Kay Indulge Soothing

Overcome Overeating by Finding the Root Cause

Overcoming overeating is not as easy as one may think. A limitation to overcoming overeating is that unlike quitting smoking or deciding not to drink, one has to eat to survive. We can no more give up eating than breathing. The key is to find a way to view food and eating differently. To see it not as a way to calm the nerves or sooth a broken heart, but rather to find a way to enjoy eating because it brings energy and joy. Really good food is more satisfying than the cheaper, more caloric alternatives, but it's also often more complicated to prepare or takes longer.

The ritual of preparing food, cooking and spending time with family can become a social event and bring more pleasure than the eating itself. Compulsive eating isn't about enjoying food, it's about filling a hole in one's life – trying to satisfy a longing that one's mind identifies as food, even though the body is asking for something else

So what can a person do to stop the cycle of compulsive overeating? It's a matter of looking inside one's mind and finding the triggers to eating. Is it boredom, stress, anxiety or something else? Overcoming overeating is about really considering not only the trip to the refrigerator and the food that is being consumed, but understanding what sort of feelings that compulsive overeating is masking or relieving.

There are diets, exercise programs, gyms, and books that offer instant plans to lose weight. But weight gain is often just a symptom of a deeper unfulfilled need in a person. Whether its success, acceptance, love, or appreciation, there is always something more to one's compulsive overeating than the desire for food. Discovering that need is what makes the long-term difference between successful weight loss and temporary weight loss or a "yo-yo" diet.

People who are compulsive overeaters understand that overeating leads to obesity. The reason they continue to indulge though is not because they want to be overweight, or because they lack will power. It's because the food is gratifying some need within them, thus they need to find another source of gratification that will give them that same feeling.

Runners proclaim the benefits and exhilaration of a "runner's high." What is that besides a habit that gives them a type of gratification? Compulsive overeaters experience the same "high". Overcoming overeating is about understanding that compulsive overeating is simply a different way of achieving the same benefit. But of course, it's not a healthy way, and a person's life may depend upon finding the source of the problem and then finding the solution.

Overcoming overeating may not be easy, but it can be one step that leads a person to a better, healthier, happier life. By looking at not just the food, or the single behavior, but rather by seeing compulsive overeating as a symptom of a lifestyle that is not healthy, a person can actually start to see themselves as the beautiful, wonderful person that they really are inside. And when they see that person, they can be that person.

About the Author

Learn to overcome overeating in a simple way. Look for easy tools to help by visiting TheABCdiet.com. Discover a variety of techniques that will help to achieve a solution to compulsive overeating .