Why Do We Gain Weight

By Dr. Reena Prajapat on May 27, 2019

Why do we gain weight

Weight gain often causes significant distress to our lives, but do you think your slow metabolism, genetics, and overeating are responsible for weight gain. Whereas the truth is your mental health plays a vital and major role in body weight. Your mental well being directly influences your weight.

Why do we gain weight

Weight gain is an external reflection of an internal problem. Your body has a direct influence on your mental well being, it reflects your emotional state. There is a reason that our body needs extra weight, discovering this need is the lasting way to remove the cause of weight gain. Following are a few emotions which put your body in fat storage mode.

1. Deep internal need for emotional protection

Feeling lonely is a bad feeling and it can lead you to try to comfort yourself with food. A study in the journal “Hormones and Behaviors” have reported greater levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone when one feels a lonely and deep need for emotional protection.

Deep internal need for emotional protection

A hormone called ghrelin, it is called hunger hormone it is released by the stomach and stimulates hunger causing overeating. Ghrelin increases appetite, stores fat and stimulates the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. Studies also validate that people who are lonely tend to eat more calories than those with stronger social and emotional support.

2. Chronic self-

denial, denying self, depriving oneself of your desires internal starvation

3. Self-punishment

Studies show self-punishment is common. To perceive the concept of self-punishment let us first look at the foundation it is built on, punishment is defined as “the imposition of penalty as retribution for an offense”. Punishments are not fundamentally negative, they intend to help us adopt correct behaviors. But self punishments doesn’t help, they simply make you feel depressed and dejected.

Self-punishment

4. Self-rejection

Low self-esteem may make you feel you are not entitled to expressing your feelings. In addition, you may believe that
Fear of rejection is often a big issue for many of us. We are often anxious about our interaction with people and self-care goes out of the window when we feel rejected. “everyone hates me, so I also hate myself”.

5. Feeling Insecure

Whenever we feel insecure and we fail to identify how to deal with it we eat. For many of us feeling insecure is equivalent to being helpless. According to a recent survey, 60% of women experience self-critical thoughts on a weekly basis. This research was done by psychologist Dr. Robert and Lisa Firestone, according to them most of us indulge in comparing, evaluating and judging ourselves with great scrutiny. Our early life hurtful experiences lead us to adopt destructive thoughts towards ourselves.

Feeling Insecure

Insecurity can affect a person in countless areas of his life, try to identify the source of your insecurities and challenge them. Vocalize the self-critical and self-limiting thoughts, write them down. Respond to these thoughts with realistic and rational statements.

6. Using food as a substitute for affection

We often turn to food when we feel a lack of affection in our life. Such insatiable hunger results in emotional eating. An argument with the significant person in life ends up making you eat mindlessly. We often find comfort in food whenever we are feeling lonely or angry.
Remember, substituting food for love will provide you, shallow love. Have a healthy relationship with yourself and food.

7. Inability to express your desires

Not everyone can express their feelings easily, for many expressing emotions do not come naturally. You may have a fear of rejection or disapproval. Likewise, fear of conflicts with people because of verbal and intense arguments may also stop you from disclosing your feelings.

8. Suppressed anger and resentment

Try to release the underlying causes, overcoming emotional eating will not happen overnight. Try to identify your emotional triggers, situations when you have the urge to eat without hunger. write them down on a paper this will help you concertize the situation. It will help you distill your causes and finally overcome emotional eating.
Remember, ideally we should eat only when we feel hungry.

We are not supposed to eat based on our extrinsic factors such as stress, boredom, work pressure, depression, etc. identifying the triggers will make you more conscious of what you are putting in your mouth, rather than reaching out for food under stress you will try to get hold of the issue.

Recognize the link between situations and your eating pattern. Nurture yourself, develop your self-esteem and cultivate a strong sense of self.

Dr Reena Prajapat is a dentist, she post graduated in hospital management from Apollo Institute of hospital Administration, Hyderabad. Her strong belief in natural and home remedies lead her to Pursue bachelor in naturopathy.

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Why Do We Gain Weight