Breaking the Cycle of Emotional Eating
Let’s face it, food is one of the most common coping mechanisms used by Americans to deal with emotions, and it can have a detrimental impact on our health. Emotions are complex and not always fun to deal with, but they’re real, and they affect us whether we like it or not. If we look at health holistically, we must look at not only our physical health, but our emotional and spiritual health as well. So unfortunately, as much as society loves to stuff those feelings and avoid them, at some point they’ll rear their ugly head and force us to deal with them in some way or another. As I mentioned previously, emotional eating is just one of those common coping mechanisms that can be tricky to deal with, so I’ve put together a few tips on how to recognize it and some practical ways to avoid it.
#1 Is this a physical or emotional craving? Sometimes you may find yourself thinking, “Hmm, that bag of chips looks really tasty.” Before indulging, ask yourself, “Am I hungry enough to eat broccoli and chicken?” If the answer to this question is “no,” then you may be on your way to emotional eating, or eating “just because it sounds good.” Identifying physical versus emotional hunger is the key to avoiding the overindulgence of food. I realize some people find themselves post-binge thinking, “what have I done?!” and may not even have time to ask themselves whether they’re hungry or not. If this is you, scan down to #6 and see some further tips on what you can do.
#2 What emotion are you feeling? It’s not uncommon for people to experience an emotion, and have no idea which one it is. Take a look at this chart to help you figure this out. Once the emotion is identified, you can more accurately go about handling the situation appropriately.
#3 Develop an alternative: Have a back up plan for what you’ll do with your emotions. For you exercise nuts, go on a run, a walk or just go out in nature to think and process what you’re feeling. The physical exertion helps to get rid of the hormones associated with anxiety or anger and will help you think more clearly. For others it may be talking to a friend, journaling, or meditating. Whatever it is, it should be cathartic, not something you dread doing.
#4 Remember that emotional eating will just make you feel worse: Studies show that “Negative mood and hunger were significantly higher at pre-binge than at non-binge times, but negative mood was even higher at post-binge.” Int J Eat Disord. 2007 Apr;40(3):195-203. In other words, if you give into binging, it’s going to worsen your sadness and mood, so it’s not worth it! Instead, try those alternative techniques as listed above and you’ll end up feeling much better.
#5 Consider seeing a counselor: Life is hard! And friends are wonderful, but sometimes we need an objective person in our lives trained to help us handle the tough circumstances appropriately. There are a lot of bad counselors out there, but there are really good ones too! Don’t give up if you don’t click with one right away. Consider it to be like dating, you may need to go through a few therapists before you find a match. Call your insurance company on the back of your insurance card to ask for a list of covered providers and then do a little google stalking. Read the counselor’s profile, their interests and their specialties. This gives you a better idea if you’ll get along with them and sometimes seeing their picture helps as well.
#6 Plan out your day of food: You “live in the moment” type people will have a more difficult time with this, but it really does help. If you can plan out what you’ll eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner the night ahead of time, this can dramatically help. Emotions fluctuate throughout the day, but if you already have a healthy meal planned, you can rest assured that you’ll be making more rational decisions throughout the day.