Eating is a big part of our way of life.
When we celebrate a special occasion we eat.
When we entertain, have dinner parties or holiday gatherings, we eat.
There are religious and other social functions in which what's on the menu plays a very important role.
Preparing food for someone else is a symbol of friendship and love.
Sharing a meal together can do a lot to enhance relationships.
Food is an integral part of every life; it is one of our basic needs.
So it is no wonder that it can be come more than just a necessary part of life, it becomes a major part of our life.
Along with major events in our lives calling for us to eat large meals there are times in our lives calling for us to lose weight fast so we can feel good about other events.
Such as summer time swimsuits, wedding dresses, class reunions, vacations, or activities we wish we could do.
What is Emotional Eating? Sometimes though, food can be used as an emotional crutch.
People who eat when they are lonely, sad, depressed, angry, bored or anxious are dependent upon food to make their problems go away.
This is emotional eating.
Emotional eaters are similar to addicts in that they use food to distract themselves from the real problems that cause them to have negative feelings.
Once they've binged on a big bag of potato chips and a 2-liter soft drink, they experience one other negative emotion: guilt.
Guilt leads them to eat some more.
They then take measures to undo what they've done by binge eating, such as purging, excessive exercise and a restrictive diet.
Once the negative feelings come back, emotional eaters binge again.
The vicious cycle continues.
This type of behavior poses a serious threat to emotional health, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle and fitness.
Emotional eaters have a distorted relationship with food.
Their self-worth is based on how well they stuck to their ideal diet, or how well they denied "bad" foods.
This can lead to depression and binge eating disorder and bulimia.
Am I Really An Emotional Eater? Emotional eaters have the following characteristics:

• They eat when they are not hungry
• They think about food all the time - either about eating it or forbidding it
• They try new diets on a regular basis
• When the diet fails, they have feelings of guilt and falls back on food
• They try to purge the food they've eaten by inducing vomiting or using laxatives
• They exercise compulsively when they've eaten too much

How Can I Stop Emotional Eating? The source of emotional eating is found in how food is viewed.
If food helps you cope with stress and emotional setbacks, going on a diet is not the answer.
If the diet fails, feelings of guilt will cause them to binge eat to deal with the stress.
The cycle starts all over again.
Emotional eaters should take their focus off of food and eating altogether and begin to learn other ways of coping with stress and difficult times.
They may need a Personal Coach or Psychotherapist who's equipped to deal with emotional eaters.
Once a person has found healthy replacements for emotional eating, they can form good eating habits and start leading a healthy lifestyle.
Getting to the point where food does not control your life can be difficult but is a necessity for your health.
Then you need to find a good healthy diet so that you can begin to lose the weight you have accumulated trough out the years.
Along with a good healthy diet a good exercise program is necessary and can really help you to lose weight quickly.
Exercise should consist of aerobic and strength training to really help with healthy and fairly rapid weight loss.
You want to lose fat but not muscle, we start to lose muscle once we hit our mid-twenties, which is part of the reason our metabolisms slow down.
It is important that you take a look at why you are eating, if you do for more than just nutrition for your body.
Once you can determine the cause and the extent of retraining you need to beat the habit of emotional eating then you can focus on losing weight and quickly trying to get your life back.