Emotional eaters often feel like they are stuck in a vicious cycle with no way out. They eat when they’re anxious, sad, angry and so on. To them food is their drug of choice. It alleviates the emotional pain they are feeling. However, there are treatments out there. Some of them alternative whereas others are conventional.
What are conventional therapies? Things like medication, surgery and therapy are considered conventional. What are alternative therapies? Well, let’s take a look at a few of them.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis has been known to be effective because it deals with the mind and that’s where emotional eating starts. Some people think hypnosis is a ‘joke’, remembering what they’ve seen on TV with someone swinging a watch back and forth in front of someone and having them bark like a dog or other silly things. But that’s not the case, hypnosis is a clinical practice that practitioners use to treat some patients.
Meditation
Again, forget what you’ve seen on TV. Meditation doesn’t have to be done sitting on the floor Indian style like you see on TV. While meditating, an emotional overeater is tuning into their thoughts and emotions, being aware (mindful) of what is going on. This (being mindful) is the complete opposite of what is happening when someone is emotionally overeating – they are being mindless.
Herbal Supplements
Al l you have to do is flip open a magazine, turn on the TV, walk into a store and you’re bombarded with the next greatest supplement on the market that will finally help you lose weight. While it’s ok to try them, they generally aren’t geared towards helping with the issue of emotional eating. But, there are a few on the market that are known to help with it:
*Hoodia – Not only is this herb known to suppress appetites, it boosts your energy and it has more subtle effects. It’s also known to have a pretty good safety level to it.
*Vitex – Women who have emotional eating issues because of hormone reasons, this herb is a good choice. It’s known to balance the hormones.
*Ginseng – You can find Asian or American ginseng. They are both found to be equally effective. This herb is supposed to not only help with cravings for sugar but also curb the compulsion to overeat.
Acupuncture
It’s not very common that you hear of someone having acupuncture done to help with weight loss. It can help and is generally more effective on someone that is an emotional overeater rather than just an overeater. This is said to be true because acupuncture releases endorphins and raises the metabolism. The release of endorphins, causes the client to feel better emotionally which helps stop the emotional overeating.
Nutrition
Bet you weren’t expecting to see this one listed. But it’s true. Someone that has the right amount (balance) of minerals and vitamins in their body don’t usually have emotional eating problems. It’s important that you are feeding your body with good food and not a bunch of bad stuff. Stay away from pre-packaged, artificial or processed foods as much as possible. Instead focus on feeding your body whole, fresh foods. You should also take a multi-vitamin too.
