As many of you already know, my priority is understanding the different types of eating disorders, how they start, why so many of us have to deal with them, and what can be done to end the struggle once and for all.
In my many hours of research on emotional eating, I have come across hundreds and hundreds of articles and various research studies. The one thing they all seem to have in common when it comes to “cure” suggestions, is the sufferer eating only when hungry and doing their best to keep attention off food at all other times.
This made me realize something: if eating only when hungry and not thinking about food at other times are prerequisites for getting rid of the emotional disorders of eating or overeating, then people who are serious learners have a problem! real!
Are binge eating disorders more common in fit people?
Just think about it: people who eat by the clock, regardless of hunger levels; those who constantly think about food while planning it days in advance, weighing and measuring every bit of food they put in their mouths: how are they going to avoid this obsessive relationship with food, when their own lifestyle is focused in being obsessive with her? ?
How do you NOT obsess when this is part of your day?
Then there’s the whole cycle of losing fat and gaining muscle, done yo-yo style by the most serious trainees and physique competitors. The average figure competitor, for example, will go through an “off-season” cycle to gain muscle, followed by a “cutting” period where they will be on a very restrictive, very low-calorie diet for 12 to 16 weeks.
Once that cutting cycle is over, you’ll allow yourself the freedom to consume more calories, along with some of your favorite foods from time to time, when another “off-season” begins.
So where is the problem, you ask?
Simple: the simple fact that you have deprived yourself for a good 3-4 months and (most of the time) have been on a starvation diet, consisting of less than 1,200 calories a day (as you did hours and hours of cardio daily) You have absolutely crashed your metabolism!
And there is more…
Once you allow yourself to have more food; the moment you tell yourself it’s “okay” to treat yourself once in a while, since you’ve reached your goal – the moment you relax – your subconscious mind will start sending out intense “feed this” signals. Hungry Body” which, most likely, you will find incredibly difficult to resist!
That’s why, no matter how well you grasp the fact that you don’t actually *need* the whole box of cereal; It won’t disappear by the time you put the spoon down either, and you can always have more later; you will have an overwhelming desire to finish it all, as your body is trying to “fill up” with food while it is “still available.” .”
After all, who knows when another period of starvation will begin. The main objective of his body is to survive. As you stand by the refrigerator late at night, eating peanut butter straight from the jar spoonful after spoonful, your entire body is concentrating on doing, which is preserving.
Look familiar?
Survival.
That’s all it is. And that, to me, explains the prevalence of binge eating and emotional eating in the fitness community.
In all honesty, I’m having a hard time with this idea. I like to think that we are all very health conscious individuals… and yet, if we are the main cause of our own suffering, how conscious are we really?
Do you think I’m wrong?
If you think I’m out of line, I’d love to know why. I would like nothing more than to be wrong. If you think I’m missing any important factor here, I really need to hear your thoughts.
And if you agree, or understand what I’m trying to say, I’d love to hear from you too… it will help solidify my theory.