Distress and eating why do dieters overeat

Changes in appetite-regulating hormones following food intake are associated with changes in reported appetite and a measure of hedonic eating in girls and young women with anorexia nervosa.

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Distress and eating: why do dieters overeat? Food at first sight: Visual attention to palatable food cues on TV and subsequent unhealthy food intake in unsuccessful restrained eaters. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet: effects of anticipated deprivation on food intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Worry or craving? A selective review of evidence for food-related attention biases in obese individuals, eating-disorder patients, restrained eaters and healthy samples.

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Developers Developer resources. API case studies. SOAP web service. Annotations API. OAI service. Bulk downloads. Developers Forum. Search syntax reference. Contact us Helpdesk. Further, restrained but not unrestrained eaters increased their intake when they merely anticipated having to eat some of a forbidden food, again, regardless of caloric content.

Thus, any amount of a forbidden food may be too much for one's diet to tolerate, and thus represents overeating for a chronic dieter. In fact, most laboratory studies of overeating in restrained eaters deliberately use foods seen by most people as inherently fattening or diet-breaking, irrespective of amount [e. When we do eat more than we planned to eat, or indulge in a tempting food we consider to be forbidden, there are several possible outcomes we may experience.

Such eating could make us feel physically uncomfortable i. However, if the overconsumption represents violating a restrictive diet or other eating goal rather than eating an objectively excessive amount of food, we may feel uncomfortable psychologically, guilty and disappointed in ourselves for not exhibiting self-control, despite not having eaten an objectively large amount of food [e.

When we eat with others as people do most of the time , our eating is very much guided by what and how much those others eat For the most part, we seem to try to limit our intake so that we do not exceed the amount eaten by others In fact, the large literature on modeling of eating behavior shows that people very consistently eat somewhat less than those with whom they are eating, especially when eating with confederates who have been instructed to eat a lot Violating social norms by eating more than one's eating companions do seems to be something people work hard to avoid.

We may be worried that we will be viewed as large eaters, a label that is associated with being regarded as unattractive, lacking in self-control, and unfeminine compared to those viewed as small eaters In addition, young people who report that they tend to overeat relative to others also report that they generally use less healthy dieting methods, and feel worse about themselves, being more depressed and dissatisfied with themselves and their bodies, as well as having lower self-esteem At the same time, however, we tend to like other people who eat more than we do more, and dislike those who eat less than we do 72 ; if someone eats more than we do, then by comparison we become reasonable eaters, whereas if someone eats less than we do, it makes us look bad.

Moreover, if we are given a smaller or larger portion than others eating with us are given, this affects how we feel about our eating and how we behave subsequently Restrained eaters who get what appears to be a larger portion eat more of a subsequent food than those getting a smaller or similar portion and than unrestrained eaters who get the larger portion , although they did not feel badly about themselves and were actually happier than those who got what they thought was a smaller portion.

But this does not seem to be enough to counteract the fear of being seen as an overeater. An experimental investigation of people's reasons for controlling their consumption showed that it was those who were thinking about avoiding negative outcomes who most closely matched their eating to other eaters in the situation For restrained eaters who are particularly responsive to food cues 19 , 62 , 74 and who tend to like fattening foods more 75 , it may be particularly difficult to avoid succumbing to the temptation to eat more of tempting, attractive foods.

The social sanctions seem to be strong enough to prevent overeating when being watched by others 76 , 77 , when one has to report to others how much one ate 78 , or even when just eating in front of a statue of a human head But restrained eaters eating on their own are less able to resist tempting foods or emotional upsets, or distractions or other disruptions of their self-control , and are prone to eating more, possibly to the extent of actual overeating [e.

It seems that researchers including ourselves have been conflating the various types of overeating in studies and discussions of the concept. What does this mean for our understanding and even recognition of overeating? Clearly, we need to be more specific in our definitions of what we are investigating and what we are trying to describe.

Physical or objective overeating, self-perceived overeating, and simply eating more than others around you are arguably three different phenomena. The outcomes of the three types of overeating differ in some ways. Physically overeating leads to physical discomfort, which is not generally the case for those who violate a personal or social eating norm.

Violating a personal norm leads restrained eaters to continue eating, possibly because it gives them an excuse to go ahead and eat the foods that they normally deny themselves. Violation of a social norm seems, on the other hand, to lead to less eating, in order to avoid seeming greedy or piggish.

But violating a norm, either social or personal, seems to produce similar feelings of guilt, embarrassment, and disappointment in oneself. One could thus say that despite the differences in quality of discomfort psychological vs. JP and CH discussed the content of the paper. JP wrote the first draft and CH commented, corrected, and made suggestions, which JP then incorporated into the manuscript. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The reviewer TV declared a past co-authorship with the authors to the handling Editor. Emotional arousal and overeating in restrained eaters. J Abnorm Psychol. Polivy J. Psychological consequences of food restriction.

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Suppressing to please, eating to cope: the effect of overweight women's emotion suppression on romantic relationships and eating. J Soc Clin Psychol. Keller C, Hartmann C. Not merely a question of self-control: the longitudinal effects of overeating behaviors, diet quality and physical activity on dieters' perceived diet success.

Behavioral and biological correlates of dietary restraint in normal life. Clinical depression and weight change: a complex relation. Food restriction and binge eating: a study of former prisoners of war.

Eating style, overeating, and overweight in a representative Dutch sample. Does external eating play a role? Effects of the presence of others on food intake: a normative interpretation. Psycholog Bull. Distress and eating: why do dieters overeat? Int J Eat Disord. PubMed Abstract Google Scholar. Getting a bigger slice of the pie: effects on eating and emotion in restrained and unrestrained eaters.

The illusion of counter-regulation. Jansen A. How restrained eaters perceive the amount they eat. Br J Clin Psychol.

Knight L, Boland F. Restrained eating: an experimental disentanglement of the disinhibiting variables of calories and food type. Is counter-regulation among restrained eaters a result of motivated overeating? Dieting and bingeing: a causal analysis.

Am Psychol. Papies EK, Hamstra P. Goal priming and eating behavior: Enhancing self-regulation by environmental cues. Heal Psychol. Caloric restriction in the presence of attractive food cues: external cues, eating, and weight. Physiol Behav. Do emotional states influence binge eating in the obese? Dietary restraint and body mass change: a 3-year follow up study in a representative Dutch sample.

Herman CP, Mack D. Restrained and unrestrained eating. J Pers. Herman CP, Polivy J. Anxiety, restraint, and eating behavior. The effects of alcohol on eating behavior: disinhibition or sedation? Addic Behav. Ironic processes in the eating behaviour of restrained eaters. Br J Heal Psychol. The psychology of overeating. In: Mela D, editor. Food, Diet, and Obesity. Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing What does it mean to eat an appropriate amount of food?

Eat Behav. People-pleasing through eating: sociotropy predicts greater eating in response to perceived social pressure. Social Influences on Eating. Higgs S, Thomas J. Social influences on eating.

Curr Opin Behav Sci. I'll have what she's having: effects of social influence and body type on the food choices of others. J Consum Res. Effects of social influence on eating in couples, friends and strangers. Modeling of food intake: a meta-analytic review. Numerous studies — granted, many of them in animals — have shown that physical or emotional distress increases the intake of food high in fat, sugar, or both. High cortisol levels, in combination with high insulin levels, may be responsible.

Other research suggests that ghrelin, a "hunger hormone," may have a role. Once ingested, fat- and sugar-filled foods seem to have a feedback effect that dampens stress related responses and emotions. These foods really are "comfort" foods in that they seem to counteract stress — and this may contribute to people's stress-induced craving for those foods. Of course, overeating isn't the only stress-related behavior that can add pounds.

Stressed people also lose sleep, exercise less, and drink more alcohol, all of which can contribute to excess weight. Some research suggests a gender difference in stress-coping behavior, with women being more likely to turn to food and men to alcohol or smoking.

And a Finnish study that included over 5, men and women showed that obesity was associated with stress-related eating in women but not in men. Harvard researchers have reported that stress from work and other sorts of problems correlates with weight gain, but only in those who were overweight at the beginning of the study period. One theory is that overweight people have elevated insulin levels, and stress-related weight gain is more likely to occur in the presence of high insulin.

How much cortisol people produce in response to stress may also factor into the stress—weight gain equation. In , British researchers designed an ingenious study that showed that people who responded to stress with high cortisol levels in an experimental setting were more likely to snack in response to daily hassles in their regular lives than low-cortisol responders. When stress affects someone's appetite and waistline, the individual can forestall further weight gain by ridding the refrigerator and cupboards of high-fat, sugary foods.

Keeping those "comfort foods" handy is just inviting trouble. Countless studies show that meditation reduces stress, although much of the research has focused on high blood pressure and heart disease. Meditation may also help people become more mindful of food choices. With practice, a person may be able to pay better attention to the impulse to grab a fat- and sugar-loaded comfort food and inhibit the impulse.

While cortisol levels vary depending on the intensity and duration of exercise, overall exercise can blunt some of the negative effects of stress. Some activities, such as yoga and tai chi, have elements of both exercise and meditation. Social support.