Dr. Linda Mintle

Tag: eating

  • Signs of Compulsive Overeating

    Julie is frustrated with her weight. She has been steadily gaining for months and can’t stop bingeing on candy. The more her weight goes up, the more depressed she becomes. Every night Julie promises herself that she’ll be “good”. Tomorrow she’ll start a diet and get control of her eating. But tomorrow turns out like today–she eats compulsively.

    It’s hard for Julie to tell the difference between physical hungry and eating out of boredom or stress. She hates feeling this out of control and won’t look at her body in the mirror.

    Julie is a compulsive overeater who doesn’t binge eat but “grazes” all day on food. She picks a little here, a little there, until she has grossly overeaten and gained weight. The compulsion to eat is emotionally based but adding physical pounds to her 5’2” frame. Julie reports she can’t get control, vows daily to diet and fails.

    Compulsive overeaters usually:

    · Overeat due to emotional issues and stress, not because they are hungry

    · Diet often because of guilt and weight gain

    · Feel out of control when eating

    · Feel disgusted with their bodies because they are overweight

    · Binge eat or overeat throughout the day

    Another type of compulsive eating is called binge eating. Binge eating is similar to bulimia because the person experiences uncontrolled eating episodes (binges). The difference is that compulsive binge eaters don’t purge. They eat until they are uncomfortably full. Most binge eaters are obese and struggle with weight fluctuations. About 2% of people are binge eaters with about one-third of those people involved in medically supervised weight control programs.

    Look for these signs if you think you may be a binger:

    · Recurrent episodes of binge eating

    · Feel out of control during a binge

    · Eat fast and feel uncomfortable

    · Eat large amounts of food when you are not physically hungry

    · Eat alone because you are embarrassed by how much you eat

    · Feel disgusted, guilty or depressed by the way you eat

    · Are distressed by the above

    · Binge at least 2 days a week for a 6 month period

    · Don’t purge to get rid of the food

    The tell tale sign of compulsive overeating is usually overweight or obesity which can have serious medical consequences. If you or a loved one struggles with compulsive or binge eating, get help now. There are no magical shortcuts but you can get control over food and learn to eat healthy.

  • PART 3: Mindful Eating (Press Pause Before You Eat)

    Part 3: Mindful eating interview with Dr. Mintle and Mark DanielsPart 3 of Mindful Eating will provide you tips and help to overcome mindless eating. Catch all three parts of this informative interview on how to press pause before you eat and become an intentional eater. You control the food. Do not let food control you!

  • PART 2: Mindful Eating (Press Pause Before You Eat)

    Dr. Linda Mintle continues the conversation with Mark Daniels on mindful eating.Listen to Part 2 of this helpful interview.

    Part 2: Mindful Eating with Dr. Mintle and Mark Daniels

  • Part 1: Mindful Eating (Press Pause Before You Eat)

    Do you struggle with eating when you are not hungry?
    Do you grab the bag of chips, sit in front of the TV and finish them off without thinking?
    Do you eat when you are bored, tired, or want to relax?
    Do you eat when you feel happy?

    Like most of us, we eat because food is abundant and it takes good. But we are not eating with intention. Instead, we mindlessly put food in our mouths and then feel bad later when the pounds creep up. Dr. Linda has a helpful 3 part interview with Mark Daniels that will help you become a mindful eater. Based on her book, Press Pause Before You Eat, she shares the secrets to becoming a mindful eater. Here is part 1. Dr. Mintle 1

  • Why Do I Overeat?

    Question: I know that when I overeat, I gain weight but I can’t seem to stop. I hate how I look and am embarrassed to have people see me in a bathing suit. Why do I keep overeating? I don’t want to but I do it anyway.

    Dr. Linda: First of all stop saying you can’t stop. You can. It just takes becoming a mindful eater–the subject of my book, PRESS PAUSE BEFORE YOU EAT. An eating problem is not like a drug or alcohol problem. You can’t abstain from food and you aren’t physiologically addicted when you eat. But food can become a psychological addiction.

    Let’s face it. Food is soothing and tastes good. Some people feel there is nothing better than food! It is always available, not illegal, can’t talk back, provides immediate gratification, gives pleasure, smells good, tastes good and is enjoyable.

    People overeat for many reasons. A small percentage of people have medical problems that relate to overeating and obesity. Most people, however, overeat out of emotional distress.  You may eat when you are bored, stressed, sad, depressed, anxious, angry, hurt, happy or for any other emotional reason. Food can be a way to celebrate or soothe and numb you from a bad experience.

    Many of my clients overeat when they face conflict and don’t know how to handle it. They are unassertive and swallow their upsets. They might agree to a resolution but secretly be unhappy or upset.  Their low self-esteem leads them to believe they can’t handle problems or stress. Sometimes they lack the skills necessary to do so.

    Sometimes people overeat to protect themselves from trauma. If they have been raped, sexually hurt or deeply rejected, eating may be used to cover up the wounding or ward people off. Perhaps when they were thin, someone traumatized them and now they associate thin with trauma.

    Men and women sometimes overeat to deal with sexual impulses. Unconsciously, they may be afraid that if they had a trim body they would act out sexually, or be the target of sexual advances. Fat can serve as protection and is often blamed for other undeveloped parts of our self. For example, maybe I’m a critical person and that’s why people stay away from me. As long as I’m fat, I can blame their avoidance on my weight.

    Most people aren’t aware they use food to cope with emotional issues. When I ask, “Why did you overeat”, the typical answer is, “I don’t know.” If you think about it hard and long enough, there was a reason for overeating.

    Next time you find yourself overeating, think about what happened before you ate. Were you upset, angry, bored, excited? See if you can identify an emotion that may have led to overeating. The first step in breaking a compulsive pattern is to recognize what sets it off. Then force yourself to substitute some other activity for eating.

    PRESS PAUSE WEEK Introduction