How to overcome emotional eating?

Emotional eating is a pattern of eating in which a person turns to food to cope with stressful situations. Most people experience emotional eating at some point in their lives, which can manifest as eating chips out of boredom or indulging in chocolate after a hard day's work.

If emotional eating is repeatedly practiced, it means that it has become the main coping mechanism for the individual to deal with their emotions, and it can have negative effects on various aspects of their life and health.

Facts about emotional eating:

• Psychological issues are not the only cause of emotional eating, and this disorder can have physical reasons as well.
• Usually, stress and intense emotions trigger emotional eating.
• Coping strategies for negative emotions can help individuals reduce the severity of symptoms.

Triggers to avoid include:

Stress and other negative emotions are not the only triggers for emotional eating. According to reports, other common triggers for emotional eating include:

Boredom:

boredom and having nothing to do can be a common trigger for emotional eating. Many people lead busy lives, and when they have nothing to do, they fill the void with eating.

Habits:

The roots of these habits are usually nostalgia or childhood events. For example, this habit could be eating ice cream after receiving a report card and being satisfied with the grades.

Fatigue:

When tired, especially when exhausted from doing something unpleasant, overeating or eating for no reason becomes easier. Eating is actually a person's reaction to no longer wanting to continue doing a particular task.

Social Influence:

Anyone can have friends or acquaintances who invite them to eat pizza after a work or school success, or ask them to go out for dinner after a hard day's work. When you are with others, overeating becomes easier.

Strategies for Coping:

The first step for an individual to overcome emotional overeating is to recognize the triggers and situations they encounter in their life. Keeping a journal to record what they eat can help identify these situations; situations where they have eaten because of psychological issues and not out of hunger.

Follow-up and evaluation of behavior is another solution that can help identify eating habits. This behavior can be recorded in the following ways:

• Level of hunger pattern; for example, rating the level of hunger from 1 to 10
• Individuals' reaction to doing tiresome or unpleasant tasks
• Identifying the emotions they experience; boredom or anger

The next step could be brainstorming, meaning designing solutions to cope with identified triggers. For example:

• A person who eats when bored might find reading a new and interesting book or trying a new and challenging hobby helpful.
• Someone who eats when stressed can seek help from activities such as walking, yoga, or meditation to cope with their emotions.
• Individuals who eat when feeling depressed can benefit from contacting a friend or going out for a brief recreation to help them deal with negative emotions.

You can also consult with a therapist or psychologist about other strategies for coping with emotional overeating. Of course, a physician or nutrition specialist can provide you with more information about developing positive eating habits and a healthy diet, and even refer you to the appropriate specialist if necessary.

Lack of self-control means that individuals cannot control their emotions and feelings. It is not the case that everyone who experiences emotional overeating has a lack of self-control or that anyone who has a lack of self-control suffers from emotional overeating. This issue may have complex reasons, some of which include:

Childhood upbringing

For some people, emotional eating is a behavior they learned in childhood. In childhood, parents give children food to cope with a difficult day or situation, or as a reward for something good.

Over time, a child who receives cookies as a reward for getting a good grade on a test may grow up to be an adult who invites themselves to a box of pastries after a hard day at work.

If emotional eating has its roots in childhood upbringing, breaking this habit can be very challenging.

Difficulty in dealing with negative emotions

Difficulty in dealing with negative emotions is a common problem among those who struggle to release them and requires a lot of effort. Emotional overeating is a common behavior that people resort to as an instinctual need to quickly distance themselves from negative emotions, which can lead to unhealthy habits.

However, emotional overeating is not limited to negative emotions. Even pleasant emotions such as participating in parties can lead to overeating.

The effects of stress on the body

The effects of stress on the body that lead to overeating and negative emotions can be caused by the following factors that affect the body:

High levels of cortisol:

When you are under stress, your appetite decreases initially so that the body can cope with the situation. If stress does not decrease, a hormone called cortisol is secreted. Cortisol increases appetite and can lead to overeating.

Intense Cravings:

The result of high levels of stress is an increase in cortisol levels in the blood, and these high levels of cortisol can cause a strong desire for fatty or sweet foods. On the other hand, stress is also associated with an increase in the secretion of hunger hormones, which can affect a person's tendency towards unhealthy foods.

Gender:

Some studies indicate that, in order to cope with stress, women tend to eat more while men prefer to smoke or consume alcohol.

Physical Hunger vs Psychological Hunger

There is a difference between physical hunger and psychological hunger.

Anyone can easily mistake psychological hunger for physical hunger, but each has characteristics that distinguish them. Understanding these subtle differences can be the first step in combating emotional overeating.

Does hunger develop quickly or gradually?

Psychological hunger develops quickly and suddenly, and you should react to it immediately. Physical hunger is usually not as sudden and can be delayed for a while. However, if a long time has passed since eating, physical hunger will be more intense and you should respond to it more quickly.

Have you found yourself craving for a particular food?

Psychological hunger is usually accompanied by a strong desire for unhealthy foods and low-nutrient foods. Someone who is physically hungry will eat anything to become full, but someone who has an emotional hunger will choose specific foods like French fries or pizza.

Have you ever experienced mindless eating?

Mindless eating occurs when a person eats without paying attention to what or how much they are eating, and without enjoying it. For example, eating a large tub of ice cream while watching TV when you didn't really want to eat that much ice cream.

Mindless eating is a behavior that usually happens during emotional hunger, not physical hunger.

Where does the feeling of hunger originate; the head or the stomach?

Emotional hunger is not a sensation that starts in the stomach, and you don't become aware of it like physical hunger with the sound of your stomach growling. Emotional hunger starts when a person has a strong desire and thinks about a specific type of food they want.

Do you feel regret after eating?

Giving in to intense cravings and eating to cope with stress can lead to feelings of regret and guilt, which are associated with emotional hunger.

In contrast, responding to physical hunger by providing the body with the necessary nutrients and calories is not accompanied by negative emotions.

Final Note:

 Emotional overeating is a common experience and usually not related to physical hunger. Some people give in to this tendency, but others are aware of its negative effects on their physical and mental health and are looking for ways to cope with it.

Anyone whose eating habits cause negative emotions should consult with a nutrition specialist or therapist. You need help to find the most effective ways to deal with emotional overeating.