Emotional Eating: Six Types Of 'Problem Eating' To Watch For

With the New Year upon us -- and the weight-loss resolutions that typically follow -- it's time to take a closer look at the most common root cause of obesity: problem eating. It is often said that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Nowhere is this more true than eating.

To state the obvious, not all eating problems are the same. Accordingly, there needs to be a bit more specificity about the different categories of eating problems to help individuals build a more useful map. My aim is to provide a point of view that may allow you to view your experience through a different lens, and in doing so, allow for a new pattern to emerge. Having spent over 30 years in private practice as a clinical psychologist, I've learned a lot about how individuals relate to food. Below is a summary of my learning that will hopefully provide some bits of wisdom.

The following are the problem eating categories:

Clueless Eating
This refers to the behavior of people who know nothing about nutrition. I know it's hard to believe given the amount of available information -- books, magazines, TV, Internet -- but many still have very little nutritional literacy. If you fall into this category you may be significantly overweight and on your way to a variety of degenerative diseases. A subset of clueless eating is alcohol consumption. There are far more calories consumed while drinking than most people realize and, for many, it constitutes a significant amount of excess weight.

Trance Eating
Trance eating refers to a form of negative multitasking. While doing something else -- reading, watching TV, emailing, etc. -- you're eating, completely oblivious to what you're doing. Eating in a movie theater is trance eating at its most obvious. It's remarkable how someone can walk into a theater with a container of popcorn the size of a Volkswagen, sit down, put the container in their lap and eat every last kernel without any consciousness. Research suggests that, not only do people not remember how much they ate, they also do not have the sensations of fullness that should accompany eating.

One other note about trance eating: If you're compelled to finish everything on your plate, it's probably the consequences of your mom telling you when you were a child a variation on the theme "there are children starving in Uganda." Over time this maternal command functions as an unconscious hypnotic suggestion, and you follow it regardless of the fact that you have already had enough to eat.

Medication Eating
Of all the substances that we ingest to make ourselves feel better, food is most often the drug of choice. We eat when we're anxious, sad, depressed, angry, worried, annoyed, ashamed or guilty. Coping with difficult emotional states is no easy task, but that's no excuse for constant abuse of food.

Ironically, psychological research suggests that individuals who score higher on the neuroticism component of personality tests tend to be more successful at losing weight than people who score in the normal range. What this means is that a certain amount of anxiety and OCD (obsessive compulsiveness) is a good thing when applied to positive lifestyle management skills. It keeps you worried and focused at just the right levels to take good care of yourself. Think of it as a little nuttiness being a good thing.

Sleep-Deprived Eating
One of the lesser-known facts about sleep deprivation is its effect on appetite. For reasons not fully understood, lack of sleep wreaks havoc on the hormones connected to appetite. In short, you eat more and gain weight. You need 7 1/2 hours of sleep on average. I know you enjoy watching "Leno," "Letterman" and "Conan," but your health is more important than their ratings.

Diet Eating
This is the "well intentioned" form of problem eating, but equally useless. Diets fall into a category of experience that is doomed to failure. The moment you choose to engage in a weight-loss strategy that has an expiration date, you can't possibly succeed. The only difference between this kind of eating and the others is the belief that something good will come of it. It won't. Stop doing diets now unless you've chosen one that you intend to be a permanent lifestyle change.

In reality, most people's eating problems are a combination of several of the above. Consequently there are a lot of patterns that need to be changed, but the first and most important step towards change is identification of the problem and awareness.

Changing your eating habits is tantamount to changing your religion. There is not a single stitch in the fabric of your life that will not be affected by the process of losing a significant amount of weight. The way you see, think and feel about yourself, the way others respond to you and the day to day patterns that structure your life will be entirely different. There are also a lot more choices available as you become, in a literal sense, a different person.

This is especially true for people who have always been heavy, since being at a healthy weight is like being in a country where you're just learning the language. Developing the skills to cope with all of this is no easy matter. And it takes an enormous degree of courage to succeed.

As everyone already knows, beginnings tend to go well. There's excitement, energy, commitment and all the other good things that go along with "newness." But as we all know, "newness" has the shelf life of a shooting star. It's bright, fun, fast and over. Hence, most New Years resolutions falter by the end of January.

This is where we get down to the single most important concept in life: maintenance. Simply put, maintenance is the following statement: "I am going to continue doing what I am already doing." It sounds so simple yet it's difficult to master. And weight management is the poster child for maintenance failure.
Here's why:

The mind is wired for journeys. Our life is structured as a narrative that involves getting from one place to another. And successful stories, variations on the Myth of the Hero theme made famous by Joseph Campbell where difficult obstacles are overcome, are the most compelling. So losing weight is a journey that we follow by the numbers, literally. Once achieved, once we get to that magic number of pounds that reflects success, we're there. We've achieved our goal and the journey is over.

But the moment you get complacent about having achieved your goal weight, you're doomed to failure and gaining everything back. This is where healthy anxiety and useful OCD need to kick in to insure you will never get completely comfortable. In and of itself, successful weight loss is dangerous, since it gives you the illusion you've achieved your goal. You haven't. You've just started. Weight-loss maintenance involves creating a totally different lifestyle algorithm, the step-by-step changes that must last a lifetime.

 

Comments

[Jane Cartelli]

11:09 PM on 01/10/2011

In my experience with losing 220+ pounds and keeping those pounds off I have found that directly hearing the experience of others who have succeeded has been the key to getting through all the tough spots of any food/eating challenge I have faced. When we learn to drive cars our instructor is a driver, not someone who studies other drivers without driving a car themselves.
I liked this part of the article:
"Changing your eating habits is tantamount to changing your religion. There is not a single stitch in the fabric of your life that will not be affected by the process of losing a significant amount of weight. The way you see, think and feel about yourself, the way others respond to you and the day to day patterns that structure your life will be entirely different. There are also a lot more choices available as you become, in a literal sense, a different person."
It was months before I could accept I could go into any store and find clothes that fit me. It was a long time before I realized I could no longer describe myself as an overweight woman and I can fit in a middle seat on a plane. I forget that I do not need reinforced furniture. I am grateful that I lost the weight in a natural way. I had time to grow into the 'new me' .
~Jane
KeepingthePoundsOFF.com

[sf omega man]

03:47 AM on 01/10/2011

well if McDonalds put in a mini-shake weight with every Happy Meal I suppose we would reach the neutral zone.

[jennytaylia]

10:30 AM on 01/09/2011

Six?? I count only five. Am I missing something?

[Rowan Oscar]

11:23 PM on 01/08/2011

I am soooo glad I found "Hypersonic Weight Loss"! I never knew planning and eating the many choices of meals could be fun.

[k-ram]

09:24 PM on 01/08/2011

Also, do you know anything about the "brain state conditioning" method that Wynonna Judd used to lose 55 pounds? http://bit.ly/h1v6T7

[k-ram]

09:17 PM on 01/08/2011

Is a good way to avoid mindless eating to keep a food diary or journal? This would be sort of like a therapy journal used in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Dr. Judith Beck, daughter of the father of CBT Dr. Aaron Beck, advocates monitoring your eating in her book "Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person." There are lots of new smartphone or mobile apps that could be used for this, e.g.
http://bit.ly/dFEibL

[Consciously Culinary]

08:27 PM on 01/08/2011

A fantastic article Lloyd. Thank you for bringing this perspective to the world.
As a chef and clinical Hypnotherapist I have created a modality called "Consciously Culinary; HOW we eat may be more important than WHAT we eat".
Consciously Culinary teaches seminars, workshops and speaking engagements for schools, institutions, clinics etc.
Cooking classes that are more "the artist's way" to liberate creative expression in the kitchen vs. following difficult recipes with intimidating techniques.
Meditative eating and bringing over-all awareness to our consumption.
http://www.consciouslyculinary.com

[beckyrajcich]

12:46 AM on 01/09/2011

I am a dietitian (new to the field) and love that you are using the cooking classes to help with conscious eating! I want to make a focus of my practice for people to find how wonderful cooking can be and develop healthy relationships with food.

[k-ram]

08:15 PM on 01/08/2011

There is a psychometric measurement tool called YFAS, the Yale Food Addiction Scale.
http://bit.ly/bLIRig
Is this test capable of classifying over-eaters into the problem eating categories you discuss in your article?

[craigb11]

07:01 PM on 01/08/2011

Successfuly recovering from a boute with a brain tumor, I haven't had a 'normal' appetite in nearly a year.

I've gone from 250 to 145 pounds.

I'm more of a grazer these days, so I try to have good stuff laying around. One day I brought in some sushi and just 'snacked' all afternoon/evening on it.

Good Health and Happy New Year to you all!!!!

cb

My appetite has been set to zero for so long I'b being very carefull how I 'recover'. Don't want to go back to eating, although very healthy food, way too much of it all.

[liv4evr]

12:24 AM on 01/09/2011

I love sushi! Could eat it all afternoon as well. Happy recovery to you. I don't think you CAN eat too much healthy food. Have you ever heard someone say, "gosh, I just binged and ate four apples!" Healthy food satiates you, so you don't feel the need to binge or eat too much of it.

[BannedInBoston]

06:53 PM on 01/08/2011

Yup. I call eating to "medicate" myself (most of the minimal overeating I do is this) "gnoshing". "Stop gnoshing", I tell myself. And usually I do. (At least I gnosh on things like fruit and soygurt. Beats _hell out of gnoshing on Fritos, which I used to do....)

[mindfulminute]

06:26 PM on 01/08/2011

As mindless eaters, we make poor choices about our eating. We eat inattentively, for the wrong purposes, and lack power and control. We eat in response to sadness or stress. This lack of skill with eating causes imbalances, weight concerns and unhappiness.

Mindful eating is very pleasant. We sit beautifully and eat slowly. We are aware of the people that are sitting around us. We are aware of the food on our plates and enjoy the food in ways that make us feel free and delighted.

http://mindfulminute.wordpress.com/

[Dogma]

05:48 PM on 01/08/2011

For me, personally, it is all about eliminating sugar (as much as possible) and moving my bones from time to time.

However, it's wintertime now and neither of those strategies seems to be working...

[Craig 212]

06:57 PM on 01/08/2011

Getting rid of the sugar is very important. I haven't eliminated sugar entirely, but I did give up Coca-Cola last November. I was kinda addicted to the stuff, usually drinking at least 2 liters a day- that's 800 calories and 216 grams of sugar, while the recommended daily intake of sugar is like 40 grams.

I've lost 60 pounds since then, just by drinking water instead of Coke.

[syntax facit saltum]

07:01 PM on 01/08/2011

Good for you! That's fantastic.

[2garen]

11:15 PM on 01/08/2011

Congratulations on your weight loss.
I saw many people in very sick conditions that loved soda. Not only did you lose weight you increased your healthy index by getting rid of the soda .

[ElGuybrush]

05:16 PM on 01/08/2011

The interesting thing about the anxious losing weight is that it's not necessarily due to a focused effort to diet. There was a study, a large group of people fed 1000 calories more than suggested, to see if high/low metabolism really had such a profound effect on weight gain. As it turned out, high/low metabolism wasn't nearly as important as Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.

In short, people who aren't as likely to sit still, who tap their foot or get up and pace don't gain as much weight because the constant minor burning of calories required ends up counting a lot over the course of a day.

The researcher went on to design a standing desk with a treadmill built in; it's set on slow speed to allow a comfortable pace throughout the day that ends up being a great slimmer

[Mr Vegetarian NY]

03:25 PM on 01/08/2011

There is only ONE real eating situation : munchies.
These other made-up "disorders" are nonsense.

[Alvarask]

03:04 PM on 01/08/2011

This article is simply an extension of the popular mythology that obesity is a mental problem. If only the author had any clue about the massive negative effects this is having on the lives of the obese, who are now the only group left who it's considered politically correct to stereotype, defame, attack and discriminate against. This sort of rubbish only makes it worse. It takes the rather complex issue of food, our attitudes towards it, our physical requirement to consume it, our hormones, food additives and many other issues, and redefines the whole bunch as a mental and moral disorder. The truth is that obesity is predominantly being caused by people eating the foods they are TOLD they should be eating. Obesity is a physical disorder, not a mental one.

[GodlessHeathen23]

11:05 AM on 01/09/2011

I partially disagree. I have an eating disorder that makes it difficult for me to eat. I'm at the other end of the spectrum from obesity. I had it in my teens and I am currently trying to crawl out of a relapse in my thirties. Before the relapse, I was overweight. When I relapsed, it was like something fired in my brain and I couldn't stop it. I dropped weight like most people shed clothes.

My point is that if what I suffer from is a mental disorder, why wouldn't there be similar disorders that make people obese? There are such things as binge eating disorder, for example.

I'm not saying that every person that overeats has a mental disorder. I'm just saying that you shouldn't make such sweeping generalizations regarding every person and their reasons for overeating or undereating...

[Alvarask]

02:55 PM on 01/09/2011

I'm so sorry to hear of your disorder...I wish you well with it. To clarify, I did not say that there was no such thing as a mental disorder that might contribute to obesity, but as the article is speaking in general terms, then the response should reflect that. In general terms, obesity is a PHYSICAL disorder brought about by eating foods we are told to eat, and exacerbated by not eating certain foods because we are told not to eat them. Because obesity is a form of starvation which causes the sufferer to BEHAVE as if they're a starving person, it is mistaken for being an issue that's behavioural in nature. It just isn't. When you have that much fat it's because your body is not allowing you access to that stored nutrition. A person who's dying of thirst in a desert would never be accused of gluttony for desperately trying to drink large amounts of water! It has nothing to do with mental problems, it's a survival response.

http://winningtheobesitybattle.wordpress.com

[Dharma kate]

04:25 PM on 01/09/2011

Perhaps it is in your case. I think that the distinction between "mental" and "physical" illness is way too simple. In my own case, and I speak for no one but myself, my over-consumption of food is definitely related to "mental" issues. I eat for emotional reasons. Food, particularly warm, starchy foods are my soothing drug of choice. My only way of dealing with any of this issue is to be conscious about my **thinking** around food. I didn't need another diet plan but I had to start being honest about the *amount* of food I was consuming and the *reasons* I was consuming it. When I started clearing up my thinking, my eating behaviours leveled off and the weight started looking after itself.