and consequences
Scientists dealing with the psychological causes of bulimia, compulsive overeating, and other eating disorders acknowledge the lack of official information. For this reason, it is not possible to accurately determine all the causes of the deviations. On average, about half of the people examined were previously victims of depression or suffered from it at the time of contacting a doctor. It has not yet been established whether depression can be considered the cause or whether it is a consequence of the condition. It is known that violation of eating habits is very often caused by sadness, anger of a person, her loneliness. In rare cases, overeating is due to joy. If parents, seeing that the child is sad, reassure him sweet, probably in adulthood the habit will remain and in any situation a person will seek solace in the sweet. Compulsive eating disorder is characteristic of athletes who constantly demonstrate their bodies to the public.
What do they suggest?
Some scientists believe that overeating is due not only to psychological, but also organic causes. Probably, the hypothalamus receives incorrect information about the degree of saturation of the body. A specific mutation has been established in which eating disorders are observed. However, psychological factors are much more noticeable. Compulsive behavior, including eating habits, is accompanied by a depressed state, problems of controlling oneself and one's actions. The more difficult it is for a person to express feelings, the lower the level of self-esteem, the greater the likelihood of a compulsive disorder. Loneliness and dissatisfaction with the forms of his body leads to him.
While there is no accurate information on the relationship of overeating and diet programs, but it is known that many, planning a limited diet, feel like eating as much as possible before starting a diet. Others, however, skip meals, which provokes weight gain instead of losing weight. Perhaps overeating is associated with perfectionism.
What to do?
Nutritionists and psychotherapists can tell you how to deal with compulsive overeating. Treatment is necessary even if the body weight is normal. The doctor teaches a person to control their habits, tells you what food is healthy, what needs to be emphasized, how to cook dishes. Treatment helps control gusts. During a conversation with a doctor, a person learns how to ask for help from loved ones. In some cases, antidepressants are needed. Weight monitoring programs are helpful. Such give the best result in case of excess weight. It is a habit to eat regularly. The task of man is to choose only wholesome foods, starting from the food pyramid. People refuse sweets, fatty, because it is such food that most often becomes the object of uncontrolled desire.