Emotional Eating

An abundance of inexpensive, ready-to-eat food items that have been specially formulated with high fat and abundant sugar and salt have made it easy for people to use food as a tool to manage their moods. Food is so easy to come by that many people are not even aware of the fact they turn to food for comfort when they are dealing with something as simple as boredom or as complex as serious financial, health, or relationship problems.

Many people experience their greatest desire for food when they are at their lowest emotional point.

Emotional eating is why many dieters regain weight. They can control their desire for food when all is going well and when they are enjoying the initial euphoria of losing weight, but once the thrill is gone or when stressful situations arise, they turn to food unless they have developed other coping strategies.

The good news is that once people are conscious of the connection between food and mood, they can take steps to regain control of their eating and put food in the proper place in their life.

Why Do Negative Emotions Cause People To Overeat?

At the most basic level, the pleasure of eating helps to offset negative emotions. But there are more complex reasons as well. Some foods like sweets and chocolate cause the body to release specific mood boosting chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine. Over time, people learn to associate the mood lift they experience with eating a particular food and a habit is born. Eventually, each time they experience even mild emotional discomfort, they crave their favorite mood boosting food.

Are You An Emotional Eater?

Most of us eat for some emotional reasons. Emotional eating is a problem if you find yourself craving food when you are not physically hungry and giving in to these cravings to satisfy yourself emotionally. Keeping a detailed food diary can help you determine if you are prone to emotional eating. In addition to listing what and how much you ate, list why you ate it: I was hungry; it was there; I was lonely, or I was feeling stressed. After a few days, look for a pattern in your explanations of why you ate.

Tips To Control Emotional Eating

• Learn to recognize and distinguish true physical hunger from emotional hunger (appetite). If you ate within the past 2-3 hours and do not have physical symptoms of hunger like stomach pangs or rumbling, you probably want food for emotional reasons.
• Eat balanced meals and a nutritious breakfast so that your blood sugar level stays stable and you are less prone to emotional eating.
• Identify your triggers. Review your food diary and note the situations that caused you to crave foods. Before you give into a craving, determine if you are reacting to a trigger.
• Eliminate favorite mood-altering foods from your home and work environment. If a food is not on hand, you are less likely to eat emotionally.
• Develop skills for dealing directly with your emotions. If you eat in response to stress, learn stress management skills. Do you eat out of anger or frustration? Learn assertiveness and anger management skills.
• Become more active. Get some exercise every day. It boosts your mood, decreases stress and helps burn calories.

If you slip and grab for food, forgive yourself and get back on track by following the tips outlined above. Consider joining a weight maintenance program either in person or online for support.