To Lose Weight, Recognize That You Are Comfort Eating

Atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii Island.

Most of our overweight, whether it be 5 or 50 lbs., is due to comfort eating — soothing ourselves when we feel down or anxious, or to celebrate when we’re happy. Extreme out of control comfort eating is called binge eating.

It’s no accident that many of our comfort foods are grab’n’go instantly available, immediate gratification items.

The key to losing weight and keeping it off is change. We must determine when and why we eat, and change those factors that lead to our anxious/mindless eating. The more positive changes (destructive habits, stressful schedule, toxic people) we make the farther away we’ll be to those triggers that cause us to grab snack food.

All diets basically work because they call for a change in what and how much we eat, but if the change is not for the better — who really wants to eat grapefruit and egg whites every day? — we will not continue with the diet. This is why diets “fail.” You should not “go on” a diet, but rather change your present diet, permanently. 

Branded diets are unnecessary once you admit a significant percentage of your weekly food intake consists of snack foods and fast food and mindless grazing. Not keeping grab’n’go foods in the house is the foundation required to begin ending comfort and anxiety eating.

 Old is absolutely the wrong time in life to get fat, stay fat, and ignore health problems.

Instead of telling yourself “I deserve this” next time you find yourself hungrily eyeing that piece of cake, realize what you really deserve is not to be sick, lethargic and overweight. You deserve mobility. You deserve a better body. Nobody feels good about people seeing themselves go downhill. Choose instead to turn around and start trudging uphill. The first two or three steps might be a pain, but upon seeing the intial changes for the better you’ll soon pick up speed.

And walking uphill is really good for your butt.