 ASK
OUR EXPERTS...
Sometimes when I eat something sweet, I enjoy it and everything is
fine. But sometimes I am triggering into excessive eating that I can't seen
to stop. Why does this happen?
By Nancy Anderson-Dolan of WiseHeart Wellness Services
When addictions counsellors talk about getting “triggered” into relapse, an
addictive process is happening. There is something in the chemical make-up
of what you are eating interacting with your biochemistry that is setting up
a chain reaction that initiates a craving for more of the same. A
biochemical trigger is similar to drugs and alcohol for some people.
But as you have noticed, it’s not the same all the time. That is because the
process is more complicated than that. The biochemical conditions in your
body are changing constantly. That is why we crave different things at
different times. Being tired, menstrual, angry, stressed, happy, dehydrated
or cold, can all have an impact on how we react. Combining those physical
triggers with a particular substance that triggers a craving response will
create different experiences.
There are also psychological and emotional triggers. We may have a feeling
of being content or loved from a particular smell or taste, like freshly
baked cookies. We might feel we deserve a “treat” for completing a
challenging experience. We may wish to fit in. Take into account all this as
well and you begin to understand why sometimes you can eat something without
a problem and then when perhaps more of the factors are stacked against you,
it spirals out of control.
The good news is that you can manage a lot of those factors, like sleep or
hydration, and by just being conscious of the other factors, you can
diminish their impact! If you react to sweets and know that you are very
uncomfortable around your spouses family, you might expect to develop a
craving for more apple pie eaten with them because it makes you “feel
better”. Now you can either decline it or sit with the craving it creates.
Cravings rarely last more than a minute and almost always have emotional
energy that can be dissipated by just acknowledging it in your mind and
feeling it consciously in your body. With a craving there is a surface
intensity that we try to satisfy with the desired substance, thinking if we
just eat that, the craving will go away. But often it will just intensify
the problem. Sitting through the craving and listening more deeply to our
bodies and hearts will often reveal a physical or emotional need that we
really can address.
For more details on excessive eating, please contact Nancy Anderson-Dolan
at WiseHeart Wellness Service at 403.685.0864 or visit
www.wiseheartwellness.com |
