	Article Directory		Article Submission Service		Article Marketing Blog		Publishers		Member Log In

Article Directory :: Health & Fitness Articles

Stop Overeating: Overcome Obesity And Overeating

By Mark C Roberts

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 18Jul2008
Word count: 513
Viewed: 411 time(s)

Get Free Content For Your Site

Stop Overeating: Dealing With the Addiction

When trying to stop overeating, it is important to realize that you may be dealing with an addiction. In our society, overeating has just recently been recognized as a legitimate addiction. There are many harmful stereotypes associated with overeating. Until recently, people struggling with obesity have been viewed as lazy and gluttonous. The common reaction is to tell the obese person to just cease the habit. This is similar to telling a smoker to just stop smoking or an alcoholic to just stop drinking. Unlike these other addictions, an overeater still has to eat to survive, making recovery from his addiction even more difficult.

Addictive Overeating

Although there is a plethora of health conditions that occur with obesity, many Americans continue overeat. The addicted overeater uses food to medicate a variety of different issue the same way that an alcoholic uses alcohol to numb his pain. Accepting this as an addiction is the first step in being able to stop the habit. Studies have shown that the same areas of the brain are affected when an overeater has cravings as when a drug addict has drug cravings.

Body Image and Obesity

Body image plays an important role in the process to stop overeating. Distorted body image is at the root of all eating disorders. Anorexics see themselves as fat and some obese people see themselves as thin. People diagnosed with obesity sometimes show genuine surprise when told that losing weight is a must. Body image also plays into self-esteem. Low self-esteem has been determined to be a very common trigger for overeating. Both low self-esteem and distorted body image need to be addressed in order to stop overeating.

Symptoms of Excessive Eating Addiction

There are many symptoms of addictive eating habits. The most obvious is obesity or being overweight. When chronically taking in an excess of calories, the body stores the extras as fat. Another symptom is consuming a great quantity of food in a short amount of time. Overeating addicts tend to eat food at a rapid rate, sometimes barely chewing it completely. Often the food binge is followed by feelings of guilt, remorse and self-loathing. Many overeaters say to themselves, "I can't control my eating problems."

Health Ramifications

Many health problems are associated with obesity and eating too much. Immediate conditions include indigestion, nausea and bloating. Long-term health effects can be life threatening. Long-term effects can include high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Although overeaters are made aware of the health ramifications, this alone is not enough to get them to stop overeating.

Treatments for Overeating

These symptoms need to be treated as an addiction in order to be treated effectively. Programs that are similar to other addiction treatment program are available for overeaters. There are also a lot of self-help treatments available as well. Self-hypnosis is one of these that have been seen to be effective in treating addictions and can often help people to stop overeating habits and establish a healthier relationship with food.

Self hypnosis can be very effective in helping you to get out of the habit of overeating. Stop Overeating by Debbie Williams is one such recording and it is available from this online hypnotherapy recordings shop.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here