Tips for Stopping Emotional Eating

In our previous post, we talked about the difference between physical eating and emotional eating Emotional vs Physical Eating

Today I want to share tips on how to stop emotional eating:

Identify your triggers

People eat for many different reasons. The first step in putting a stop to emotional eating is identifying your personal triggers. So why do you eat?

Keep in mind that while most emotional eating is linked to unpleasant feelings, it can also be triggered by positive emotions, such as rewarding yourself for achieving a goal or celebrating a holiday or happy event.

Stress – Ever notice how stress makes you hungry? It’s not just in your mind. When stress is chronic, as it so often is in our chaotic, fast-paced world, it leads to high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol triggers cravings for salty, sweet, and high-fat foods—foods that give you a burst of energy and pleasure. The more uncontrolled stress in your life, the more likely you are to turn to food for emotional relief.

Stuffing emotions – Eating can be a way to temporarily silence or “stuff down” uncomfortable emotions, including anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, resentment, and shame. While you’re numbing yourself with food, you can avoid the emotions you’d rather not feel.

Boredom or feelings of emptiness –

Do you ever eat simply to give yourself something to do, to relieve boredom, or as a way to fill a void in your life? You feel unfulfilled and empty, and food is a way to occupy your mouth and your time. In the moment, it fills you up and distracts you from underlying feelings of purposelessness and dissatisfaction with your life. The funny thing about eating out of boredom is that you won't enjoy the meal as it is possible that the taste is not felt.

Childhood habits –

Think back to your childhood memories of food. Did your parents reward good behavior with ice cream, take you out for pizza when you got a good report card, or serve you sweets when you were feeling sad?

These emotionally-based childhood eating habits often carry over into adulthood. It is even possible that some of your eating is driven by nostalgia—for cherishes memories of grilling burgers in the backyard with your dad, baking and eating cookies with your mom, or gathering around the table with your extended family for a home dinner or even eating out every Sunday. Habits have to be broken if emotional eating is to be a thing of the past.

to be continued....

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