By Trinity Maston, LCPC, The Antioch Group
When many people think of a yo-yo, they may think of a child’s toy that is fun to play with. Others may think of how their own diet mirrors the motion of a yo-yo — on again and off again with their weight. This is also called weight cycling. Many people can relate to this yo-yo diet game. It’s no fun. So why are so many people playing this not-so-fun game? Here are some reasons why people may struggle.
Emotional Eating
Our emotions can fluctuate throughout a given day. Being happy, sad, frustrated, worried, annoyed, mad, and/or disappointed are emotions that people may feel on any given day. All feelings are normal and it’s ok to have them. The problem that some people have is how to handle their emotions, especially when their emotions become strong and overwhelming. This is where it is easy to become stuck with handling emotions in ineffective ways. An ineffective way of handling emotions is by emotional eating. Emotional eaters may eat for any number of emotions they may feel — and it’s not always negative emotions. Some may eat because they are celebrating and happy. After all, isn’t it socially acceptable to eat when we celebrate? Emotional eaters tend to relate to their weight as increasing and decreasing like a yo-yo. They eat to comfort their strong emotions and the weight may come on. When they feel scared that their weight is increasing too much, they might try their best to lose the weight and restrict their diets so the weight comes off. Oftentimes, people gain more weight each time they experience weight cycling.
Stress
Running late for an appointment, kids not listening, dinner is not ready, laundry is piling up, plus trying to meet work deadlines are some of the many reasons that people may feel stress on a daily basis. Relationships within families or with coworkers can bring their own sort of stress, especially if these are filled with constant conflict. Excessive levels of stress can be reasons why people may turn to food. Another type of stress is the pressure to look a certain way. If people believe that their self-worth is directly related to the size clothing they fit into, then they may be at risk for weight cycling.
Stress from trauma and abuse may be yet another reason why people may misuse food. When people experience a traumatic event, it can be easy for them to escape their feelings through food. Trauma can take many forms: abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), loss of relationship through death or separation, divorce or end of a relationship, natural disaster, physical hurt, medical condition, or witnessing a scary event. People may also respond to the pain of abuse by mistreating their own bodies through their problematic relationship with food.
Addiction
Sometimes a person may become physically addicted to certain types of food. Their body may come to crave certain foods, especially sugar, flour, and mood-altering foods. Research has shown that intakes in sugar can directly relate to out-of-control feelings. Serotonin levels are impacted by the foods we eat. Serotonin is the chemical in the brain that helps us focus and keeps our moods regulated. So a diet that is highly processed and loaded with sugar will cause the serotonin levels to become high. Certain foods (such as carbs) have higher levels of serotonin, which will impact a person to feel more calm and happy, but when serotonin levels drop, moods can change and people can become more edgy, distracted, and depressed. People will often eat to improve their moods not realizing that their food choices may have a direct impact on their moods and weight fluctuations, and thus a food addiction may arise.
So how can people “put away the yo-yo” and stop playing this dieting game? For starters, they need to be able to identify the ways in which they feel triggered to eat. Is it emotional eating, a triggered unresolved trauma, or because they are stressed in their current life? When people are aware of the problem, then they are better able to begin addressing their needs and get on the road to success and healing. People can reach out for help with their problems. There are many strategies to help someone be more mindful, tolerate stress, regulate their emotions and be effective in their communication with others. All of these skills, along with training in how to use them, can help someone feel more in control of their lives and, as a result, can help them stop playing the dieting game.
Trinity Maston is a licensed clinical professional counselor at the Antioch Group. She is also a certified health coach and enjoys helping people reach their personal health goals. To find out more information, please visit www.antiochgroup.com or 309-692-6622.
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