Eating Disorders

Physical hunger

• It develops slowly over time.
• You desire a variety of food groups.
• You feel the sensation of fullness and take it as a cue to stop eating.
• You have no negative feelings about eating.

Emotional hunger

• It comes about suddenly or abruptly.
• You crave only certain foods.
• You may binge on food and not feel a sensation of fullness.
• You feel guilt or shame about eating.

While filling up could work in the moment, eating because of negative emotions often leaves people feeling more upset than before.

This cycle typically doesn’t end until a person addresses emotional needs head-on.

It doesn’t mean giving in to every craving; it means getting rid of the idea of “giving in” to “bad foods” altogether. Eat that Oreo when you want it, without any negative emotion attached, and you won’t feel like you need to eat the whole bag.

Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Intuitive eating is about understanding what foods your body feels best eating, and how to make your own food choices based on your own hunger and fullness

• Intermittent fasts: eating no food or massively cutting back on calorie intake only intermittently;
• Time-restricted feeding: involves consuming calories only for a 4- to 6-hour window each day.
• Periodic fasts, the most extreme, typically last several days or longer. 
• Fasting-mimicking diet, a plant-based diet that involves eating very few calories for several days each month. 

Many religious groups incorporate periods of fasting into their rituals, though the focus there tends to be more spiritual than health-oriented: Muslims fast from dawn until dusk during the month of Ramadan, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus who traditionally fast on designated days of the week or calendar year.

Eating can be an emotional activity, with deep connections on how our brains and bodies work. Emotional overeaters are:

• Having a feeling of resentment after neglecting one's own needs to appease others.
• Feeling undeserving of their success, with a fear of being shamed.
• Being a perfectionist and being constantly anxious about the possible mistakes.
• Suppressing of all negative emotions.

Overeaters tend to have an 'all-or-nothing' approach oscillating between an all-good diet or an outright unhealthy one, depending on the particular underlying emotion.

To be in control does not mean restraining. A person who is in control should have the capacity and freedom to self-govern.

Rather than fighting with your body, provide it with an autonomous control by allowing all kinds of foods back in your life, yet eating consciously, paying attention to your meals, savoring them fully. Being mindful can maximize your pleasure and minimize your eating.

Eat a sufficient amount of calories and carbohydrates to keep your body “fed” and satiated. Once you learn to recognize these signals in your own body, it becomes much easier to trust your instincts and repair unhealthy relationships with food.

Give yourself “unconditional permission to eat.”

People realize they don’t really want that food that was forbidden before; they just got caught up in society telling them they couldn’t have it.

We consume ultra-processed foods every day without even realizing it.

• The morning cereal and flavored yogurt.
• The savory snacks and sweet baked goods.
• The vegan hotdog and the chicken nuggets available on the street.
• The doughnut or the premium protein bar we buy as a snack.
• The carton-packed almond milk put in our coffee or the diet coke we have.

Most cooked foods can be termed as 'processed foods', but ultra-processed foods are in a different domain, with few people having the clarity to differentiate.

A cooked carrot is processed food, but a bag of industrially-produced, carrot-flavored veggie puffs are ultra-processed and are still aimed at toddlers as a portion of natural food. Other examples include frozen peas or pasteurized milk.

• An imbalance or changes in hormones
• Emotional issues (eating for comfort)
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Dehydration 

• Lower stress levels: stress promotes cravings for comfort foods.
• Drink plenty of water: Dehydration manifests itself as hunger, so when you get a craving, drink water.
• Get enough sleep: not getting enough sleep alters the hormonal balance.
• Eat enough protein.
• Avoid hunger: under-eating can make food cravings worse.

When you’re under stress, your body is likely producing higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that tends to make people crave sweet and salty food—the stuff that’s generally not good for us. 

Create a simple stress management plan, or find stress relievers that fit with your specific situation.

Many people use food to deal with uncomfortable emotions like anger, frustration, and fear. There are healthier ways to cope with emotions: