Emotional Eating
What you eat is important. Why you eat is also important. Emotional eating happens when food is eaten in response to feelings instead of hunger. Being able to identify emotional eating triggers will help you learn to control this behavior. Some common triggers include stress, boredom, depression and anger.
Even if you exercise, eating when you are not hungry will hurt your weight loss goals. The first step is to identify the situations that cause you to eat when you are not hungry. Some common emotional eating behaviors are:
- You eat more at work because you are stressed
- You eat at social gatherings because you are nervous
- You eat because you are bored
- You eat because you feel bad about yourself
- You eat because you are mad, annoyed or frustrated with someone
A good way to avoid finding yourself fall into this behavioral pattern is to make a list of things you can do (besides eating) when you find yourself in emotional situations. When you are occupied with other activities, your urge to eat will usually pass.
- Write in your journal; describe your feelings and fears
- Listen to relaxing music
- Clean something or run errands
- Exercise will help to relieve stress and anxiety
- Talk to a family member or close friend
- Read
Remember, the first step is to face your feelings and learn to cope with them in other ways. Dealing with emotions can sometimes be painful and changing your mindset may be difficult. Eating as a way to deal with your emotions is never a good solution and will most likely cause you to feel more depressed or angry with yourself. Think positive and keep a list of alternate activities close on hand.
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