Mortgage strain, petrol prices and general unhappiness weighing down Australian

Mortgage strain, petrol prices and general unhappiness weighing down Australian women

Financial woes are weighing heavily on Australian women who are turning in droves to comfort eating, but chocolate biscuits and ice cream are not the panacea as comfort eating is really the road to more unhappiness says Amy Smith Managing Director of Jenny Craig.

"Jenny Craig has 15,000 members in Australia and most of them report that comfort eating is not only a big issue in itself, but this compounds the problem as being overweight leads to frustration, despair and a lack of confidence, "Our members are saying they munch of biscuits, chocolates, crisps, lollies, cakes and doughnuts when they are upset and this fits with the psychological profile of comfort eaters. We are taught that a lolly will make us feel better, that a dollop of cookies & cream will heal the hurt and that a bag of crisps will take away the bad feelings. So it's a natural progression to eat when you are upset, even into adulthood, says Smith. Australia's leading dietician Karen Inge says, "The key is to master emotional eating is to learn to eat in response to your hunger cues. To break the vicious cycle you need to understand the link between your emotions, thoughts and actions,

"When you feel yourself going straight for food to cope with a negative emotion regain control by mentally telling yourself to "STOP!" and ask yourself what you really need," recommends Inge.

It is important to be mindful that not one of us is perfect. We can't live or behave as if we are in a perfect world. Jenny Craig teach people to change the relationship they have with food to being one of balance and positive behaviour. It's about helping people understand what they eat, why they eat and how to eat better to be healthier.

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Note: Information recorded and from an independent study conducted on behalf of Jenny Craig