Emotional Eating And How To Overcome It

Introduction

Food. It’s fuel. At least, it’s supposed to be fuel.

As our culture has grown in diversity, so has our palate – we have explored a gamut of flavours, a variety of cuisines, and we have liked what we found.

Yet, we still can’t shake our need to reach for the unhealthiest mass-produced, packaged foods.

You know how it is.

You had a stressful day, it was particularly rough for whatever reason, and even though you have a fairly healthy dinner you find yourself craving a snack as you watch television.

You immediately walk to the kitchen, you check out your snack stock in the pantry and you grab cookies, you reach for the chips, and for good measure, you grab a soda.

It was just a bad day, okay, I’m not normally like this – yet, you repeat this habit and it becomes the norm.

You realize you’re easily mowing through a pint or two of ice cream every week and you have to buy double the number of chips because they just keep disappearing.

You’ve entered into a vicious cycle of unhealthy eating and it’s dragging you down.

What Is Emotional Eating?

As evidenced above, humans don’t always eat just because they need to satisfy their hunger – we use food as a reward, as a means to relieve stress, and as comfort.

All of these are examples of emotional eating.

It might make you feel better in the moment, but you feel worse afterward.

More importantly, it isn’t going to fix the emotional problems you are experiencing.

So, you emotionally eat, you still have the emotional issue, and now you’ve got a dose of guilt to deal with, too.

According to the American Psychological Association:

• 57% of overweight adults surveyed reported frequently engaging in emotional eating.
• 43% of women and 32% of men reported overeating or eating unhealthy foods in the past month due to stress.
• 38% of adults reported overeating unhealthy foods in the past month because of stress – 50% of these people also said do it this weekly or more often.
• 33% of those surveyed said stress eating is a habit.
• 33% reported that stress eating helped distract them from their stress.
• 27% reported the use of food to manage stress.

One of the first steps to dealing with emotional eating is learning what triggers it – it’s the only way to break from compulsive overeating and food cravings, because the habits you have allowed to form are sabotaging you now.

You know how it is if you have made a joke about always having room for dessert even though you’re already stuffed.

You know how it is if you’ve opened the freezer to open a new tub of ice cream to soothe your sadness.

You have used food to make yourself feel better and to fill your emotional needs.

Don’t get me wrong – food as a celebration, reward, or pick-me-up isn’t always a bad thing.

If you treat your child to a pizza party after a big achievement, that is different from regularly using food as your primary mechanism to cope with emotions.

If you have had a rough day, if you are feeling super-stressed, if you are angry, if you are lonely, bored, exhausted, or disappointed and you turn to food, then you are creating an unhealthy cycle around food and emotions.

The problem is, emotional hunger cannot be satiated with food – it might feel great at the moment, but it doesn’t get rid of the emotions that triggered emotional eating in the first place.

In fact, it exacerbates them because you feel guilty for eating to deal with those feelings. You compound the issue by emotional eating and beat yourself up for not showing more willpower.

Emotional Hunger vs. Physical Hunger

Sometimes it’s difficult to determine whether you are experiencing physical or emotional hunger.

You might be craving a delicious cookie, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re experiencing emotional hunger – your body might be telling you it’s truly hungry.

Often, our cravings for sweets or carbs do stem from feeling overly hungry.

However, it could be a sign you’re bored.

So, how do you tell the difference between the two? How do you know you’re experiencing physical hunger rather than emotional hunger?

You ask some questions.

Satisfaction Or Relief

Do I want relief from a negative emotion – or do I need to eat to fuel my body?

Of course, you can lie to yourself to feed your emotions, which is why a test is wise.

Take a deep breath, hold it, and release it slowly.

Now, place your hand on the problem area of your body.

Where did your hand go?

Did it head straight for your rumbling stomach in need of fuel? Or did it head to your heart or head because you’re suffering or bored?

You can also have a glass of water to see if that solves the problem, because sometimes we convince ourselves we’re hungry when the reality is, we are in need of hydration.

Another helpful trick is to find something to do and wait 5 – 15 minutes to see if the hunger goes away.

Or ask yourself whether a healthy snack like a handful of nuts and plain yoghourt sounds good.

If it doesn’t, or it isn’t what you want, then you’re probably trying to feed an emotional hunger.

Emotional Or Physical

Am I going to eat in response to signs of physical hunger like lower energy or a rumbling stomach?

Or am I doing to eat in response to signs of emotional hunger like happiness, fear, frustration, or anger?

The test here is to rate your hunger of a scale of 1 (absolutely starving) to 10 (beyond stuffed), with 5 representing satiated.

If you rate yourself below five, then you probably need to eat.

And if you rate yourself over five, then you do not – and no matter what you eat, it isn’t going to help how you are feeling.

The fix is simple – try an orange.

An orange is a great choice because it’s healthy, you can eat them mindfully (the act of peeling it and eating it segment by segment), and who doesn’t enjoy a sweet, vitamin C boost?

Nutritional Or Palatable

Am I reaching for a nutritious snack or am I opting for something salty, fatty, or sugary?

If you are truly hungry, then just about any snack will do.

But when a specific taste or food is driving a craving, then there’s a good chance it isn’t about hunger but is based on emotion. When your emotions drive your cravings, it’s specific and that’s generally a want for comfort versus hunger.

Do yourself a favour and have healthy snacks available, because it’s easier to reach for unhealthy food when there are no other options.

So, keep plain yoghourt on hand, add berries, and a drizzle of honey to jazz it up. Keep hummus and crudités in the fridge.

Healthy food can still be exciting and delicious.

Lifelong Or Transient

Is my relationship with food healthy, or am I building a relationship based on fear, guilt, or anxiety?

Before you sit down to eat something, ask yourself how you think it will feel once you eat the first bite?

Ask yourself how you will feel once you’ve finished your snack.

If the first emotion that comes to mind is a negative one, then stop right there. You already know it’s an emotional eating choice and it isn’t too late to stop.

An excellent way to build a healthier relationship with food is to practise mindful eating.

Sit down with your snack or meal and chew it slowly. Allow yourself the opportunity to smell, taste, experience, savour, listen, and enjoy the food you are eating. Take a pause before every bite. It’s as simple as that and slows you down as well, which ensures you don’t overeat.

Causes, Symptoms, & Signs You Are An Emotional Overeater

Now you have a clear picture of what emotional eating is and what it looks like, let’s address the symptoms, signs, causes, and triggers

There are several factors that contribute to emotional eating so there isn’t a single cause – and there are a variety of signs and symptoms as well.

While women tend to be more likely to fall prey to emotional eating, it is something that men experience, too.

And while men are more likely to give in in response to feelings of anger and depression, women are more likely to give in to emotional eating in response to a failing diet.

Causes & Triggers

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