Sometimes defining something like Emotional Eating is easiest when we first begin with what it’s not.
Emotional Eating is NOT simply overeating because it feels good. It’s typical for everyone to over indulge here and there. Emotional Eating becomes an issue requiring professional help when thoughts about your food, weight, and eating disrupt your day-to-day living and your peace of mind.
Emotional Eating and Binge Eating can even become debilitating. Those struggling with Emotional Eating will choose food as a way to deal with overwhelming emotions or stressors.
In time, eating becomes the only solution to things such as anxiety, or anger, or sadness. In fact, neuroscience research shows that people who regularly choose eating over working through negativity or stress, are actually creating neural pathways (connections in their brains) between a negative feeling and eating as the primary coping mechanism.
Added to this is the spiral of guilt those suffering from Emotional Eating fall into because they feel they’ve failed themselves by losing control and overeating again.
It’s overwhelming and can seem like an impossible situation without an answer.
But guess what?
It’s NOT!
You CAN make peace with food!
And although recovery from Emotional Eating is not a weight-loss process, many often find themselves eating healthy and losing weight as a result of healing.
Dr. Galper has 25 years of professional experience helping individuals overcome Emotional Eating and has helped countless individuals re-establish a healthy and happy relationship with food.