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UNCONSCIOUS EATING
"During unconscious
eating, your mind is typically blank and you don't know for sure how many minutes went by,
never mind how many calories were consumed. Your ability to make conscious decisions about
what or how much you eat is clouded and you become "numb" to fullness cues."
Researchers have begun to conceptualize
overeating as somewhat of an altered state and as a result of metabolic and neurochemical
changes.
Automatic pilot
To me it has been described as similar to "highway
hypnosis" or being on "automatic pilot". Highway hypnosis is driving while in a trance-like state
in which you can't remember the last 30 miles or so. When a plane is on automatic pilot, the
pilot no longer has to think or make decisions about the flying process. During unconscious
eating, your mind is typically blank and you don't know for sure how many minutes went by,
never mind how many calories were consumed. Your ability to make conscious decisions about
what or how much you eat is clouded and you become "numb" to fullness cues. Statements
such as "I'll eat as much of all the 'bad' foods as I can today, since I have to go back 'on' the
diet tomorrow" is all-or-none thinking that can have devastating effects on your weight-loss
attempts. In these situations, you eat because you allow yourself to (a thought process) versus
eating until you feel full (a feeling).
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Have some way to estimate how much you have
eaten, no matter how large the quantity.
This next statement is not based on any type of valid research statistic... yet. Unconscious
eating could result in eating 4000 to 8000 extra calories per day. This, my friends, is where
a majority of the damage is done. One trip to McDonald's isn't the problem. What follows
afterward is the problem. Does the Big Mac signify the beginning of a hypnotic state? Or is it
an enjoyable meal that will fill you for many hours? In order to avoid unconscious eating, you
need to hold yourself accountable every day; have some way to estimate how much you have
eaten, no matter how large the quantity. You should hold yourself accountable because your
body does; your body doesn't stop calculating excess just because you didn't realize what or
how much you were eating. With every mouthful comes more calories. Unconscious eating still
counts.
If your unconscious eating doesn't decrease in frequency, tell someone; a friend, your
dietician, your doctor, or your ObGyn. Show them this book and ask them for help. Don't be
ashamed that you eat this way. The more you deny it to the professionals who can help you, the
more they will inadvertently point you in the wrong direction. I have seen people after gastric
bypass surgery who are finally are able to admit to themselves that they eat hypnotically. Your
doctor needs to know exactly how out of control your eating is so that he or she can help you
in the best way possible. As I say to my patients, keep your shame on the outside of the office
door; shame is a form of denial and denial is harmful.
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