The Truth About Being Addicted To Chocolate

Does the thought of chocolate make you swoon? Do you feel woozy with hunger just by catching a whiff of chocolate? You might just be addicted to chocolate. Don't think you are alone. When I was young and started working my first job, I would spend the majority of my earnings on the stuff. I ate so much in fact that even my skin started to suffer. At the time, there wasn't a true diagnosis for chocolate addiction; thankfully times have changed and it is recognized right along with an addiction to internet, television and other things.

In my practice I came across a client who termed herself a chocoholic. She was regularly hypoglycemic and admitted to getting high from eating chocolate. It's hard to image that the stuff can have that effect, but it's a proven fact that chocolate contains natural ingredients the effect serotonin levels. During our sessions, it came to light that she gorged on chocolate when faced witemotih situations that caused her stress. Like many people facing addiction, her eating mass amounts of chocolate was her body's response to anxiety. Granted it's much better than smoking or drinking, but it still holds long term negative side effects. As a child, her rewards and punishments were based on food. The more extreme end of that would be when her mother would weigh her before each meal to determine if she would be allowed to eat that day.

This abuse turned her to a cycle of adult binging and purging which destroyed her self esteem. Food had become the controlling factor in her life preventing her from looking at situations in a normal way. During our sessions, we worked though a lot of these issues to help discover and limit the effect of the emotional triggers that caused her to binge on chocolate.

I am sure you are wondering how this may relate to you. Chocolate addiction, like any other addiction is more than a simple habit in most cases. Some clients are able to apply hypnotherapy to assist in removing the habit, but in cases where the issue stems from emotional pressures additional help is needed.

Another one of my clients admitting to being addicted to sugar; specifically chocolate, and he heard that I might be able to help him via hypnotherapy. After speaking with him at length I discovered a deep dissatisfaction in his home life. He and his partner though living together had not been intimate over the last five years. I told him that he most likely has an addiction to chocolate rather than simply a sugar habit. After receiving that bit of information he wanted to stop attending our sessions. Instead of dealing with the issue he requested that we not focus on that. I informed him that we could work on other parts of his life, however without working on the main issue, his habit would remain.

At the time he wasn't ready to deal with the real issues which I had to respect as a professional. My role is to suggest treatments that may help a person with their stress, but not to force a person into dealing with an issue before they are mentally ready. He wanted to work only on getting rid of his chocolate eating habit and nothing else. It's entirely possible that he has gotten rid of that habit, but more likely than not it has been replaced by another one.

If you are addicted to chocolate and the root cause is some form of emotional stress, only working to get rid of the habit won't prevent you from replacing it with another habit. The human mind is a pro at creating loopholes. This is the same reason many people who stop smoking or drinking turn to other habits such as eating. This all leads to weight gain in the end. If you want to lose weight, feel better, or just increase your self esteem treating the cause is the only way to cure the symptom.

Author: Sonia Devine

5 Tips for Promoting Women's Mental Health

Gabriela D. Acosta is the community manager for the University of Southern California online MSW programs, which offers a mental health social work concentration. She is also passionate about social justice, diversity workshops, and community development.

5 Tips for Promoting Women's Mental Health

Women face stressful situations every day, but how they handle them depends on the state of their mental health. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, emotionally healthy people have control of their thoughts, feelings and actions; they have positive self-esteem and good relationships, and can keep problems in perspective.

"Good mental health isn't just the absence of mental health problems. It's about having a sense of balance in your life time alone and time with friends and family, work and play, rest and exercise. It's about taking care of yourself body and mind," advises Susan Kornstein, MD, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publication "Women's Mental Health: What it Means to You."

To improve your own mental health, try following these five tips:

1. Learn to cope with stress.

Everyday stress can take its toll on women's bodies as well as on their coping skills. Stress can come from many sources, both positive and negative: losing a job, death of a loved one, getting married and being promoted. Your body produces stress hormones, which can lead to headaches, high blood pressure, sleep problems, sexual difficulties and other problems.

One way to cope with stress is to not take on too many commitments. An overloaded schedule can lead to anxiety and depression. Also, try learning relaxation techniques such as meditation, massage, muscle relaxation, yoga and Tai Chi. Additionally, recognize the impact of negative thinking, and try to turn negative thoughts ("I can't do this") into more positive ones ("This may be difficult, but I'll tackle it one step at a time").

2. Connect with others.

Make sure that most of the people in your life are positive and supportive; pessimists, critics and complainers can deplete you. Seek out friends and family members who affirm your worth and who support and listen to you. Look for friends at the gym, book club, women's organizations and spiritual community who may be able to help you. Positive relationships can increase your self-esteem, reduce your stress and help you cope with crises.

3. Eat the right foods.

What you eat may also affect your mood. Have you ever felt sleepy after eating greasy take-out burgers and fries? Do you feel refreshed after eating a green salad or sauteed vegetables? The right foods keep the central nervous system functioning. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and seafood (if not vegetarian), and minimize processed, refined foods to boost your mental health.

4. Keep moving.

Exercise can create beneficial brain chemicals call neurotransmitters and endorphins, and lessen immune system chemicals, which can cause depression. Exercise can also boost your confidence as you meet your goals and feel better about how you look. Working out can help you cope with depression and anxiety in a positive way. Exercise also doesn't have to be restricted to going to the gym or running; it can be as simple as yard work, walking around the neighborhood or doing housework.

5. Get enough sleep.

If you don't get enough sleep, your immune system may decrease and your judgment may err. If you're tired, you may get more irritated over little things and have a hard time coping with larger problems. Most people need seven or eight hours of sleep each night. If you have trouble sleeping, you should train your body to stick to a consistent schedule, limit your caffeine, nicotine and alcohol consumption, and try not to go to bed too hungry or too full. Exercising and avoiding daytime naps will also help put you on a more regular sleep cycle.

Maternal Obesity Can Hamper The Development Of Child's Brain

Obesity is normally associated with many common diseases like heart attacks and diabetics. But very few people know that imbalanced and fat rich diet taken by women before and during pregnancy can give birth to mentally retarded children especially males. The most important abnormality observed in such children is the appearance of anxiety during adulthood.

Extra Weigh and Pregnant Women:

Fatness can be extremely deleterious for pregnant women and doctors constantly warn such women not to increase their weight before and during pregnancy. The disproportional diet of the mother and any physical or mental trauma suffered by her can cause many different diseases in new born baby like mental disorders, obesity and diabetes in later stages of life.

Mental Disorders Suffered by Children:

According to a recent study there are many other mental problems children of obese mothers have to face apart from anxiety.

• Maternal obesity can cause anxiety for a life time
• It can have adverse effects on emotional stability, intelligence and unwanted effects on brain development
• Such children can suffer from acute inattention problems
• Such children often shows the symptoms of memory loss and social behavior disorders

Reasons:

Many different theories are put forward as reasons for this abnormal mental behavior exhibited by the children of fat mothers. Some important factors are discussed below.

• Maternal obesity effects on the development of neurotransmitters of the brain which are responsible for controlling mood swing. As a result these children suffer from depression and anxiety
• Extra maternal fats can produce more proteins called cytokines in the fetal brain. These proteins are responsible for shrinkage of those brain parts that regulate memory and learning
• These proteins also cause inflammation in the brain and more the inflammation in the brain, less developed will be the brain of the baby
• Various glands of such children do not function properly. For example, pituitary glands fail to produce enough testosterones and low testosterone symptoms start to appear. Anxiety is also one of the important symptoms of low testosterone levels.

This is a very alarming situation because obesity rate of women of children bearing age is constantly rising. As a result, there is every possibility that our next generations will be mentally deformed by birth. Measures need to be taken to encourage young women to control their weight so that they can give birth to healthy offspring which are a benefit for society not a burden.

By Ali Ahmed

4 Negative Emotions that Trigger Binge Eating and How You Can Avoid Them

Being smart about your weight doesn't just involve counting your calories and measuring your body mass index. It also involves taking a hold of your emotional state and being disciplined when it comes to handling your food cravings. A lot of us soon realize that emotional episodes are the reason behind binging and over eating.

The best way to triumph over the weight loss battle is to understand what triggers the overeating and take control of it. Making sure that you take on a practical approach with regard to coping styles you use can ensure your lifelong success in conquering weight problems.

Experts agree that some eating triggers can be attributed to human genetics, though most eating cravings are directly associated with emotions. Here are a few identified emotional triggers and some advice on how to manage them.

Suppressed anger is one of the biggest factors that drive a person to seek out the comforts of food. Most often than not angry people end up managing their anger by succumbing to food cravings. Food does seem like a reliable source of solace, but the problem is that it leaves you in more trouble than before. The best way to manage anger is to understand what is causing it and face it. Once you have conquered your anger issues it will become easier to avoid giving into cravings and overeating.

Stress is probably the most common trigger that is associated with overeating. You want to ask yourself if your response to stressful situations is grabbing for the first sugary treat you can find or do you often find yourself eating a bag of your favourite chips whenever its time to do your taxes? You may not be able to avoid these stressors in your life but you can surely lower the anxiety level that leads to binge eating. Get enough rest and treat your body life a temple. You can be prone to anxiety when you aren't getting enough sleep and relaxation.

Is boredom an appetite inducer? It has happened to everyone. You are home on a Friday night, there is nothing good on TV and you don't have anything planned so you decide that raiding the refrigerator is better than washing the dishes or cleaning your room. Before you make the decision to reach for the freezer and pop open that pint of ice cream, do yourself a favor and compel yourself to shift your focus from food to something more meaningful.

Everyone goes through some level of depression at one point or another. Depression prevents people from doing activities which are part of a normal routine and sometimes can lead to doing things which aren't conventional for a person, such as binge eating. You can empower yourself to use your depression as a wakeup call and avoid giving in to the temptation of drowning your mood in food.

Engaging in physical activities is an effective way of battling bouts of depression. Exercise and physical activity are clinically proven to increase the level of endorphins in the body. Endorphins are chemicals in the brain that stimulate a sense of well-being. Regular exercise is the key to help your body take control and win the binge eating battle.

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By Praveen Sivaraman