Ways To Put An End To Your Emotional Eating Habits
What is emotional eating?
Emotional eating is such a subtle topic and it's such a vast and overarching concept. When we think about emotional eating it's like ‘what are we actually saying when it comes to emotional eating’ and AK believe’s that what it means is that we are using our food, eating and the taste of food to soothe something within us.
Emotional eating is using food to fill your emotional needs, rather than your stomach, in the hopes that it will fix your emotional problems. Emotional eating doesn’t fix your problems and usually makes you feel worse. Moreover, the aftermath of emotional eating typically results in feeling guilty for overeating, on top of your remaining original emotional issue.
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Why food?
Negative emotions may lead to a feeling of emptiness or an emotional void, and food is believed to be a way to fill that void by creating a false feeling of fullness or temporary wholeness. However those false feelings of fullness and wholeness are typically what fuel the emotional eating fire, because once those unsatisfied feelings return emotional eaters turn to food again. The following could be additional factors, other than negative emotions, that may lead to that feeling of emotional void and result in emotional eating:
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Retreating from emotional support during times of emotional need
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Not engaging in activities that might otherwise relieve stress and/or sadness
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Using negative self-talk that is related to bingeing episodes
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Not understanding the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger
Those who suffer from emotional eating could also use food as a means of distraction. They may focus on eating comfort food instead of dealing with an upcoming event or conflict, because it may be a painful situation they’d rather not take part in.
The emotional eating cycle
Occasionally using food as a pick-me-up, a reward, or to celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However when eating is your primary emotional coping mechanism, you then get stuck in an unhealthy cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed. This is when your first impulse is to open the refrigerator whenever you’re stressed, upset, angry, lonely, exhausted, or bored.
An emotional eating cycle typically looks something like this:
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Something happens that upsets you
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You feel an overwhelming urge to eat
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You eat more than you know you should
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You feel guilty and powerless over food
Then after you start to feel guilty and powerless over the food you ate, you find yourself back at step one being upset that you feel so guilty and powerless. And this is how the vicious cycle of emotional eating continuous goes. Though it is not impossible to break this cycle, it just takes patience and time.
What are some emotional eating triggers?
Most emotional eating is linked to unpleasant feelings, but it can also be triggered by positive emotions, such as rewarding yourself for achieving a goal or celebrating a holiday or happy event. It’s important to recognize your personal triggers for emotional eating, whether they’re because of a place, situation or a feeling. Common triggers of emotional eating could be one or all of the following:
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Boredom
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Childhood habits
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Not feeling your emotions
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Social influence
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Feelings of emptiness
If you don’t know how to manage your emotions in a way that doesn’t involve food, you won’t be able to control your eating habits for very long. Moreover, while understanding what your triggers are and how the emotional eating cycle works are two huge steps to taking control, it’s also important to understand how your food plays a role in your emotional eating too.
Emotional hunger vs ‘true’ hunger
When it comes to hunger it’s important to know how to distinguish emotional hunger from physical hunger. And if you regularly use food to deal with your feelings, finding the difference between the two might be a little more difficult. But there are clues you can look for to help tell the two apart.
The signs of emotional hunger can be any or all of the following:
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It comes on suddenly
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It feels like it needs to be satisfied right away
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It craves specific comfort foods
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It isn’t satisfied with a full stomach and forces you to overeat
The signs of physical hunger can be any or all of the following:
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It comes on gradually
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It can wait to be satisfied
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It is open to options, lots of things sound good
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It stops when you’re full
Ways to put an end to your emotional eating habits
Identify why you are eating the way you are
One thing that leads to big results is to ask yourself: "If I'm not hungry, why am I eating?" Are you eating the cake because you want to eat the cake or is it a habit? Is it a form of comfort or self-sabotage even though you're not even tasting it? Is it because everyone else is eating? Is it because you have too much going on, and your life is really chaotic right now?
That may not be something you can fix at the moment and that can be frustrating but the cake is not going to solve anything. When you pause to ask yourself why and answer with "I'm just bored and feeling anxious," it can help you better understand your motivation.
Surrender yourself to something purposeful
We all crave surrender. Life requires us to be so disciplined and attentive in so many areas that we all desire, at times, to throw our hands up and give in. It's human nature and it's okay, but it's important that you find a more purposeful form of surrender.
Get a massage, treat yourself to new shoes, read a book or watch a show that's purely for entertainment, sleep in, say no to an invite or outing, get your nails done, plan a vacation or something else that feels indulgent and pleasurable, yet not harmful.
Ease up on yourself
Sometimes it is not others, but our own selves whom we are constantly disappointing. Reevaluate your standards and let go of judgment for yourself. Forgive yourself for the past. We all make mistakes, and we make them more often than we'd like, but we all deserve second - and third and fourth - chances. Treat yourself to forgiveness, and give yourself permission to move on from your past mistakes and take the opportunity to start over.
Be productive, not destructive
Often we eat as a form of reaction. There is always something we wish to improve in our social, political, and professional lives, but emotional eating is destructive, not productive. What happens is, you're anxious and upset, so you start eating. Now you're more anxious, more upset - and guilty and regretful - than you were before. Stress eating increases your overall stress. When it comes to food and our bodies, we have to be more responsible, meaning more able to control our responses.
Lifestyles more susceptible to emotional eating
While anyone can be susceptible to emotional eating, there are certain lifestyles that are more likely to attract it. Once you recognize that you fall within one of these lifestyles, you will be one step closer to taking control. However if you don’t relate with one of these lifestyles, and still find yourself emotionally eating, it does not mean that you still can’t take control.
Scarcity complex
Those who find themselves with a scarcity complex, or with the fear of wasting food, are more likely to become susceptible to emotional eating. Someone who has a scarcity complex often has a deep rooted fear that if they don't finish everything on their plate, they are inherently a bad person. They might also feel this way about eating the free food from work even if they aren’t hungry or that isn’t what they want. This type of lifestyle would be susceptible to emotional eating because the lack of trust that comes with a scarcity complex is one of the main contributors to emotional eating.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
As an adult, you have the power of choice. There are tools that can help ease your scarcity complex, but only you will know what they are. These tools will help you to slow down enough to understand what motivates your choices. Remember, choice is available at any time and has no judgements.
Easily bored
Those who find themselves easily bored, or with a lot of free time on their hands, are more likely to become susceptible to emotional eating. Someone who is often and easily bored might attempt to distract themself from this experience through emotional eating. They might see boredom as an ideal time because being bored effectively marks an appraised lack of meaning in a present situation and in life. This type of lifestyle would be susceptible to emotional eating because emotional eaters tend to use boredom as an emotional validation to binge.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
Instead of snacking when you're not hungry, try to distract yourself with a healthier behavior to fill your boredom and free time. This can include taking a walk, reading a book, listening to music, partaking in yoga, or even calling a friend.
Overly stressed
Those who are overly stressed, or don’t relieve their stress as often as they should, are more likely to become susceptible to emotional eating. Someone who is experiencing stress on a regular basis and not relieving it, is likely producing higher levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone that causes cravings. They might be stressed due to outside factors out of their control, or inside factors within their control. This type of lifestyle would be susceptible to emotional eating because the unresolved feeling of stress might be the scapegoat for their emotional eating tendencies.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
If stress contributes to your emotional eating, try a stress management technique, such as yoga, meditation or deep breathing. You might also find it helpful to keep a food journal. By writing down what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat, you will overtime be able to see the patterns that reveal the connection between your mood and the food you turn to.
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Food is not meant to meet your needs, even though many people feel that way. However once you realize that meeting your needs is not the job of food, you can then begin to work on those deep rooted problems that are most likely the cause behind your emotional eating.
Extra tips to help stop emotional eating
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Try meditation. Simple deep breathing is meditation that you can do almost anywhere. Sit in a quiet space and focus on your breath, slowly flowing in and out of your nostrils.
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Try eating mindfully. Resist grabbing a whole bag of chips or other food to snack on. Measuring out portions and choosing small plates to help with portion control are mindful eating habits to work on developing.
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Give yourself a hunger reality check. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not hungry. Give the craving time to pass.
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Try limiting your temptations. Don't keep hard-to-resist comfort foods in your home. And if you feel angry or blue, postpone your trip to the grocery store until you have your emotions in check.
