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Featured Nutritionist
Sophie Pachella
Emotional Eating
We can conservatively estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. Both overweight and people of normal weight report that eating is their primary comfort outlet - it is the universal response to internal distress. But "filling a void" with junk food is the ultimate no-win situation. We cannot possibly satisfy loneliness or anxiety with any physical sensation of fullness. After the inevitable regret sets in, whatever was upsetting you is still there.
Many of us learned early on that food brought comfort, at least in the short-term. It is a blame for a host of hurts, or sometimes, a reward for good behavior. As a result, we often unconsciously turn to food to heal emotional problems. Eating becomes a habit preventing us from learning skills that can effectively resolve our emotional distress.
Emotional eating is frequently associated with out of control bingeing, but often, is it is far more subtle than that. All sorts of emotions, even positive ones, can result in overeating and unwanted weight gain. By identifying what triggers our eating, we can substitute more appropriate coping mechanisms to manage our emotional response, thereby taking food right out of the equation.
How Can I Identify Eating Triggers?
Triggers typically fall into five main categories:
- Emotional: Eating in response to boredom, stress, fatigue, frustration, tension, depression, chronic anger, anxiety, resentment, disappointing relationships or loneliness as a way to "fill the void."
- Social: Excessive eating as a result of being encouraged by others to eat; eating to fit in; to be polite etc.
- Situational: Eating because the opportunity is there. (this is my weak spot). For example, at a restaurant, on a plane (I love those snack boxes), freebies on the street. Eating may also be associated with certain activities such as watching TV, going to the movies or a sporting event.
- Thoughts: Eating as a result of negative self-worth For example, berating oneself for looks or lack of will power, and then eating in anger to prove oneself right.
- Physiological: Eating in response to physical cues. For example, eating to cure headaches, fatigue or nausea.
Tip: keep a food diary recording the time, location/person, and emotions associated with each entry. You should begin to identify patterns fairly quickly. Devise alternate ways to cope, using the techniques suggested below.
How Do I Break the Habit?
Identifying eating triggers is an important first step; however, this alone isn't enough. Now you have to break the habit.
Developing alternatives to eating is the second step. Practice awareness: when you start to reach for food in response to a trigger, try one of the following activities instead:
- Go for a walk or jog (or any other physical activity, yoga for instance)
- Engage in something which keeps your hands and mind occupied: a crossword puzzle, solitaire, or a board game
- Take a bubble bath
- Read a good book or magazine
- Play cards or a board game
- Knit, or give yourself a manicure (Guys: wash the car, take out the trash and mow the lawn!)
- Do housework, laundry or yard work
- Call a friend
- Write a letter or write in a journal (Write about what's bothering you)
- Watch a movie (careful this doesn't lead to snacking!)
- Or do any other pleasurable activity until the urge to eat passes
We tend to repeat behaviors that have been reinforced, so reward yourself when you meet your goals. Take that vacation to the destination you "walked or ran to in equivalent miles on your treadmill", or get a massage. Good habits are as hard to break as bad ones, so in time, you'll find that food is no longer your habitual response (oddly, you'll have knit enough scarves to outfit the Marine Corps).
As I sometimes discuss with clients "what you think, you become". If you say - and believe - you can't do something, you more than likely won't. On the other hand if you think positively and believe in your ability to overcome a challenge, you're far more apt to succeed; you instinctively do what's necessary to reach your goal. Knowing that you can manage emotional eating will serve as a catalyst to sustained positive actions in the future. You must believe you can change.