Are you hungry, or are you just feeling emotional? If you’re eating because you’re stressed, anxious, sad, or bored, this could indicate that you’re an emotional eater.
Yes, we’ve all been guilty of comfort eating once in a while. Stress eating in particular is especially common, with as many as 38% of US adults admitting they reach for comfort food in times of emotional distress.
But how do we recognize and identify the signs of emotional eating and, perhaps more importantly, address the issue? Stay with us as we guide you through it.
What Triggers Can Cause Emotional Eating?
Most often, emotional eaters lean on comfort food as a crutch to avoid facing what they’re feeling. In a sense, emotional eating can provide temporary comfort and a fleeting sense of peace and contentment when we’re feeling our lowest or most vulnerable.
Why? Eating – especially foods we enjoy – releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain’s reward pathways. But crucially, the positive sensations we feel when we eat are only in passing – studies have shown that emotional eating only makes us feel better for about 3 minutes.
Irrespective of this, the fact remains that food can serve as a momentary distraction when we don’t feel like dealing with our feelings. How? Numbing ourselves by eating our feelings is a way to silence uncomfortable emotions instead of confronting them.
For this reason, emotional eating is a commonly used coping mechanism for many people when they are experiencing distressing emotions they’d prefer not to acknowledge or manage. So, what are the most common triggers for emotional eating? Some of these include:
- Stress or anxiety.
- Extreme anger or emotional distress.
- Sadness, grief, and depressive symptoms.
- Boredom, loneliness, and social isolation.
Recognizing the Signs of Emotional Eating
Because emotional eating is often mindless eating, we may not consciously recognize that we have a problem. In this sense, it can be difficult to identify that we are emotional eaters – unless we slow down and look out for the signs. Some of the common signs of emotional eating to look out for include:
- You find yourself snacking mindlessly when you feel stressed.
- You reach for comfort foods to soothe yourself when you feel down or sad.
- You often use food as a distraction or something to occupy your mind when you’re bored or lonely.
- You tend to use food to avoid dealing with stressful, uncomfortable, or upsetting situations.
- You’re addicted to eating, and you also think of food as an exciting reward for getting through a particularly challenging task or event.
- You often eat even when you’re not hungry or when you already feel full from your last meal.
If you find yourself displaying any of these telltale signs – we hate to break it to you, but you’re an emotional eater. The good news? You can get help to address the issue.
How to Address Emotional Eating
So, you’ve recognized that you’re an emotional eater. The next step is to overcome the habit. Here are some ways to go about it:
Develop Self-awareness
Ask yourself, am I really hungry right now? Or am I just eating to distract myself so I don’t need to deal with my emotions?
As mentioned earlier, food can provide a temporary distraction and a fleeting moment of peace when we’re feeling stressed or upset. Try to identify the reasons why you’re eating and whether your hunger is genuine or emotion-based.
Record What You Eat in a Food Diary
Often, we’re not aware of just how much, or how frequently, we’re eating. Journaling what you eat throughout the day can help give insights into this.
It’s especially beneficial to record how you’re feeling at the time of reaching for that salty, crispy, or sugary snack. That way, you can learn to link your emotions to the foods you’re eating and why.
Seek Professional Support
Often, if we’re emotional eaters, there may be underlying issues. This is especially true if we’re experiencing anxiety or, perhaps, symptoms of depression.
Suppose you feel that deeper traumas are causing your emotional eating. In that case, it’s advisable to seek professional help from a licensed therapist who has completed an industry-recognized qualification – like a Masters in Counseling Psychology online, for example.