The Emotional Eater

The emotions aren't always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action” – William James.

“Sometimes the strongest cravings for food happen when you’re at your weakest point emotionally” (“Weight-loss help: Gain Control of Emotional Eating” – Mayo Clinic Staff).  Many emotional eaters realize that the sweet, starchy foods they are reaching for are wrong, however, the release of opiate-type chemicals in the brain influences choices away from what is good for the body in place of what offers a feeling of comfort.  Emotional eating can be triggered by many factors; stress at work, home or in other relationships, boredom, loneliness, unemployment or financial concerns, conflicts, health problems, bad weather and fatigue.  Unfortunately, this concept of food offering a comfort or distraction from our emotions is ingrained in us from early childhood; anyone who has been offered a sweet treat to stop crying when an infant or to stop that tantrum when a toddler has been taught to believe that food (and usually junk food) is the key to comfort.  In a fast-paced, anxious society where we barely have time to see to our emotions, how do we put our emotions at bay when it comes to our eating?

Emotional eating (which is often associated with compulsive over-eating) is when individuals attempt to preoccupy themselves with compulsive eating to distract themselves from negative emotions.  This uncontrollable eating can occur even when the individual isn’t physically hungry and often leads to feelings of guilt… which then cause a vicious circle as the guilt feelings often lead to more over-eating.  Unfortunately, this habit is taught to us when we are very young; many parents feed infants to prevent crying, some parents prefer to rely on sweet distractions in favor of controlling a toddler tantrum…  and who can blame them???  We all desire to be stress free and comfortable in our world so why shouldn’t parents be granted the same privilege???  It is a difficult thing forgoing our own comfort in search of what is really good for us.  Sugar is also a good pick-me-up; it is that simple, instant energy that instantly lifts the mood!  Why wouldn’t we seek it out when we are at our lowest???

There are several reasons why people emotionally eat; stress and anxiety, which can be inspired by work, lack of it, loved ones or a lack of those, health, the environment and financial issues.  People coping with stress can display a variety of obsessive-compulsive traits; some can exercise obsessively, some can sit and over-analyze every detail, but an emotional eater over-eats.  Standard dietary advice is insignificant to emotional eaters, because they already know that junk food is unhealthy (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson).  They know, but when they are consumed by negative emotions, they don’t care.  Emotions do not respond to logical diet advice, they respond to comfort and as the sugar found in sweet and starchy foods offer an instant high, this drug-like effect often seems like a quick fix to all bad feelings.  Unfortunately, sweet induced comfort is often very short lived.  Most sugar highs last for only 10-15 minutes; “a reactive drop in mood often follows, and the withdrawal misery is made worse by the guilt of having had junk food” (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson). 

There are many warning signs of emotional eating; sudden onset of hunger after a stressful event, unconscious eating (finishing an entire box of chocolates without noticing), increased hunger after eating rather than satiety, an attempt to hide junk food and over-indulgent eating from family and friends, guilt after eating, downward spiral of eating more food as self-punishment for having eaten some food (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson).  Often the first step to altering a behavior is to acknowledge the emotion or situation that triggers it.  When the desire for food can be recognized as a comfort or a distraction, then bad habits can be replaced with good ones.

Although negative emotions can trigger emotional eating, steps can be taken to control cravings and renew healthy eating: 

If stress has been recognized as a cause of emotional eating, other stress management techniques such as yoga, meditation or relaxation can be acquired as a replacement to the comfort that over-eating provides.  In a study headed by Dr. Alan Kristal of 300 people over 10 years, those who did yoga for more than one hour per week had a significantly lower body mass index than those who did not, independent of total activity and diet (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson).  The benefit on mindful eating was unique to yoga, and was not observed in other forms of training such as walking or running.  Yoga also teaches us to train the mind to observe discomfort in a calm and accepting way.  According to lead researcher Dr. Alan Kristal “This ability to be calm and observant during physical discomfort teaches how to maintain calm in other challenging situations, such as not eating more even when food tastes good and not eating when you’re not hungry.”

Becoming more observant of the bodily sensation of real hunger can help emotional eaters gain control of their over-eating.  If you have just eaten and are distracted by a sudden rumbling in the stomach, perhaps ask what really inspired the rumbling?  In this instance sometimes a food diary can be an invaluable tool.  Keeping a track of all foods consumed throughout the day, the times they were eaten and the emotions felt when consumed can help an emotional eater become accountable for foods consumed but, also, recognize patterns that lead them off track.

Like with all problems in our life, our support network is the key to our recovery.  When surrounded by negative people, our most negative thoughts are confirmed and our confidence to move on or change leaves us.  Most of the time our friends and family have our best interest at heart, and if this is the case turn to them in your hour of need.  However, if this is not the case, and those near and dear to you leave you feeling a sense of doubt about who you are and what you can do, seek outside support.  Support groups who have confronted similar problems to you can offer a nurturing environment.  Also, professional counseling can offer a rational prospective when we are caught up in the emotions that govern our lives.

Boredom can be a big trigger toward emotional eating.  Many of my clients who have claimed to eat very well during the day claim to do their worst nutrition behavior in those few hours at night before bed… Many people who claim to have emptied an entire tray of biscuits on a regular basis often do this unconsciously as a hand-to-mouth activity that fills these few hours.  Finding other interests to preoccupy the mind can be an easy way to replace eating with another activity.  Why not put this time to better use; read, surf the net, indulge in that interest that there never seems enough hours in the day for, call friends, listen to music, exercise or entertain that nagging pet you have that seems to crave your attention.  Time is precious, why spend our every waking minute living to eat?  If eating has become associated with a particular activity, for example, popcorn during a movie, or a snack while watching TV, replace this with a better habit such as drinking water or finding a healthier snack alternative. 

If a particular sweet is something that is really enjoyed, save this for a special occasion and, rather than feel guilty for this indulgent moment, enjoy it!  When we deprive ourselves of what we really love, it often makes us crave it more.  However, rather than give in to every weak moment, to alleviate feelings of guilt, show control most of the time, but when those very special occasions arise such as that rich chocolate sponge on your birthday or the beach side fish and chips that acknowledge a particular anniversary, why not cherish the moment?

Regular sleep cannot only help with stress levels; it assists with releasing hormones that assist with appetite suppressing.    Sleep affects several hormones in the human body.  Two hormones that play an important role in stimulating and suppressing your appetite are leptin and ghrelin (“Why Sleep Is Key for Weight Loss” – www.fitday.com).  Leptin is produced by your body’s fat cells and is responsible for suppressing hunger and Ghrelin is released by your stomach and stimulates your appetite.  Lack of sleep can lower the levels of leptin in your body and can heighten the levels of ghrelin, encouraging you to eat more.  Also, lack of sleep affects cortisol levels.  Irregular or shortened sleep heightens cortisol levels in your blood and lowers metabolism as cortisol stimulates breaking down protein into glucose.  Lack of sleep stimulates weight-gaining hormones whereas regular sleep and recovery stimulates metabolism and appetite suppressors. 

For some of us, when comfort foods aren’t stocked they become less of a temptation.  If that pack of biscuits is going to be a constant distraction through those bored, lonely hours of the evening, don’t stock them!  And if the day has proved stressful and full of comfort, don’t plan that trip to the supermarket where your every temptation is within reach or your over- indulgent fingertips!  Sometimes our biggest temptations are forgotten when they aren’t within reach.

Emotions are a funny thing; they can inspire us to our best and worst, they can weaken us when surrounded by our fears and insecurities and they can strengthen us and inspire us when surrounded by what we love most in our lives.  When it comes to our health and nutrition we can be the most admirable creatures on earth- governed by our knowledge of what is good for us, or we can be the emotional eater who lets every negative influence weaken our own self-will to do right by ourselves and succumb to our every whim.  Most of us are logical enough to decide what is right or wrong when it comes to feeding our bodies, whether we let our emotions govern our lives is something else.

Ab Blast: Why so many of us do our Core a Disservice!

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential".
-Bruce Lee 

There are so many reasons that people choose to train their core; rehabilitation from back injury, stability, losing body fat, vanity… yet there are so many theories and exercise suggestions on what we do to get there…  yet the common crunch seems to retain a presence no matter where we look!  A trim waistline has been proven to be a popular thing! And lower backs seem to be the most popular injury of all… With so much lack of success when it comes to the trim waist and strong back, why are so many of us so willing to cling to the old ideas about training core and not embrace the new???  Why won’t any of us, despite our education and experience, let go of the crunch???

The core is made up of inner and outer units; the inner units are made up of transverse abdominis, mutlifidus, diaphragm and pelvic floor.  These are low intensity muscles that wrap around the spine to hug and support it.  The inner units are also said to be the anticipatory core; if one moves an arm or a leg, (when functioning well) these muscles anticipate the movement and activate to serve as an anchor for the trunk.

The outer units consist of the Lats, Obliques, Recuts Abdominis, Erector Spinae, Glutes etc. and support the spine when under load and during movement.  When these muscles are balanced and strong, the spine keeps its ideal neutral state that promotes a healthy lower back and it offers a strong postural center and postural control within ongoing movement patterns.  The outer units are said to be part of the ‘reactive core’; when one goes to move arms or legs, these muscles switch on after the inner core and decipher their activation level depending on the direction of the movement (“Core Conversations: The Anticipatory vs. Reactive Core” – Julie Wiebe).

When people think of losing body fat it is often the waistline that becomes the greatest target.  It is no secret; the key to a trim waistline is diet… yet, there haven’t been more contraptions invented by home gym sellers than that which has targeted the abdominals, and classes such as ‘ab blast’ and ‘abs plus’ and ‘toned tummies’ seem to remain on most Group Fitness timetables despite industry trend changes and other programs fading in and out.  Despite all the contrary information out there, so many of us just won’t let go of the idea that 100 crunches a day is the key to the flat, toned, strong stomach!

A recent study lead by Dr Jinger S. Gottschall of Pennsylvania State University influenced the value I have placed on crunches for strengthening and toning the abdominal area.  In this study 20 participants including instructors were wired up to an ENG machine to test the abdominal activation in a Body Combat class.  The muscles wired up were the rectus abdominis and external obliques, which are the surface abdominal muscles, used in crunches.  Subjects performed the moves performed in Body Combat release 51 and then performed crunches to the same speed of the music and time of the moves in that release.  The results showed that certain Body Combat moves such as jabs, front kicks, and high knees recorded a higher level of abdominal activation compared to that of a crunch; a jab showed 1.62x the amount of abdominal activation over 20 seconds compared to crunches performed at the same speed for this duration and double front kicks showed 2.3x the amount of activation compared to that of a crunch!  When the results were compared and calculated, 1 Body Combat class equaled 1700 crunches!!!  According to Bryce Hastings (Technical Consultant for Les Mills International) Body Combat is a form of Reactive Core training; this form of training exploits the body’s natural muscle wiring and natural reflexes through repetitive movements.  The reactive core is also said to be more useful when the body is under load. 

In the late 1990’s when Pilates swept the nation, the inner unit of abdominals became the focus and the answer to all lower back pain.  The solution rested in the idea of ‘hollowing’ (“Applied Core Science” – Bryce Hastings Technical consultant for Les Mills International).  Drawing in the abdomen and flattening the spine could successfully activate the inner unit with the main focus being transverse abdominis and multifidus.  This line of thought successfully healed many lower back issues when it came to day-to-day tasks and inactive lifestyles.  Unfortunately, these muscles only offer support when the spine is in gentle postures.  Transverse abdominis and multifidus are small muscles that operate at a low intensity.

Canadian Bio-Mechanics expert Stuart McGill challenged the idea of hollowing; hollowing changed the length of abdominal muscles such as rectus abdominis and external obliques so they ‘buckled’ when hollowed and could no longer support the spine at full potential.  McGill suggested the idea of ‘bracing the abdominals’ rather than hollowing; that way the spine remained neutral and the muscles could remain at normal length so that they could support the spine from the outer unit.  It was also McGill that recommended hovers and planks as key exercises to strengthening abdominal muscles as they allowed the spine to remain neutral and the external abdominal muscles to support the spine at normal length. Dr. Jinger S. Gottschall of Pennsylvania State University also conducted a study where 10 participants were wired up to an ENG machine and the amount of abdominal activity was compared between integrated exercises such as a hover compared to isolation exercises such as a crunch.  Integrated exercises showed more muscle activity compared to isolation.

There has been so much more research done since the common crunch; yet many of us cling to it as though it is the be all and end all of abdominal exercises.  We crunch in hope of strength, a trimmed waistline, and that stronger back so that pain won’t hinder us! Yet there are so many things that have been proven to work better than the common crunch - to equal the reactive core activation shown in a Body Combat class, you would have to complete 1700 crunches!  Integrated exercises such as a hover have measured more abdominal activity compared to the isolated crunch and have been known to bring the body back to its preferred neutral spine position.  Yet, even considering all these facts the core/stretch training area of any gym the most entertaining of all mainly due to it basically representing  misinformation on display; crunches performed at back breaking speeds, crunches performed with more neck activation than abs, spines being forced into distorted positions and all this shows is ignorance of what the core is and does!  When our core is strong, our whole body is strong... yet so many of us are willing to abuse our bodies by distorting our postures to enhance the burn we feel from particular crunch type exercises that serve no functional purpose.  Why is the ‘burn’ always favoured above research and education???