In order to reach my goal of being a Fat Girl No More, I have to do more than just lessening the food I eat. Besides increasing my activities and getting more exercise, I also have to identify triggers that lead me to eat more than I should.  For many overweight (and even those with eating disorders, except they go the opposite direction) individuals, the battle is really more than just a food issue. It is an emotional or psychological battle that is being constantly waged.

Over the years, I have come to realize that I am one of those people who are identified as Emotional Eaters. I eat to deal with many of my emotions. The hard part here is that unlike other emotional eaters, I am the type to respond with food for both positive and negative emotions. Usually, emotional eaters go to food when they are feeling low, stressed or upset. For me, even excitement and happiness trigger food binges.

Knowing this, one of my tasks now is to identify my triggers and find more appropriate alternatives for it. Similarly, I should look at my eating patterns. So far what I’ve noticed is that when I am upset, I start out with a loss of appetite as I wallow in the event that is stressing me out. However, after a while, thoughts of food start invading my head and I crave for all sorts of salty and savory foods. Knowing that it would not be the best thing for me, I opt for a fruit or something more healthy. BUT…once I start eating, I can’t stop myself. It’s really like I am filling myself up so I can stop feeling bad about whatever it was I was feeling bad about to begin with.

I haven’t really seen my other patterns yet, but I’m sure they exist. According to MedicineNet.com other triggers fall into five basic categories:

• Social Triggers. These can range from eating a a social event (which many Filipinos end up doing!), being encouraged by others to eat, and personal issues such as feelings of inadequacy and a need to fit in thus triggering eating.
• Emotional Triggers. Being bored, overstressed, fatigued, and other similar strong feelings can influence one to eat excessively in order to fill up that proverbial “void” that we feel when these emotions are overwhelming.
• Situational Triggers. Simply said: eating because the opportunity is there. Now that I read this, I think I succumb to this a lot! Examples of this would be eating because the event calls for it, such as watching a movie. Much as I am not much of a popcorn fan, I end up eating because a movie calls for it.
• Thought Triggers (or more succinctly, irrational thoughts). These triggers are related to our negative thought patterns.
• Physiological Triggers. These triggers are physical in nature. At times, we set ourselves up for this triggers by skipping meals or depriving ourselves of something our body needs.

It is recommended that in order to be able to find out your triggers, it would be helpful to keep a diet journal. Through this, one can identify the attached emotions to the actions. In a way, behavioral modification techniques can be implemented to help with changing the eating behaviors.