Understand the Anxiety and Compulsive Eating Connection: As a survival mechanism, the human brain is hard-wired with the instinct to eat in response to hunger cues. Beginning in infancy, the brain rewards eating with “feel good” neurochemicals that produce a sense of pleasure. As children grow, feelings that are more
Bariatric surgery is considered one of the best treatments for severe obesity; however, it is not a quick fix and still involves changes to one’s diet and lifestyle. Anyone who has had bariatric surgery can attest to it; that it is not the “easy way out.” Making healthy choices and
Are you in the cycle of deprivation and don't realize it? Take this time to think about your experiences and how, if or when you deprive yourself, do you crave more? Do you overeat more? Do you negotiate more? Do you win the negotiations? Do you gain weight long term through
Anxiety is extremely common among patients who are considering bariatric surgery. In a recent study, over 80% of pre-surgical bariatric patients met criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis (anxiety, depression). Of those patients with a psychiatric disorder, 46% had anxiety (Duarte-Guerra, et al., 2015). People with untreated anxiety with overeating and weight
Weight loss surgery (WLS) is a wonderful thing. It gives people their life back. I often hear stories of how people were able to stop all kinds of medications after surgery. They get their health back. They can get on airplanes without seat extenders and can finally go to the
Do you need to make money? Are you starved for attention? Do you feel lonely, depressed, isolated, or lacking meaning and direction? Do you feel unsafe? Do you want to feel more loved and validated? Are you angry or bored? If any of these resonate with you, it could mean
How to Face Feelings Without Food Have you noticed that, as a society, we hate to be uncomfortable? Both physically and emotionally, we do our best to make life as easy as possible. And to some degree that makes sense. Given the high-paced, stressful lives that most of us tend
