Emotional Eating: Feeding Your Cravings

Do you sit in front of the TV eating potato chips? Have you been through relationship issues and all you want to eat is a pint of ice cream? Were you ever so happy that you go to the fridge and just eat whatever that was in there? Emotional eating is something that many people deal with all the time. Studies show that 75% of overeating is caused my emotional eating. Emotional eating is when you eat your feelings.

Triggers for Emotional Hunger:

•  Social - eating around people - pressure to eat at parties, eating to fit in.
• Emotional - eating because of fights, anxiety, stress from school or work, unemployment, financial pressure as a way to "fill a void."
• Situational - eating because the food is there - going to parties, having lunch with friends/coworkers, passing by a restaurant, seeing an ad for a fast food place. It can also be associated with activities - going to the movies and having popcorn, watching tv, going to sports events.
• Physiological - responding to physical cues - eating a lot after not eating all day, eating to cure headaches, eating because of bad weather.

How to Tell Between Hunger and Emotional Hunger:

• Hunger comes slowly and gradually. Emotional hunger comes quickly. 
• When you are craving certain foods, that is emotional hunger. When you are actually hungry, you are open to any food.
• Physical hunger can wait. Emotional hunger needs to be satisfied NOW.
• Emotional hunger is when you feel guilty when you have just eaten. You do not feel bad when you eat after being hungry. 

Managing Emotional Eating:

• Keep a food diary. Write down what you ate, when, why and how you felt before and after. 
• Take a walk. Help keep your mind off of your cravings. 
• When you have an urge to eat when you are hungry, try grabbing a fruit or vegetable rather than candy or chips. 
• Take a bubble bath, read and relax.
• Have a few bites of that unhealthy, sugary piece of cake instead of eating the whole slice. Studies show that after four bites, you forget how you felt about wanting that cake.
• Fight boredom. Create a list of things to do to get your mind off of food. 
• Sleep. You might find yourself snacking to keep yourself awake. Make sure you get enough sleep. 

 Just remember that emotional eating is something people do because of boredom, being happy or sad or even being around food. Ease yourself off of the sweets and sugar and start grabbing that apple. Ice cream and cookies are obviously delicious but moderation is key.


This post is written by Karel.
Adapted from: Image from Heart and Soul by Dr. Thema
Weight-Loss help on MayoClinic  
Weight-Loss on Medicinenet 
WebMD: Emotional Eating