You can struggle with excess weight for years, look for a magic diet, exhaust yourself with physical exercise, visit cosmetologists, without assuming that the problem of excess weight can be solved with the help of a medical psychologist or psychotherapist. However, most people firmly believe in purely biological causes of excess weight (heredity, hormonal disorders, wide bones, etc.). But without an integrated approach, it is impossible to achieve weight loss or the effect will be very short-lived.
It should be remembered and taken into account that a person is a whole system, conditionally consisting of three aspects - biological (physiological characteristics of the body), psychological and social. Only by taking into account all these aspects can you get a positive and long-term result in the fight against excess weight.
It seems that everything is simple: eat less and move more - and the problem of excess weight will not affect you. However, experience suggests the opposite: achieving long-term results is a complex and lengthy process, which is greatly hampered by an insatiable appetite. In most cases, excess weight has nothing to do with organic disorders and the reasons for its accumulation must be sought in psychology.
Psychological causes of overeating and food addiction
- General dissatisfaction with life (stress, anxiety, fear, depression, melancholy, etc.) . All people, without exception, who have problems with excess weight, experience basic dissatisfaction with life to one degree or another, which leads to an uncontrolled process of food consumption. In fact, instead of looking for the causes of dissatisfaction and resolving them, people eat away at their problems. In other words, the constant desire to eat is a hidden symptom of a neurotic disorder, which manifests itself on the physical level. Using medical terminology, this phenomenon is called food addiction . Any attempts by force of will to limit oneself in food only lead to an increase in neurotic symptoms (mood decreases, feelings of anxiety, irritability, and emotional tension increase). In this case, you cannot do without professional psychotherapeutic help, because In order for weight to normalize, it is necessary to eliminate the psychological cause of overeating. A wide variety of diets and the latest weight loss drugs do not take the above into account. Most attempts to lose weight with their help bring only temporary results, because... your efforts are aimed at combating the consequence (excess weight), while the true cause of excess weight remains. With a psychotherapist (psychologist), the deep psychological causes of food addiction are eliminated, and weight loss occurs naturally, without stress for the person.
- Eating habits and social traditions In families where there is a real cult of food, excess weight is observed in all generations, and therefore it seems that the tendency to obesity is inherited. But this is not true at all. If anything is inherited, it is the attitude towards food, eating habits, and the tendency to constantly overeat. For example, many of us were forced by our parents in childhood to finish eating, despite our objections. Thus, we were taught to neglect the needs of the body and follow other principles. In such families, love is expressed through food (they encourage approved behavior with something tasty, and vice versa, they deprive you of the same tasty thing when you are guilty of something). All these eating habits that are imposed on us do not disappear, but predetermine our lives in the future. For example, few are able to refuse treats at a party out of fear that they will offend someone or that they will be treated poorly later (these fears come from childhood - parents unconsciously manipulated the loss of love if we do not eat as they demand). In general, eating behavior is a complex psycho-emotional process in which emotions play an important role. An insatiable appetite accompanies many neurotic conditions; control over the amount of food consumed, its quality is lost, and the difference between the feeling of hunger and the feeling of appetite is lost.
- Dislike for yourself I would like to highlight this reason as a separate point. We all come from childhood. Most children experience a deficiency of parental love and affection, which subsequently leads to the development of neurotic disorders. And overeating is a direct consequence of these neuroses. Of course, beatings and humiliation are not present in every family, however, a lack of unconditional love is found almost everywhere. The result of this attitude of parents is the inability of a person to love himself just like that, without conditions (he does not respect himself as a person, does not accept his body, tries to “escape” from himself, and food becomes the only outlet, a kind of way of escaping from problems). A person learns to use food not for food purposes, but as a lifeline, as a kind of “pill of happiness” and stress relief.
There are many psychological reasons for excess weight. We will focus only on the main and most common ones.
Food addiction. Therapist on duty Irina Ushkova. Issue dated 05/17/2018
In this video episode, on-duty therapist Irina Ushkova explains what so-called “food addiction” is. And why can’t we just ban, for example, chocolate bars. And why is it wrong to compare a person’s cravings for alcohol and for food? And, of course, what should we do when our children dream of eating only candy? The issue contains many interesting facts and examples from research. And also answers to your questions.
“Help me cope with my food addiction” is one of the most common requests when contacting us at the Center. People come to us who feel captivated by food, they think about it all the time, or, conversely, by hook or by crook they try not to think. And indeed, eating disorders have something in common with addictive behavior. But let’s figure out together whether the term “food addiction” is even legitimate.
I must say, the very idea of food addiction sells well. Because in our culture, in our society, which has gone through so much upheaval, addictive behavior is very common. What characterizes any addiction? Two things: • increased tolerance to the addictive substance • and withdrawal symptoms.
Let's look at the example of alcohol. Increasing tolerance to a substance that causes addiction is the need of a person suffering from alcoholism to increase the amount they drink. Because his body adapts, and the person cannot achieve the desired degree of intoxication.
Withdrawal syndrome is the negative consequences of alcoholism, when a person, after drinking alcohol, the next day experiences severe physical discomfort and a craving to resume alcoholism.
Now let’s remember what kind of treatment is offered to a person with addiction - a complete renunciation of what causes addiction.
Is this scheme applicable to eating behavior?
Is it possible to increase food tolerance? This is perhaps one of the most terrible misconceptions, that if you start eating, you will eat until you can no longer fit through the door. What do we see in practice? Typically, people who believe they have a food addiction tend to engage in dietary restrictions. For what reasons, it doesn’t matter. Do they want to lose weight or are they afraid that sugar provokes fatal diseases? The result is the same - against the background of food restrictions and diets, sooner or later overeating of a prohibited product occurs. Sometimes these are small, as we say, subjective overeating. And sometimes it's massive bungees (see episode). The person loses control and eats much more than he planned, and more than everyone else around him eats. And he thinks that this is not because of restrictions, not because of diet, but because he has a food addiction.
What about withdrawal symptoms? Does it apply to food? Everyone here understands that you can’t cancel food completely - you can die of hunger, but you can exclude certain food groups, fatty, sweet, carbohydrates. And it seems that this is where everything comes together. After all, if chocolates are banned, then you immediately really want them, and this is what is perceived as a withdrawal syndrome.
But the truth is that our bodies are biologically programmed to need 50 different nutrients a day to keep us healthy. Low-fat cottage cheese, chicken breast and broccoli do not cover these nutritional needs. And a person who eats 1200 kcal per day meets with a chocolate bar at the end of his hungry day, and that’s it. He eats it, and if he is unlucky, then many other foods. This happens because the smart organism is trying to help the owner survive. It literally forces him to fill the calorie deficit. And fatty and sugary foods are the best source of quickly absorbed nutrients.
Another argument used by food addiction advocates is that eating high-calorie food excites the same parts of the brain that injection drug addicts do when they use it. But these same parts of the brain are activated when a person hears a joke or favorite music, wins a prize, when a parent kisses a child.
So, there is no food tolerance, no withdrawal syndrome. Complete rejection of any food group is impossible, which is proposed as the leading way to combat food addiction. This always leads to breakdowns. Even better, giving up food restrictions and intuitive eating is a recognized way to recover from eating disorders (EDs).
The problem is that all this talk and even research on food addiction is misleading for people with eating disorders. The problem is that it is the substance—the food—that is the problem, and not the harmful effects of dietary restrictions and disturbed body image, as well as difficulties with emotional regulation.
I hope I was able to convince you that food cannot be addictive.
I would still like to note that some features of addictive behavior are present in eating disorders. But this dependence is not on a substance, on some kind of food. Separately, I note that there is no scientific data confirming the presence of dependence on any component of food (salt, sugar, fat, etc.) or their combination. It is an addiction to a certain behavior. From bouts of overeating, characteristic of all types of eating disorders. Or addiction to the bouts of purging, which are characteristic of bulimia nervosa, purging anorexia nervosa, and purging disorder.
Binges of overeating and bouts of purging serve as ways to normalize the emotional state. This is typical for highly sensitive people whose reactions to events in their lives are much stronger and last longer compared to those who are not endowed with this hypersensitivity. After an attack of overeating (sometimes in combination with purging), the desired state of numbness and numbness sets in for these people, when a person ceases to feel everything that he usually feels.
And this behavior (overeating and purging) quickly becomes reinforced. Because in the short term, food is a simple and effective way to cope with emotions. But in the long term, of course, the benefits of this behavior decrease, and the negative effects increase.
The most interesting thing is that the treatment that has proven effective for both addictive behavior and eating disorders is DBT, dialectical behavioral therapy, that is, the development of emotional regulation skills.
And I still wanted to say separately about sugar (sweets) and fast food. It is impossible to deny that it is these two food groups that pose the greatest problem for people and their eating behavior. The media attacks with their headlines that sugar is white death, fast food and even worse. What to do about it if you are confused whether you can eat sweets or not, and if you can, then in what quantity.
Let's look at two examples. Using the example of an adult and a child.
1. For an adult who does not have clinical symptoms of eating disorder. This is an important clarification; if they exist, then the help of specialists is needed. If there are no symptoms, but there is an eating disorder, for example, diet-relapse cycles or constant anxiety about food, then one of the principles of intuitive eating will help here - legalization. You can read detailed information in the book by Svetlana Bronnikova. I'll briefly describe the strategy.
You legalize strictly one product at a time. Not all prohibited foods at once, this will lead to a massive attack of overeating. And one at a time. We chose a certain type of chocolate or cookie, only one type of flavor. We bought ourselves this product in abundance. And eat as much as you want. As much as we ate, we bought the same amount the next day so that our supplies were always full. And watch what happens to you. Usually at first there is severe anxiety, then some relief from the understanding that you can eat what you want, and not just what is allowed. And gradually you will become fed up with this product. It's simple addiction.
And an important clarification: legalization will only work if you are willing to give up the diet mentality.
2. The second option is a child who eats nothing but sweets. This is truly a difficult challenge for a parent. In fact, here we also need to exclude serious eating disorders, for example, AFRID, avoidant eating disorder. This is a rather serious and poorly diagnosed disease in Russia, when a person (this begins in childhood and persists to one degree or another in adulthood) is extremely selective in food, and therefore experiences nutritional deficiencies, grows and develops poorly. Here it is important to distinguish between avoidant eating disorder and ordinary childhood neophobia. Young children are often afraid of new foods. This is normal, evolutionarily fixed and goes away on its own if the parent offers new foods but does not insist, that is, there is no food violence.
So it will come back to those children who eat nothing but sweets, what should they do?
You can try the same principle as with adults - legalization. This can be a scary decision to make. We at the Center offer the following as part of the Children's Nutrition Plan program. The child must have a nutritional structure. Three main meals, three snacks. Three times a day, at the main meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - you can and should offer sweets. Offer what your child wants. In the quantity that your child wants. The meal itself should be balanced in terms of different nutrients, and there should be plenty of food so that the child is sure to be full. All food is served at the same time, and not according to the old Soviet tradition - I won’t give you candy until you finish the soup. Let the child decide for himself what to eat and in what order.
Sweets are not allowed during snacks. If the child asks, then you simply tell him that he will receive it in about 3 hours at the main meal.
If parents previously had a lot of anxiety about sweets, then most likely the child will indulge in sweets at first. But it will pass quickly. We have a group on Facebook called “Children and Sweets”, where our subscribers discuss pressing issues of feeding children. So there, real mothers regularly publish messages that the child no longer eats only sweets, but, on the contrary, is leaning on other food groups.
Let's move on to the questions.
I love sweets, no, or rather I already hate them, but I can’t stop eating them. I think it’s an addiction((disease. Should I be coded, like from alcohol? They say taking chromium helps. It doesn’t help((I want to get rid of this craving. What should I do?
It is important to understand two points here - as with any eating disorder. The first is what happens to your food, is the diet balanced, is a sufficient amount of micro- and macronutrients entering the body with food. Nutrition should be sufficiently structured, complete and varied. If this is okay, and you suspect that the reason is in the emotional sphere, this option is also likely when a person uses sweets as a way to regulate their mood. This can be compulsive overeating, when a person eats something during the day, or binge eating. In this case, you need to work on emotional regulation skills.
Please tell me, without undergoing training in emotional regulation skills (there is no opportunity, means, etc.) it is impossible to learn to cope with emotions? Thank you.
This is a very controversial issue. I believe that psychoeducation, self-education, does many things. The problem is that in Russia there are not enough self-help books available in English for people to rely on. Apart from Svetlana Bronnikova and Evelyn Triboli's books on Intuitive Eating, I don't know of any other reliable sources that can help you. The fact that skills help and allow you to cope with your emotional state is for sure. You can refer to the materials of our Center, we have a lot of information with specific practices. I recommend starting with mindfulness practices, with daily meditation. This is the foundation on which other emotional regulation skills are built. You must be able to be in the moment, feel your body, understand that emotions are just emotions. I think this will be a good start to move further in emotional regulation.
I exercise regularly and try to eat clean. But lately, I just go crazy and start eating like I’m “out of my mind.” I don’t feel hungry... I just want to eat everything... especially sweets. I understand that I need a psychologist or neuropsychiatrist... because the problem is in my head. How to get back on track and avoid stress...
I am concerned about “clean eating” because it is the type of restrictive behavior that I talked about in the episode about healthy lifestyle. Restrictive nutrition itself triggers bouts of overeating, because, most likely, you simply do not eat enough nutritionally and variedly. I suggest introducing three main meals containing proteins, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, foods containing calcium, and three snacks. You don’t feel hungry because you’ve entered the phase of your metabolism (hunger) when your body understands that hard times have come and you need to slow down in order to survive. Structured nutrition for 6-12 months with a gradual transition to Intuitive nutrition - this is how I see a logical working option in your case. Regarding stress, you need to research. But for now my main hypothesis is that there are not enough nutrients.
My mouth can’t close, I really like to eat. I eat sweets every day!!! Morning, noon and evening. also whatever I find in the refrigerator. I tried not to eat after 6, but it didn’t work. I can't pull myself together. I don't want to get fat. How can that be?
You don't get fat from sweets, and you don't get fat from any other food group. You don't get fat because you eat after six or eight. Your body is not a factory or a store that closes at a certain time. The brain, heart and other organs work around the clock and need nutrients. Gaining weight occurs only against the background of bouts of overeating, and they are caused by the fact that you have dietary restrictions - and you write about it. In the nutrition plan that we offer in the “Down with Diets!” program. Desserts are served twice a day - for lunch and dinner. This protects against bouts of overeating, which most often occur in the evening. I think a structured diet would work well for you, where you have three main meals and three snacks a day.
Please tell me what to do for people who have been diagnosed with insulin resistance, and for whom the doctor prescribed a diet with the indispensable exclusion of sugar and a bunch of other things, including flour, potatoes, pasta and rice? What, in general, is there and is it possible to talk about intuitive nutrition in such conditions?
This is also a very common question - how to combine medical indications with life, because if you exclude everything that the doctor prescribed for you, then most likely you will always be in a hungry state. In such cases, we offer Intuitive Eating, but with constant monitoring of blood sugar levels. There is an excellent study proving that different food groups cause different glycemic responses: for some, carrots increase sugar, for others, for chocolate. Therefore, you need to focus on your feelings, measure your sugar, and if you see an increase, then reduce the dose or eliminate the product. Although I do not recommend complete exclusion, it is better to look for safe doses.
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What do you need to pay attention to to get rid of food addiction?
- Overeating (food addiction) always has psychological roots. To eliminate the causes of overeating, you need to consult a psychologist or psychotherapist, and your nutrition and weight will be normalized naturally;
- It should be understood that obesity is not an aesthetic problem, but a psychosomatic metabolic disease that has serious health consequences and affects the quality of life.
- Overeating is a way to relieve stress; it is one of the symptoms of food addiction. Addiction to food is exactly the same as addiction to alcohol or drugs, it is simply socially acceptable and not condemned in our society.
- Without a deep psychological restructuring of yourself, changing your lifestyle, as well as eating habits, you should not count on long-term results.
- It is important to find the reason that prevents you from losing excess weight. It is individual for everyone. Identifying the cause is the task of a psychologist who will help not only find it, but also eliminate it.
Types of food addictions
When talking about food addiction, many people imagine a girl who won’t miss a display of cakes, although in fact there are much more varieties of this disorder and the forms also take on more serious forms.
Taste addiction focuses on the need for a certain product and its taste. Foods with serotonin (chocolate, bananas) or those that have a noticeable effect on the body (coffee, seafood) are becoming widespread among taste-dependent people. Pleasant sensations from the taste of a product dilute negativity, boredom or fill a pause, like a cigarette smoker, and the use and taste addiction itself are similar to entertainment, although dysphoria cannot be ruled out in the long-term absence of a favorite delicacy.
A more serious problem is overeating, when a person is unable to control the required amount of food, as a result of which obesity begins. Usually caused by stress factors or decreased mood and self-esteem. It is completely solvable when we work through psychological problems and change our life strategy.
The next type is fasting, which has various forms of manifestation. This may be a refusal of certain foods (when trying to lose weight, foods that, in a person’s opinion, contribute to fat deposition are excluded) or a refusal of food altogether. The reason is often the desire to lose weight, and this leads to disturbances in the psycho-emotional sphere, anorexia nervosa, dystrophy and a number of both psychiatric and physiological problems. With anorexia, disturbances in the perception of one’s own body are revealed, which seems full even if underweight. At the initial stage, a person is quite capable of independently regaining a healthy attitude towards the process of eating or using the support of loved ones and a psychologist, and at the stage of more serious development, drug therapy is necessary to restore both physical (restoration of metabolism and proper functioning of the digestive organs) and psychological health (considered one of the diseases of a psychiatric clinic).
The opposite of anorexia is bulimia, which is characterized by outbreaks of hunger, absorption of food in huge quantities, while the choice of products, as in the first case of taste addiction, is not important, the quantity is important. Usually this is a rather painful condition for the body and the next stage of absorbing a huge amount of food is the artificial induction of vomiting or a laxative effect. The fear of becoming fat is caused by inducing vomiting, but there is no possibility of volitional control over eating; a person actually subjectively experiences a terrifying feeling of hunger, even to the point of pain and spasms of the esophagus, seeing the only way out in the immediate absorption of a huge amount of food. Just like anorexia, in its extreme manifestations it is treated in a hospital setting.
Treatment (correction) of food addiction at the Ember center
At the first stage (diagnostic), it is necessary to determine the degree of food addiction and, based on this data, create an individual weight loss program. The specialists of our center have extensive experience, use classical and original methods, as well as all the necessary modern methods of psychotherapy and psychocorrection, with the help of which eating habits are changed and the conditioned reflex connection between the emotional state of stress and overeating is broken.
The goal of psychotherapy is deep psychological restructuring, restoration of internal self-regulation mechanisms that provide control over appetite and eliminate bad eating habits that maintain excess weight. After psychotherapy, a strong motivation to lose weight is formed. It is impossible to say in advance how many psychotherapy sessions will be needed. Each case is unique, but changes begin to occur after the first consultation with a psychologist. Then the person goes through the process, watches how the weight goes away, and then maintains his ideal weight on his own.
Case study of recovery from food addiction
Maria, 33 years old, weight 83 kg and height 162 cm.
I came to the Ember center on the recommendation of friends. At an initial consultation with a medical psychologist, it turned out that Maria grew up as a chubby child from childhood, raised by her mother and grandmother, for whom food was a cult, and it was impossible to leave the table unless the plate was empty. So that the child would eat everything to the end and not be capricious, Masha’s mother bought Masha a plate with a picture of a little girl on the bottom. And when Maria didn’t eat well, her mother said: “Well, eat quickly, otherwise the little girl will drown.” Thus, the habit of overeating has developed, eating for speed and no matter what. In the process of getting rid of food addiction, Maria realized her deepest reasons for overeating, lost 28 kg and continues to maintain the weight to this day.
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