Overcoming Impulsive Eating

Impulsive eating is an excessive eating disorder that occurs within a span of five minutes and is associated with something like a location, a time, an activity or anything that triggers the urge of the afflicted person to overeat. At the same time, this eating disorder results into (and can also be the triggered by ) poor self-esteem, while it causes changes eating patterns specially if the person affected is into stressful events or is often times ill.

If you are suffering from this dilemma, you will also notice that the sudden urge caused by impulsive eating disorder makes your behavior become hedonistic and is intended to gratify it (the urge) immediately without your deliberation of the consequences, whether negative or positive. The strong impulse tends to overcome your choice because eventually, you will choose the unhealthy food over a healthy alternative.

Another explanation for the development of the impulsive eating disorder is that it is triggered by a combination of internal and external factors, which are derived from an individual's psychology and genetics, social and family. Thus, if you have psychiatric problems, ranging from anxiety disorder to obsessive-compulsive illness, you are susceptible to developing this weight disorder. 

With preparations made ahead of time, you can condition yourself to develop self-control by increments so that you will no longer be overwhelmed by the impulsive feeling in the future. You can identify the circumstances and factors that trigger your impulsive moments and break down the root cause or causes little by little and control it at the moment of attack rather than wrestle with the anxiety of its attack throughout the day. The first task after identifying those moments is to do or force yourself to do an act that is incompatible with the impulsive behavior.

If you are currently wrestling with a weight problem directly caused by impulsive eating, then you actually have a very serious eating disorder or one that is becoming serious. You must work hard to become aware of your behaviors, attitudes, and emotions which subconsciously contribute to the problem as much as the consequences.

Impulsive eating habit is not a behavior that you can readily control if you want to. It could require medical or psychiatric attention and treatment, if serious. It is important to look for a person to talk about the problem. Professional help is preferable, if available. Once you become aware of your impulsive eating, take the necessary steps to control the problem. Find someone who is supportive, caring and who validates your feelings without reinforcing your self esteem and poor image of your self.

Psychological counseling is necessary so that you will understand the underlying psychological and emotional matrices that contribute to and maintain the disorder. Nutrition, at all levels of your being, must be correctly tackled and handled to control the unconscious impulses that trigger the unwanted behavior.

New ways of dealing with the problem must be effectively installed as much as other coping mechanisms on other levels. Therapy must come in the form of medical supervision and nutritional counseling. These solutions may take time and chances are, the subconscious nature of the problem will make prevention difficult. But this does not mean that the idea is impossible.