Emotional Eating
When food is used as a tool for dealing with strong emotions
You might be emotionally eating if you turn to food in response to: stress, depression, anger, boredom, loneliness, or anxiety.
Emotional eating is a fairly common phenomenon in which food is used as a tool for dealing with strong emotions. The emotional eater is generally unaware of how his or her emotions are impacting food intake.
Why do some people have a problem with emotional eating?
The issue is probably multifactorial for the majority of people. However, we know that brain chemistry has much to do with it. Certain foods increase the influx of “feel-good chemicals” into the brain, and this sends a message to us that we should eat more to feel even better. Many people associate food with comfort and a sense of being “taken care of,” and when they can’t get these feelings from people or from within themselves, food seems like an easy cure.
Today’s society relies heavily on food as a way of celebrating. Every major holiday and special event is built on a foundation of food. This is large-scale emotional eating. Many people find themselves preparing food and eating as a means of distracting themselves from the things that they’d rather not, but probably should, be thinking about or feeling.
Is emotional eating always bad?
No! Some people are able to comfort themselves occasionally with food and do so with no long-term health damage. Emotional eating becomes a problem when it becomes a habit.
People who suffer from emotional eating tend to cycle between guilt and bingeing, and have a difficult time making peace with food. People with serious issues involving emotional eating often don’t even taste the food that they’re eating. Emotional eating has nothing to do with physical hunger.
How do you stop emotional eating?
The first step is to try to figure out what specific emotions spur you to eat more. Keeping a detailed food record, including what you are feeling every time you eat, is a good first step. Once you know what’s causing you to overeat, it’s easier to figure out what you need to take the place of food.
For example, the inner dialogue might go something like this: Am I stressed? How can I find relaxation without the food in front of me? If there were no food in front of me, what would I do with this feeling? Would I go for a walk, take a hot bath, call a friend, begin a creative project, read a book, or write a letter? What needs to change in my life to break this pattern of stress that is so severe that it is driving you to overeat?
One of the most obvious ways to prevent eating unhealthy foods in response to your emotions is just to not keep unhealthy food items in the house. Of course, even too much “healthy” food can lead to weight gain, but not as easily.
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip up from time to time. Instead, try to recover as quickly as possible. Look at each fallback as a way of finding out more about how your emotions and diet are linked together.
Learn how to break the cycle of emotional eating.
References
Great
Mountain at Fox Run. Stopping emotional eating.
Accessed December 11, 2007.
Mayo
Clinic. Weight-loss help: how to stop emotional eating.
Accessed December 10, 2007.
MedicineNet.
Weight loss: emotional eating.
Accessed December 10, 2007.
