Overeating Habits

Overeating is a disorder. There are three main eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating. According to The American Dietetic Association, the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, eating disorders affect 8 million Americans.

The Definition of Overeating

• Most people who have a tendency to overeat view their eating habit as an occasional weakness -- something that they do on a situational basis. Very few people will admit, however, that when those situations arise, they have little control of how they are eating. Compulsive overeating is defined by eating large amounts of food to cope with feelings or a circumstance. This means that you can have the disorder even when you don't overeat everyday.

Overeating Triggers

• About 40 percent of men have the habit of overeating.

  The first step to controlling your habit of overeating is to identify your triggers. Overeating is an action that is directly caused by certain thoughts. The top four triggers of overeating are boredom, feeling deprived, stress and lack of emotional support, according to womenfitness.net. Think about the last time you overate, try to remember what you were doing right before you sat down to eat. Nine times out of 10, you will discover that you fell into the compulsion to overeat before you even took your first bite.

Warning Signs

• The fact that you eat too much every now and then might seem normal, especially when you know of other people who admit to overeating on occasion. However, when your overeating is accompanied by warning signs, it's time to consider if you have an eating disorder. When you hide your food so that you can eat it alone and away from others you are showing signs of compulsive overeating disorder. When you are constantly on some sort of diet, eat a large variety of foods and still feel unsatisfied, or indecisively stand in front of an open refrigerator before eating an excessive amount of food, then you have symptoms of compulsive overeating disorder.

Regaining Control

• Don't play the "blame game," play "emotional manager" instead. Feeling bored, lonely or stressed are natural human feelings that everyone experiences in life. What's important is how you deal with these feelings. Food has the ability to please your taste buds and satisfy your hunger, it does not have the ability to improve your situation. To stop the unhealthy habit of overeating you need to deal with what's really bothering you. Make a decision to take care of any emotional discomfort before eating anything. This means talking to a friend when you're lonely, busying yourself with a hobby when you're bored, or practicing a relaxation technique when you're stressed. By managing your emotions you simultaneously manage your compulsion to overeat.