How to Stop Eating Your Anger

Sometimes, terrible instances happen.  It may be a  job loss, a house fire, a serious accident, a death, and certain frustrations. Does this bring you to an emotional low, and your weight to an all-time high? Sometimes, you internalize anger. Do you use food to deal with the depression, emotional hurt and reduced self-esteem that follows?  People who swallow their anger feel, for whatever reason, that they can't express it, so they resort to food.  Eating out of anger or frustration often sparks binges, which can really pile on the pounds.

The comfort of a sugar high is another factor. In the 1970s, researchers at MIT found that sugars and starches have a powerful effect on serotonin, a brain chemical that helps control both our emotions and our eating, which is why we tend to crave those types of foods when we're upset. Some of the newer drugs for anxiety or depression, such as Zoloft and Paxil, also help alleviate symptoms by increasing serotonin activity in the brain. So, in a very real way, eating two jelly doughnuts or a candy bar is a type of self-medication. This can lead to severe health issues!

If you can try to get some control, by working off any anger and stress by exercising, not by eating, you can begin to feel great!

If you suspect you often eat because you're angry or frustrated, what can you do about it?

Recognize that your life is never going to be trouble-free.
Put a name to what you are feeling.
Forgive yourself.
Beware of "You can't control me!" or defiance eating.
Take your emotional temperature each time you begin eating.
Install roadblocks to ward off emotionally triggered eating.
Reject lingering cultural baggage, like "Ladies don't get mad."
Jot down what you eat each day.
Don't expect to totally change your anger style overnight.

If you find that you spend a good portion of your time angry or frustrated and are overeating because of it, you may want to get help. The following peer groups often discuss issues surrounding emotionally triggered eating and are either free or have a nominal fee.

• Log on to Overeaters Anonymous or call 505-891-2664.
  
• Log on to Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) or call 800-932-8677.

Get Ready To Hit The Slopes

You don’t have to wait for the snow to start falling to get ready for ski season. Start your training now.

Skiing is an activity that involves a variety of elements: strength, endurance, balance and coordination. Hit the slopes without developing these components and you may be in for more than a little embarrassment, you might even hurt yourself.

This is where sport-specific training comes in. Generally speaking, sport-specific training programs involve focusing on the various skills associated with a particular activity.

A sport-specific program may also take into account skill-related measures of fitness such as agility, balance, coordination, power, speed and reaction time. Most sports require a mixture of these components.

Skiing is a sport that relies heavily on skill-related fitness. A traditional fitness program, which includes a combination of weight training and cardiovascular exercise, will only take you so far.

There are several ways to begin a sport-specific training program. The simplest way is to add several new exercises to your regular workout schedule.

Exercises such as crunches to work your abdominals are essential in creating a solid “core” for balance and agility.

It is important to train your body to withstand and absorb the impact associated with skiing. Plyometric movements, such as hopping from side to side, develop muscle power and strength as well as improve agility.

A great way to integrate these elements into your existing routine is to create a circuit-training program, which involves rapidly moving from one exercise to the next.

Use the slide for lateral training, perform one-legged squats to develop balance and strength and use a step-bench platform to improve power. Try catching a bean bag as it drops off your forearm to improve reaction times or bounce two balls to improve coordination.