Compulsive Eating Habits: A Strategy to End the Cycle

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By Cedric Ortiz

One in five women these days are suffering from the same disorder, compulsive eating, which is a disorder that creates excessive, and uncontrollable, eating. The binge eating it creates is often followed by a feeling of guilt subsequent to the eating. Compuslive eating is not confined to the ranks of women however, out of the population suffering from this disorder, 40% of them are men.

People who have this disorder normally experience weight gain or obesity. These rapid weight gains can cause health problems to the individual. Such problems include: high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Diabetes, alone, accounts for 2.9% of deaths a year, which is around the neighborhood of 68,399 annual deaths.

People that compulsively eat usually have problems in their life that they don’t know how to solve. Some of the top reasons why people become compulsive eaters are: that they are depressed about their body weight, have experienced the loss of a family member, or are under financial stress. These problems make people turn to food as an anti-depressant, which changes their mind set to “this is the only way to being happy.” This state of mind throws people in a never ending cycle of binge eating, and then feeling guilty about the bad habit.

One of the main reasons why people continue to eat compulsively is because of guilt. One way of curing this problem is by letting yourself eat what you want, in proper portions, thus releasing the negative feeling of overeating. You can also do other activities that control your emotions, and that help you to better manage your feelings. Some of these activities are: taking yoga lessons, exercising, or even talking with friends.

When you have an urge to compulsive eat you can tell yourself, “I will wait another 10-15 minutes”; in those minutes you occupy yourself with the activities that you create to manage your emotions. In this way, when it comes time to eat you do not feel as if you have to eat as much, and you don’t feel any guilt.

Compulsive eating causes many problems in people’s lives, and puts them at a higher risk for developing harmful, or potentially fatal, diseases. It can also lead to rapid weight gain, and creates mental and physical stress. Compulsive eating is a major problem for most, and not easily cured, but with a little dedication this disorder is treatable.