What is
angst and why would anyone want to eat it?
Dictionary.com
defines angst this way:
angst:
Spelled[engk-stuh]
a feeling of dread,
anxiety, or anguish.
Per Merriam-Webster:
angst:
a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity
For me,
angst is an emotion, a feeling; and not a very pleasant one. But one that we all encounter every now and
then, and have to deal with.
How do you
deal with your angst?
One way far
too many people deal with anxiety, anguish, apprehension and insecurity is
through emotional eating.
What is
emotional eating?
It is using
something as basic and necessary—like ingesting food for survival—as a crutch
to combat angst, all of those sometimes everyday emotions we must learn to deal
with in a healthy way.
Why not just
ignore your angst?
That’s part
of the problem—angst, or any adversity, when ignored still festers inside us all. In fact, pretending that what’s bugging you
is not really bugging you may lead to having that anxiety present itself in an
unhealthy way—like through an indulgence with food when you are not hungry.
Without eating
we do not live—that’s as basic as breathing, sleeping, and drinking water. And there’s nothing wrong with using food to
celebrate a success, a birthday, anniversary, or any number of wonderful
reasons to take your family, friends, and loved ones out for a night of wining
and dining. We all do it; in fact, it is
quite healthy to do.
But eating
as a celebration should be done only occasionally. Eating to hide or ignore emotional adversity
done oft times daily is another story.
Emotional eating,
or eating ones angst, is not only the wrong approach to what’s ailing you, it
may just kill you.
Overeating,
which leads to being overweight and obesity, is the leading cause of death in
the world. Being overweight leads to:
·
Heart
desease
·
Diabetes
·
Cancer
·
Degenerative
joint disease
·
Gastrointestinal
distress
·
Depression
·
Death
What can you
do?
We all have
our share of angst, of distress and anxiety from time to time. The best way to deal with it is to embrace
it, acknowledge it, understand it, and then take action.
If the first
thing you reach for when you feel angst whispering in your ear is a candy bar,
slap that thought out of your head and replace it with:
·
A
stick of sugarless gum
·
A
handful of healthy almonds, pistachios, walnuts, or peanuts
·
A
sugar free hard candy
·
A
toothpick
·
A
piece of fruit
·
A
book
·
A
jump rope
Replacing a
bad habit with a good one—in other words, reaching for a jump rope or taking a
walk when I feel anxious, rather than cramming a handful of potato chips into
my mouth—has helped me more times than not.
What else
can you do to help stop eating your angst?
·
Take
a walk
·
Meditate
·
Call
a friend
·
Plan
a vacation
·
Volunteer
·
See
your doctor
·
Research
your health options
·
Rethink
your lifestyle
·
Go
on a healthy diet
·
Livelife365
Changing your
life for the better is something most of want to do—who wouldn’t? But taking that first step, understanding
that you are not alone in your struggle, is challenging. The first thing you need to do is to realize
that when you are upset about something and automatically seek refuge in the refrigerator
or cupboard that you must take a moment, suck in a deep breath, and just say
no.
Reach for
help, a friend, another option, an alternative.
And not eat
your angst. Eat to live, to celebrate
occasions and successes, in moderation.
Do all that
you can to try to be the person that you know you want to be, that you deserve
to be, that you will be.
Livelife365
will always be there to help you on your journey to better health, to balancing
your mind, body, and spirit, to living your life to its fullest, every day in
every way.
Think about
it.
Until next
time…
peace,
Mike
My StumbleUpon Page
