Emotional eating: Ever found yourself reaching for a chocolate bar after a long, frustrating day? Or maybe it’s a tub of ice cream that calls your name when you feel stressed. You’re not alone, and it’s not just about being hungry. This habit is known as emotional eating, and it’s more common than we realise.
What is emotional eating?
Emotional eating is when you eat not because you’re physically hungry, but to soothe yourself when you are feeling stressed, bored, lonely, or simply sad. Overwhelming environments can consciously or subconsciously lead to overeating, as comfort food can be a safe space for many people.
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Instead of addressing the emotion, food becomes a distraction or a temporary “fix”. The escape from reality that comes with emotional eating is often short-lived. Later comes the guilt of careless eating that can affect our physical and mental wellness.
Emotional hunger can easily be mistaken for physical hunger, but it’s not the same. Emotional hunger is usually urgent and overwhelming; physical hunger, on the other hand, comes gradually. While anything can satiate physical hunger, you tend to crave specific food items in emotional eating.
How to know that it’s emotional eating?
- When you cannot resist the urge to eat certain food items
- Eating even if you’re not hungry
- Food feels like a reward or gives a sense of calmness
What causes emotional eating?
Here are some signs you may be eating for emotional, not physical reasons:
- Fatigue: Being overworked and exhausted often increases food cravings
- Peer pressure or social events: Eating to fit in. Sometimes, food is also used as a coping mechanism to avoid speaking to people at social events.
- To deal with anxiety and depression: People often turn towards food for comfort and use it as a temporary distraction.
- Mindless eating: Binge eating while using a phone, or watching TV.
- Loneliness: People tend to eat to fill an empty void both physically and emotionally.
- Celebratory eating: Using food as a prize after a long day
- Boredom: Eating out of sheer lack of stimulation or habit.
How to cope with emotional eating
- Reflect: Take a break and try to figure out if you’re eating because something stressful has happened or if you are truly hungry.
- Journal: Write down how much you eat, what you eat and how you feel when you’re eating specific food items.
- Have control over stress and overwhelming emotions, which lead to emotional eating
- Snack healthy: if you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a healthy and nutritious snack to avoid the guilt.
- Find activities or hobbies to immerse yourself in, other than food.
- Do not keep binge-worthy or easily accessible food around the house during emotional lows.
- Get enough sleep: Lack of sleep often increases sugar cravings and can also lead to high-calorie intake.
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You mustn’t suppress your feelings when you want to binge mindlessly. The key is not to fight the feeling, but to understand it. With simple strategies, you can break the pattern and develop a healthier relationship with food. In case the issue persists, reach out to a medical expert.