Most people know what it’s like to eat for emotional reasons, but it may not turn into an emotional eating problem. Chronic emotional eating is when you eat to distract yourself from stress or anxiety, numb out pain, or soothe uncomfortable feelings.
This may sound familiar to you, especially if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It can be particularly easy for IBS sufferers to get caught up in a vicious cycle of emotional eating, but why?
1. IBS is a gut-brain disorder that is often accompanied by anxiety and depression.
This can leave some people vulnerable to using food to soothe their emotions and alleviate anxiety or stress.
2. There is a constant battle between restricting foods due to IBS symptoms and feeling deprived.
This can make IBS sufferers want to eat more for emotional and even physical reasons.
3. Special diet plans just feed more into IBS anxiety and the overall emotional eating cycle.
Food restriction (to comply with a diet or avoid symptoms) can lead to more hunger, cravings, and excess eating.
4. Some people with IBS also have underlying food sensitivities, blood sugar issues, hormone irregularities, or imbalanced brain chemistry.
These issues can add even more stress and anxiety to your situation, which may contribute further to cravings and the emotional eating cycle!
Unfortunately the short term benefits of emotional eating get outweighed by worsened IBS symptoms, not to mention guilt, shame, and a host of other negative effects.
As you can see, IBS and emotional eating are both complex on their own, but they can have a complex relationship to each other as well.
It’s important to be aware of this connection as you start your journey to stop emotional eating. It will help you get in the right headspace – a place where you have less self-blame and develop more self-compassion.
From there, you will grow and learn. You’ll get closer to ending the cycle of emotional eating and further toward your goal of healthy and happy.
With Love & Healing,
Lynn
P.S. If you have IBS and you’re sick of struggling with Emotional Eating, I have a FREE 7-Step Guide that will get you on the path to stopping the emotional eating cycle. Go HERE to get your Free guide!
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