Nervous hunger: how to manage the urge to always eat
Often and willingly, food comes to be a refuge through which to console oneself for something that went wrong during the day or for a not-so-happy period of our life. This is where nervous hunger comes into play, a very unhealthy and above all untruthful impulse: yes, because in some moments it seems that hunger almost clouds our vision, and instead it is not the stomach that requires food, but the head .
One of the first steps to be happy and at peace with yourself is to feel good about your body. Here's how in this video!
What is nervous hunger?
Nervous hunger is triggered by some psychic mechanisms that lead the individual to eat in an often unconscious, compulsive, automatic and never healthy way. The foods that we "grab" in moments of crisis are in most cases, very caloric, greasy snacks. and full of fat and sugar.
Lack of will does not come in, the subject affected by this disorder is led to the choice by some deviated cerebral instincts, so to learn how to manage nervous hunger, one of the first things to do is to know the reasons behind it. .
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Nervous hunger: the reasons that trigger it
The reasons for nervous hunger can be different, let's see which are the most common:
- disappointments and anger make you extremely self-critical as well as insecure and this weakens you, causing you to take refuge in food as a lifeline. Eating becomes the only way to have a reward or a consolation.
- eating becomes as instinctive as taking breast milk and if we are insecure, it is a reassuring moment just like the infant latching onto the mother's breast to take milk.
- eating causes extreme pleasure, especially if we are obsessed with a certain food or drink. In these cases we completely lose control with consequent alteration of behavior and modification of normal food-related habits.
What is important to focus on is that you need to be able to recognize the false stimuli of the brain, because even if it may seem strange, it is he who is hungry. Nervous hunger often leads us to eat regardless of appetite, so how can we appease these cravings while avoiding the risk of gaining weight?
The main fault is due to some instinctive brain circuits that determine the unmotivated attraction towards particular foods. Is it possible to control them? Yes, paying attention to the foods around you, but also to other factors such as sleeping well and knowing how to manage stress.
How to fight nervous hunger
One of the first things to do to try to quench nervous hunger is to start eating a balanced diet full of healthy and nutritious foods that do not trigger the sense of hunger when this is not true.
A simple and effective way to achieve this is to prepare most of the foods directly at home, so you will be sure of the ingredients used and avoid prepackaged foods rich in saturated fats, sugars, refined flours, etc.
Healthy foods, if well balanced, are often enough on their own to create a sense of satiety after consuming them, avoiding the activation of nervous hunger and consequently the act of eating even when you are not hungry.
If you think that stress is the cause of nervous hunger, you need to identify the reason that causes you to be so stressed and adopt a plan to deal with it. This will help you feel that you can control the situation.
Stressful circumstances that you think you can't keep at bay are very bad for your health. Nervous hunger levels increase exponentially, making it impossible to manage.
If you feel too stressed and the irrepressible desire to eat assaults you, the advice we can give you are two:
- avoid munching on very caloric foods, the ideal is to avoid buying them in order not to fall into temptation.
- dedicated to other activities that do not involve contact with food. Some idea? Painting, pampering yourself with a mask, tidying up, cleaning, taking a hot bath, playing sports, leaving the house for a walk.
Even if you don't think about it often, there are a thousand ways to distract your mind and stave off nervous hunger.
The damage of nervous hunger on the body
Nervous hunger can not only lead to weight gain, it is an important contributor to various diseases. Which?
- diabetes
- heart attack
- stroke
- tumors
- arthritis
- gout
- Alzheimer's
Nervous hunger irremediably leads to putting on a few extra pounds, and in most cases, individuals live this condition extremely badly, social dialogue increases, as well as increasing anxiety and stress that still lead to nervous hunger. It is "a bit" like a dog chasing its tail ... a circuit with no way out.
Nervous hunger: the moments when we are most vulnerable
Nervous hunger always occurs when we are unable to manage negative emotions, in particular there are some moments in life when we are susceptible and the risk of consoling ourselves with food increases dramatically.
1. The work
Work and the office environment in general is one of the main causes of stress, negative emotions, anxiety, nervousness and frustration. There are many reasons: a discussion with a colleague, a reprimand from a supervisor or simply not being satisfied with what we are dealing with.
So we begin to feel the sense of hunger and the irrepressible need to let off steam with food. What to do? You can take raw vegetables with you to the office to munch on, this gesture will serve to calm the nervous hunger without harmful effects on the organism. Or go ahead for yoghurt, dried fruit or cereal-based snacks.
For the lunch break, choose light but filling foods: a packet of chips is not ideal, it will only whet your appetite even more. Finally, when the sense of hunger occurs, try drinking a glass of water, you will see that it will subside by itself, especially because it is a false stimulus.
2. The weekend
The weekend is another dangerous time if you suffer from nervous hunger: the work week is over and you feel you need a reward that you will identify in a greedy food: pizza, sushi, hamburgers, chips and so on. Junk food it has the power to make us feel better just at the thought that we will soon eat it.
How can you do to appease the craving for calorie foods and prevent every weekend from becoming a real attack on the line?
- Treat yourself to a little whim combined with a "healthy diet for the whole week, so you will feel less of the need to reward yourself at the weekend.
- Rather than rewarding yourself with food, treat yourself to something different: a new sport course, an "out of town experience" or ... go shopping (which has always been the best medicine!).
- Loneliness is one of the causes that pushes people to compensate for the lack of affection with food. Try launching yourself into some social activity where you meet new people, or just call a friend and have a chat together!
3. In the evening and at night
The evening hours are the most critical when it is easier to feel lonely, sad and overwhelmed by negative emotions. In addition, many people struggle to sleep due to anxiety and stress, so it happens very often to visit the fridge or pantry before going to sleep.
- make sure your diet throughout the day is healthy and above all balanced. This will allow you to feel full and not be tempted by calorie snacks between meals.
- try to reduce temptations by avoiding keeping snacks and packaged products such as sweets, candies, chips, etc. in the pantry
- learn to balance pleasure and duty during the day, for example after work meeting some friends to spend the evening together, can help.
All the advice we have given you works especially when nervous hunger is a passing disturbance due to particular stressful moments we are going through.
If, on the other hand, you realize that nervous hunger attacks are very frequent and above all they last over time, it is better to contact a psychology specialist who, with the help of a nutritionist, will be able to draw up an adequate therapy to solve the problem.
