Sometimes food is not about what am I eating but what’s eating me? What is that problem or annoyance that gnaws on your insides and pushes you to nibble, snack and use food as therapy? On National Hug Day, we invite you to look again at a basic human need – connection. And believe it or not, this same need play a powerful role in our eating behaviors.
The Real Comfort Isn’t Food It’s Hugs
Behavioral Nutrition is an emergent field which has actualized recognized Nobel Laureate principles of human behavior, psychology, economics, nutrition to not only upend the diet industry, but provide real actionable solutions to the millions of people stuck in the cycle of losing weight to regain it back again. Behavioral Nutrition prioritizes strategy over willpower and views weight not as the problem, but as the symptom of an unhealthy thinking, habits, and conduct around food. Behavioral Nutrition prioritizes strategy over willpower.
Ms. Virginia Satir, who is considered to be a mother/pioneer of family therapy and whose therapeutic process and approach is held with regard said: “We need four hugs a day for survival, 8 hugs for maintenance, 12 hugs a day for growth.” While the verdict may be pending for this particular statement, research does show that physical affection like hugging lowers cortisol (the stress hormone) and raises oxytocin (sometimes called the “cuddle hormone). It’s associated with happiness and stress.
Translation: a hug or more a day keeps the cheesecake away. On a more serious note, we want to lessen stress-eating episodes and decrease the desire to numb or check out with chips or sweets or whatever is encompassed in your “eating print.”
The Eating Print: What’s Your Pattern?
Dr. Stephen Gullo’s work in Behavioral Nutrition emphasizes each person’s unique “Eating Print” – a behavioral fingerprint of your food triggers, routines, and emotional patterns. For many loneliness, a lack of connection, and boredom are prime drivers of overeating. On a day like today, the prescription isn’t a chip, cookie, or french fry. It’s a hug.
So, ask yourself:
- When I crave food, am I actually craving connection?
- What non-food comforts can I add to my daily routine?
- Who do I need to hug (or call or message) today?
Action Over Appetite
Hugging won’t replace every craving. However, it can interrupt the automatic impulse to self-soothe with food. It shifts the question from “What can I eat right now” to “What will actually make me feel better?” We all know that not every stressful day or event is predictable. Life happens! It throws curveballs. Even when you already know that the source of stress is mainly your kids or coworkers who cause you to feel stressed, you can’t always predict when a day that begins as a light breeze whips up into a tornado.
The winners at weight control don’t let the unknown catch them unprepared. Planning is stronger than willpower!” is the mantra that all my patients live by. They have come to appreciate the wisdom and beauty of planning in keeping stress at bay and not transforming emotions to fat. Don’t let stress get the better of you and your weight. The next time you feel stressed out, try one of these activities instead of heading for the kitchen, the break room, the fast food restaurant, or the cookie jar. Activities to block stress eating could be playing with a pet, mediation or yoga, shopping for items you enjoy (other than food), reading a compelling book, stretching and exercising.
Behavioral Nutrition is about stacking the odds in your favor. It’s about changing your environment, not your personality. And yes – sometimes it’s about giving (or getting) a hug.
About the Author
Dr. Stephen Gullo Ph.D. is a Psychologist, Behavioral Nutritionist, New York City’s Premier Weight Control Specialist. He is currently accepting new patients. Click here to book an appointment.
You may reach Dr. Gullo at info@drgullo.com or 212-734-7200.
For more information about the topic
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/keep-it-in-mind/202201/what-20-seconds-hugging-can-do-you