Break the Cycle

When you eat in response to feelings rather than hunger

Most American adults have a relationship, or have had experiences, with emotional eating. Although no singular definition of emotional eating exists, emotional eating is explained as eating in response to feelings rather than hunger.

Emotional eating typically is linked to stress, depression, anxiety, or frustration. Many people also report eating in response to happy feelings, but eating in response to happy feelings and events generally is not categorized as emotional eating.

The major issue with emotional eating is that people tend to overeat, consume too many calories, and choose foods that are nutrient poor. It seems that part of emotional eating incorporates salty, fatty, and sweet foods, which of course can lead to becoming overweight.

What causes this phenomenon? One hypothesis is that some foods have addictive qualities and cause a release of hormones that promote a feeling of well-being and satisfaction. The pleasure of eating replaces some of the generally negative feelings. Because most people have relationships with foods that bring them pleasure, they will seek out these foods in an emotional moment. This relationship becomes a habit, and the cycle is hard to break.

Another theory is that food is a great distraction from worries, stress, or negative feelings. While eating, individuals do not thinking of the things that cause them to overeat. However, this distraction is temporary, and often people wind up in the same state that brought them to use food for coping, with the added guilt of overeating and worries about weight management and health.

Emotional eating triggers

One philosophy for dealing with emotional eating recommends identifying your triggers, which are categorized as social, emotional, situational, thoughts, and physiological.

Social — when around other people, excessive eating can result from:

Emotional — eating in response to:

Situational — eating because the opportunity is there, such as:

Thoughts — eating because of negative self-worth, or making excuses for eating, such as scolding oneself for one’s appearance or lack of will power.

Physiological — eating in response to physical cues, such as:

Identifying emotional eating triggers is extremely important for identifying how and why extra calories are consumed. The next step is to come up with a plan to break the cycle and adopt new coping mechanisms. Instead of eating, try these suggestions:

Counseling, relaxation exercises, yoga, and medication also are helpful for breaking the emotional eating cycle and may promote new coping mechanisms.

Learn more about emotional eating.

References

Mayo Clinic. Weight-loss help: how to stop emotional eating.
Accessed March 19, 2008.

MedicineNet. Weight loss: emotional eating.
Accessed March 19, 2008.