Overeating, strong cravings for sweets and uncontrollable hunger are the problems of many girls. Psychologist-sexologist, member of the European Society for Sexual Medicine, the Association of Psychologists tells how to find advantages in such behavior, as well as how to accept your new body, which has undergone significant changes.
First of all, it is worth acknowledging that this coping strategy helped you survive. Thank yourself for finding a way to respond to abnormal events. If you were diagnosed with an eating disorder, it may get worse. Please contact a specialist for help.
If you had a stable relationship with food, let’s try to determine the cause of overeating. In order to forgive yourself, it is important to understand why you did what you did. And choose a new strategy.
Get rid of emotions or get them
Everyone has heard that the consumption of certain food products stimulates the production of the pleasure hormone – endorphin. In difficult moments, you want to forget and switch your attention to something familiar.
Try to identify which emotion triggers the binge eating cycle. Often after eating “forbidden” food, there is a feeling of guilt. Try to track him down and forgive yourself.
Take back your sense of control
In a situation of instability and uncertainty, it is important to have something familiar and stable. Sometimes this island of safety can be cooking or eating food. We may try to control the body in order to feel safe.
Try to choose more constructive ways to regain control. For example, breathing exercises, exercise or plans for the day.
Punish yourself
Powerlessness, the inability to change something, the feeling that you are not doing enough can provoke feelings of guilt and self-hatred. Also, aggression that is directed at the enemy and that you do not allow yourself, can manifest itself in the form of auto-aggression. If you are safe, you can have survivor’s guilt. Then overeating can be an attempt to punish yourself.
Avoid interpersonal problems
Just like before the war, excess weight can have a secondary benefit. For example, you are afraid to build a relationship or do not want intimacy with a man. Then an unbalanced diet may be your way to avoid anxiety.
Think about how being overweight helps you. Could you meet these needs in a different way?
How your parents responded to your appearance also affects your ability to accept yourself.
Have you been criticized, compared to others, or devalued for your efforts to look good? Think about the beliefs you heard about your body as a child. Evaluate whether you really need them in adult life, or are you living according to the usual scenario?
Accepting your body can be difficult. Feeling valued regardless of appearance can be easier in a relationship. When there is someone who does not judge you, but accepts you.
Try to look at yourself through the eyes of a person who loves you very much. What would she tell you about your body? What would you say to your best friend who asked you to help her accept her body?
