How Not To Eat Your Anger

Anger, as an emotion is as old as evolution itself. This is something that all things animate are naturally inclined to express when subjected to certain specific situations in the course of survival. From scaring away potential threats to continual existence to finding winning over a potential mate, nature has sewn infinite purposes to the tapestry of this primeval feeling.

However, the civilized human society that is always bent on altering ‘nature’ to suit its necessities has developed many different meanings of anger and often, its inapplicability. More often than not, people are convinced to find peace in suppressing the feeling than venting the same in a healthy way. Among the many ways in which anger is suppressed by a chunk of the population today is by eating through it.

As per the findings of infinite researches and reports, such tendencies are seen more in case of women than men, and there are just about a thousand different reasons to back it up. Much of it can be owed to cultural and societal strictures imposed on women to adorn a docile nature even through the worst of situations. Considering the fact that anger, stress and frustration happens to men and women alike, the latter tends to pile up these negative emotions and look for alternative ways to address the issue like anger management classes and etc.

Eating rather, binge eating mainly on sweet carbohydrate rich foods is the next best solution. There is ample scientific backup as well, for how the content of stress food impacts the brain to control rather subdue negative emotions. However, the consequences of eating your anger though, are outright devastating, and putting on the pounds is just the tip of the iceberg.

There are thousands of people all over the world today, who are addicted to eating through stress and have landed in the ERs and the OTs with an array of otherwise preventable conditions mostly associated with obesity issues and heart. People as young as in their late twenties and thirties have also dealt shattering blows to their health by eating their anger, some of who had to pay the price with their lives.

The fact is, there is more to life than issues and you can only see the better of it when you actually make up your mind to face your problems than suppress it in unhealthy ways. If you have already walked a mile in eating your anger and are willing to reverse your steps, here are a few very potent and simple ways to get right back on track.

Get a healthy dose of exercise everyday – This is the first and the most important step that can counter this devastating habit with flair. Exercising creates and boosts the ‘happy hormones’ in your body which has an instant de-stressing effect. Ensure including a healthy dose of cardio exercises in your schedule which is a blessing for the heart.

Kick boxing, swimming and other such forms of exercises that increases heart rate tends to improve blood flow to all parts of the body thereby replenishing the tissues and organs with a fresh dose of Oxygen. A fresh dose of oxygen is all it takes to maintain healthy functioning of the physical and hormonal systems of the body thereby reducing anger and cutting down the desire to eat through it.

Vent your feelings in a healthy way than eat it up - At the end of the day, it all lies in communication. You need to communicate your feelings to the person who may be causing anger in you or you need to vent out to some willing ears about the uncontrollable situations in life that is causing an upheaval in you.

Our wise ancestors have correctly said that sharing happiness only increases it and sharing sadness / negative emotions dissipates the feeling. However, the focus here is on the word ‘sharing’ and not throwing tantrums. When you talk the matter out sensibly, you will feel lighter and unburdened while locating the cause for your anger and a functional solution to eradicate the same.

Initiate Changes slowly and steadily - Things usually don’t just happen one fine day. A habit that has taken weeks, months or even years to build up cannot be shed in a few odd days. You will have to initiate the process slowly and steadily for successful and lasting results. You can begin by taking a note on when you are getting angry while being watchful about the desire to eat that tends to surface almost instantly.

Once you are aware of the feeling, try to distract your attention to something else altogether. Getting your hands productively soiled is the next best thing to do. Dig up your back yard and plant a few more vegetables in your kitchen garden. Arrange your pots and plant a few saplings if you please. If it is too late to engage in such activities, take up woodwork, painting or pottery and create your personal masterpieces.

For all you know, sometimes it is more soothing to have a paintbrush in your mouth than a piece of cake.

Seek professional assistance - Last but never the least; try to seek professional help in the matter. Considering the fact that there are a whole lot of people who are heavily into the habit of eating their anger to utter sabotage, a number of behavioral and psychological centers have taken up the matter of extending assistance through tried and tested courses and programs. Signing up for a session would thus, be a very wise way of dealing with the issue.