To Eat Or Not to Eat ?-That is the Question!!!!!!

To confess I have had battles with controlling my weight for a long time. Although I had been a "Champion for Health" most of my teenage and adult life I had struggled to put into practice what I preached. I would stick to a plan for a season and see positive results then I would go back into a cycle of eating the comforting high sugar foods. From some research I discovered that I was an emotional eater.

Emotional eating is eating to make yourself feel better rather than to satisfy hunger. One turns to food for comfort or a reward or to relieve stress. Food becomes an analgesic to dull pain. In error one turns to food to satisfy their emotional hunger. However, the initial euphoria experienced by consuming the food is short lived. After the donut and sugary drink have been swallowed, the feelings that triggered the consumption are still there and have not been satisfied. After eating the unnecessary calories guilt sets in thus creating a bigger emotional craving causing you to reach for the donut again. It's a painful, vicious cycle that is very real for many people today. What follows this cycle is an increasing challenge to control your weight and an inability to find appropriate ways to manage emotions.

I find it interesting that when you eat to fill emotional hunger, you never reach for fruit and vegetables or lean protein. Instead we reach for the high sugar foods because they provide a euphoria caused by an almost instant spike in blood sugar. The latter is known to be the culprit for conditions such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Therefore it is best to eat food that causes a slower rise in blood sugar - called low glyceamic foods. The glyceamic index is a value assigned to foods based on whether they increase your blood sugar fast or slow. It's good to have a list stuck on the wall of your kitchen which will be a reminder of which foods will or will not be the best choice for you.

In a nutshell the emotional eater needs to make changes in how they handle their emotions and the discipline to make the right choices when it comes to what food to eat. How one would deal with their emotions is very individual and professional support is likely to be the best first step to take. However, with regards to what to eat this can be generalised to try and stick to the lower glyceamic index foods.

One day I was watching a breakfast tv show and they featured an interview with Ella Woodward. She shared her testimony where her health had hit rock bottom largely due to poor food choices. She decided to take action and began to change her lifestyle based on a vegan diet. After a lot of research and experimentation she published her recipies in her best selling book Deliciously Ella Every Day The ingredients used are those largely with a low glyceamic index. The recipies are delicious and I've been amazed at the amount of delicious meals you can make without meat. It's a great resource to have if you are serious about making changes.

I guess it is time to eat for nourishment and not for anything else.