Trying to stay positive at all times, may very well be sabotaging your weight-loss efforts. Turning to comfort food to deal with unpleasant emotions is a common response in all of us, and it actually works in the short term, says clinical psychologist Ann Bailey. “But it isn’t a long-term solution, and stress, sadness, anger or whatever emotion it is will visit us again and again,” she explains. “And we may eat to manage it again and so the cycle continues.” Here’s what you need to know so you can stay away from these bad habits.
Text: Bauer/ Good Health/ Additional Reporting: Shenielle Aloysis
Loneliness tends to mess up your hunger hormones. Because bad mood can lead us to try and make ourselves feel better by bingeing on food. A new study in the journal Hormones and Behavior found that those who feel lonely experience greater circulating levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin after they eat, causing them to feel hungrier sooner. Over time, folks who are constantly lonely simply take in more calories than those with stronger social support networks.
What to do: Partner up with a friend, personal trainer or a colleague. Remember that the best way to stick to a healthy diet and exercise routine is to do it with someone else.
A review of more than 600 studies found that being married, and transitioning into marriage, are both associated with weight gain. The researchers says that’s because of the increased opportunities for eating due to shared, regular meals and larger portion sizes. Basically, once you are married, you tend to “let yourself go”.
What to do: Try to cook healthy meals together or do some activities together that does not involve food.
If you are depriving yourself of certain food, then you are more likely to overeat, regardless of how “good” you want to be. You’ll also experience more cravings for whatever it is you aren’t getting, according to a study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. And this is why most diets fail. You can only resist chocolate cake for so long before you find yourself wolfing down a couple of slices.
What to do: If you’re feeling deprived by your diet, build in a cheat meal at least once a week in which you can indulge guilt-free. Doing this will help you avoid viewing certain foods as “off limits”, which will help you crave them less.
Stress causes your body to increase the production of adrenaline. Adrenaline causes fat cells all over your body to squirt their stores of fatty acids into your bloodstream, where they can be used as energy. And to soothe your nerve, you tend to snack. Meanwhile, a second hormone called cortisol grabs all those unused fatty acids from your bloodstream and stores them in your belly region. With that fat stored, and not burned, your body goes looking for more calories to replace the fatty acids it released earlier.
What to do: Laughter is the best stress reliever. It lowers your heart rate, improves your mood, makes you friendlier, and decreases anxiety.
When you’re bored you become an “emotional eater”, according to a new study in the Journal of Health Psychology. It’s bad because you not only make the wrong food choices, you eat much more of those fattening foods than you normally would.
What to do: The best way to beat boredom is to find something to do that is purposeful and challenging like joining a charity or participating in a sport.