Emotional Eating: The Signs and What to do

Do you tend to reach for ice cream when you’re feeling down? Drive to pick up some fast food after a stressful day? Order a pizza when you’re feeling bored or lonely? Do you eat when you’re not hungry or when you’re full? Do you feel out of control around food? Does food make you feel safe?

Emotional or stress eating occurs when you are not hungry to fulfill another need. You may be eating to satisfy unpleasant emotions, or relieve stress or boredom. This blog will help to identify the signs that you may be eating for one of these reasons, and what to do about it if so. 

The Signs of Emotional Eating

Emotional hunger:

·     Comes on suddenly and can feel urgent and overwhelming

·     Often leads to guilt, shame or regret

·     Will keep you wanting to eat more and more

·     Will typically lead to mindless eating

·     Will have you craving specific or comforting foods

·     Is not located in the stomach

After eating to relieve guilt, stress, boredom, or intense emotions you tend to feel worse. You have not been able to remedy the original emotional issue, and you may have eaten more than you anticipated. Using food to celebrate or reward yourself occasionally is not always a bad thing. However, using food as your primary coping strategy leaves the original issues unaddressed.  But don’t fear! There are three key steps to taking the power back over emotional eating.

Steps to Reduce Emotional Eating

1.    Begin with identifying your emotional eating triggers. Some common triggers include:

·     Eating as a way to temporarily silence or push down strong emotions

·     Eating to relieve boredom, loneliness or fill an empty void 

·     Eating as a reward for good behaviour

·     Eating driven by childhood nostalgia

·     Eating driven by stress

·     Eating because everyone around you is eating

2.    Once you have identified your triggers for emotional eating, you need to find other ways to fulfill the emotions that eating is trying to satisfy. Some alternatives to emotional eating include:

·     Eating as a way to push down strong emotions: instead try and notice the thoughts and feelings that are coming up for you, instead of pushing them away. Check in with what is going on for you emotionally. The thoughts or feelings may be uncomfortable, but they are there to indicate that something important is happening in your life. Let these emotions be there, experience them fully, know that they will become less intense, and will always eventually pass.

·     Eating driven by boredom, loneliness or emptiness: instead try reading a book, exploring nature, calling someone you care about, patting an animal or visiting a pet store, looking at beautiful pictures, or doing something creative.

·     Eating as a reward for good behaviour: treat yourself to something else such as a trip to the beach, going to a movie, buying a magazine or getting a manicure or haircut.

·     Eating driven by childhood nostalgia: instead look at old photographs, make a scrapbook, do a drawing, colour something in, do a jigsaw puzzle, call close relatives like a sibling, aunty or cousin, cuddle a childhood blanket or soft toy, read a favourite book from your childhood, or smell a familiar perfume or candle.

·     Eating driven by stress: instead try calming activities like taking a hot bath, having a cup of tea, lighting candles, colouring in, doing a jigsaw puzzle, curl up in a warm blanket, or do some yoga or meditation.

·     Eating because everyone around you is eating: remove yourself from the situation if you are able, otherwise hold something in your hand like a glass of water, and engage in meaningful conversation with those around you.

3. Practice Eating Mindfully

Have you ever sat down with a bag of chips or a block of chocolate and before you know it, without realising, the whole thing is gone? It is likely that your mind is preoccupied with other things when you are eating due to stress, boredom, or unpleasant emotions. Mindfulness is the opposite of automatic pilot mode. It is about experiencing the world that is firmly in the here and now. Mindful eating will help to remind you to remain in the present moment, and enjoy the experience of eating that will more reliably alert you to becoming full. Some tips for eating mindfully include:

·     Reflect upon how you are feeling right now

·     Sit and appreciate your food without multi-tasking

·     Turn off anything with a screen – phone, television, kindle or computer

·     Serve out all of your meal into a portion on your plate instead of eating food straight out of a box – you will get to see how much you are actually eating and appreciate it more because it is not hidden away

·     Pick a smaller plate to serve your portion – you may crave less food if you see less

·     Give gratitude – either mentally or in person to how the food appeared in front of you. Did someone you care about create it? Or was it farmers, labourers, animals or mother nature? Take a mindful moment to consider how this food was made for you to enjoy

·     Try to chew each bite at least 10 times and make it last

·     Between each bite put down your knife and fork until you have swallowed each mouthful

·     Don’t feel like you have to clear your entire plate – consider the joy of having leftovers tomorrow. Many of us were taught we must clear the plate due to others in need – however in that particular moment feeling uncomfortably full won’t help anyone

·     Try and eat your meal in silence. Acknowledge any thoughts that come to mind (and there will be plenty) and just gently bring your attention back to your meal. Notice the colours, textures, smells, any sounds, tastes and observe them with purposeful curiosity. Investigate these sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures as if you have never experienced the food before, or if you were to describe it to someone else who has never experienced it before.