How can I manage emotional eating?
How can I better control emotional eating?
Emotional eating is something that effects many of us. Emotional eating may occur when we attempt to cope with negative feelings or discomfort (like anxiety, stress, sadness, anger, loneliness, and boredom), or aim to distract ourselves from life’s challenges at hand. It is typically something that soothes in the moment, but then leads to feelings of guilt and shame afterwards. Here are steps to overcome and better manage emotional eating.
#1 Address the root cause
Emotional eating may be related to chronic conditions like depression, anxiety, chronic stress, and long-term anger. If it is, in fact, chronic, the following steps in this article will help, but you should speak with your doctor about additional help, which may involve medications, counseling for stress management, therapy, and/or prescribed exercise.
#2 Start with simple questions
Ask yourself, “Am I hungry?” This offers the opportunity to recognize your true motivation to eat. Perhaps you are tired, sad, lonely, bored, stressed, physically hurt or ill. Ask yourself, “Will eating this make me feel better?” or “How will I feel after?” Often the foods we choose while experiencing heightened emotions are not the best for us. In some cases, the food may taste good and soothe us, and we may even be able to walk away guilt free. In other cases, we may be more likely to overdo it, which inevitably triggers feelings of shame and disgust. Depending on the ingredients and amount we end up eating, it may even make us feel physically sick and worse over all.
#3 Trouble-shoot emotions without food
Consider alternative behaviors that do not involve food but will still help you to feel better almost immediately. If you’re tired, go to sleep. If you’re stressed, take a warm bath or shower. If you’re thirsty, sip a warm cup of herbal tea. If you’re angry, talk with a friend, or write in a journal. If you have too much on your mind, try a guided meditation video. If you’re overthinking something, take your mind off things with a good book. If you’re anxious, go for a walk. Even simple distracting tasks can be enough to shift your attention off food, like cleaning, laundry, knitting, listening to music, or watching a funny show.
Be proactive and set yourself up for success when you are vulnerable and more likely to engage in emotional eating. Prepare yourself by exercising regularly, utilizing mental health resources to work through personal issues, get 7-9 hours of sleep per night, limit caffeine, limit or avoid alcohol, avoid stocking up on trigger foods so they are not easily available during emotional times, and eat meals/snacks every 4 hours for stable blood sugar and control of hunger hormone production.
#4 Practice Mindful Eating
Mindful eating focuses on being in tune with your true physical hunger so that you can decide when to eat, how much to eat, and when to stop. It is an intuitive way to eat, but does require some learning and work in order to make it feel like a natural practice. Firstly, you determine if your hunger is physical or emotional. See below:
Physical
Comes on gradually, can be postponed
Can be satisfied with any type of food
Once full, you can stop eating
Causes satisfaction, not guilt
Emotional
Comes on suddenly, feels urgent
Causes specific cravings ie. pizza, sweets, fried food, chips
Eat more than normal, feel uncomfortably full
Leaves you feeling guilty and mad with yourself
Then, use the below scale to identify your level of physical hunger. Savor the food you are eating. Remain present and limit distractions. Avoid judgemental or negative self-talk (ie. “I shouldn’t eat this”).
RatingHunger/Fullness Scale10Uncomfortably full or sick; “Thanksgiving Day full”9Stuffed and uncomfortable8Too full; Somewhat uncomfortable7Full, not yet uncomfortable; hunger is gone6Filling up, but still comfortable; could definitely eat more5Neutral; Neither hungry nor full4Slightly hungry, mild signals that your body needs food – you can still wait to eat3Hungry, not yet uncomfortable; clear signals your body needs food2Very hungry, irritable, anxious – you want to eat everything in site1Starving, feeling light headed or dizzy, or other extremely uncomfortable feelings of hunger
#5 Choose snacks that will promote hunger and stable energy
Overeating processed foods increases the stress hormone cortisol, so instead of sweets, try an apple with peanut butter, an orange and cheese stick, berries with yogurt, or a chocolate granola bar with 8 oz milk. Instead of chips, try light popped corn, carrots in a yogurt ranch dip, or a whole-wheat pita with hummus spread.
#6 Practice self-compassion
We all will slip up from time to time and it is important to stay positive in how we see ourselves. Don’t punish or starve yourself or follow with a restrict/binge cycle. Do tune into your bodily hunger cues, then eat a balanced meal/snack again when the time comes. Also, learn from your mistakes by logging what worked and what didn’t so that you can try something different the next time you’re vulnerable.
#7 Be aware of triggers and manage them
Be honest with yourself about what external factors drive your emotions or give life to your insecurities. Unfollow social media accounts and avoid magazines that make you feel bad about yourself. Limit correspondence with an ex or toxic people when you’re feeling vulnerable. Set up a plan for known encounters with these people to improve your mood. Pick a change to make for certain social triggers like happy hour, holidays, parties, etc. Make sure you are happy with your decision. Don’t deprive yourself, as you still want to eat to be satisfied. Lastly, practice the “no thanks” default in the office setting like when your neighboring coworker brings in cookies and donuts every Wednesday.
These tips will help manage emotional eating in your life. Remember, food is necessary to nourish our bodies and keep us healthy, but it is also here for enjoyment! Let us all support one another in efforts to build a healthy relationship with food and our bodies.
Additional resources:
https://thecenterformindfuleating.org/
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
