Emotional eating is something all of us will face at one point in our lives. We deal with our emotions on a day-to-day basis and there are going to be times when these emotions are much higher than normal. This could be the result of anything from work stress to financial stress to a disagreement with a friend or partner.
Right now, we are dealing with a constant barrage of news, and a lot of people are dealing with job insecurity - so our stress levels are rising. Even a normally calm person would be feeling anxious right now.
The difference is in how each person reacts to stress. Some people may lose their hunger and not eat in a time of stress, but for others, their default reaction to stress is to find food and seek comfort in this food.
What is emotional eating?
Emotional eating is when a person uses food as a resource to control their emotions. Foods that we tend to go for when we emotionally eat are often foods that are high in fat and salt, or high in sugar – they’re really highly processed. And while this gives us immediate satisfaction when we eat the food, the consequences of long-term exposure to this type of behaviour is not necessarily satisfaction.
What causes emotional eating?
There are many reasons why someone might turn to food for comfort. It could be that it was ingrained during childhood when parents used food as a reward for positive behaviour, or alternatively, when parents used food to stop a child from acting out or from bad behaviour.
It is also possible that this is learned behaviour from adulthood. Food often serves as a distraction so if someone is worried or upset about something, they may choose to focus on food instead of dealing with the situation at hand. If this is done enough times it will become the default reaction to this type of stress.
For some people, when they’re feeling anxious and their anxiety is building, they just want to go and grab snack foods like salty crisps or lollies to try to reduce that anxiety.
For others, it might be stress related in terms of uncertainty and feeling overwhelmed. It might even be that someone is so overwhelmed they don’t know what to do so they throw in the towel and go to the pantry.
How can we stop emotional eating?
If you’re someone struggling with emotional eating try these steps to change your behaviour.
Identify your emotions
First and foremost, you need to identify what emotions are triggering comfort eating. Check in with yourself and ask how you are feeling right now and notice what your emotions are. If you can notice your emotions before they become really heightened, you can try to intervene before it becomes problematic.
Consider keeping a diary of your emotions and the times you feel compelled to eat and you might see a pattern emerge.
Try breathing and meditation
Breathing is something we take for granted, but in times of high emotion, your breathing increases and your heart rate goes up. Put in place some strategies around breathing, maybe download an app with breathing exercises or take up meditation to help your body reset and get the oxygen flowing again before you head to the kitchen.
Substitute behaviour
Rather than reaching for food for your emotions, create yourself a list of 10 different activities that you can do when you feel your emotions rising and you need to reset the balance.
These activities could include any of the following:
- 5 minutes of exercise at home
- Stretching
- Yoga
- A walk around the block
- Body weight exercises in the park
- Colouring in
- A jigsaw, sudoku or crossword
- Knitting
- Reading a book
- Calling a friend
- Journaling
- Going on social media if you have a supportive group
- Having a bath
- Watching a movie
- Listening to music
- Playing with your pet
It’s all about finding strategies that occupy your time and reduce those emotions back to a more normal level to avoid comfort eating.
Know that it might not work the first time you attempt to do this. You might need to try multiple things and work through your entire list of strategies to find something that works for you. Just as emotions are such a personal thing, so too are the strategies that will help you get through this.