Caring for an ill family member is emotionally taxing. Ever use food for comfort? Sure, we all do. Eating favorite foods is a pleasure! And eating sugary or fatty foods appears to actually calm stress centers in the brain.
But it's fleeting comfort. Such "emotional eating" may in fact ultimately add to your stress by leaving you feeling guilty. And it can certainly leave you with a few extra pounds!
Consider these warning signs of emotional eating. Do you habitually
• seek food for solace or as a reward when you are stressed?
• serve yourself seconds even though you're already full?
• find you never really tasted your food because you were too preoccupied while eating?
• get mad at yourself for eating too much or for eating the wrong things?
• stash treats away with the thought that they'll "help" later when you're upset?