June 25, 2023
Alexandra Kinias

People who reach out for food when they are not hungry are emotional eaters. While for the vast majority food is just a source of energy, emotional eaters consume food because they are experiencing emotions that only food can satisfy. For them, food is a source of comfort that distracts them from whatever is troubling them. In other words, eating becomes their coping mechanism. 

A fight with your mother, an argument with your boss, a stressful day at school or a fight with your lover can trigger various negative emotions that only a bag of potato chips, a bar of chocolate or a bowl of ice-cream can brush aside. When feeling down, comfort food is a source of pleasure. It temporarily blocks the unpleasant feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, or boredom. Food is a faithful companion when you are lonely and it enables you to function when you’re stressed out. 

Emotional eating has become the main cause of weight gain and the biggest hurdle against weight loss. Eating over our problems will not solve them. On the contrary, the temporary comfort it provides us with triggers our guilt feelings. Feeling guilty increases the negative emotions we feel inside and leaves us wanting to eat more. 

Here are 5 tips to avoid being an emotional eater: 

1– Learn to differentiate between physical and emotional hunger: if you feel you want to eat when you are not hungry, then instead of opening this bag of cookies, take a deep breath and think about what is really bothering you. Once you identify the problem that is irritating you, work on solving it instead of eating over it. 

2- Distract yourself when you feel the urge to eat: Once you identify the symptoms of your emotional distress, don’t run to the fridge, instead go out for a walk, take a shower, or call your friends and share your feelings with them. And before you realize it, the urge to eat will eventually subside.  

3- Avoid Junk and Fast Food: Before you stuff yourself with this bag of potato chips, remember that the bad mood will pass, but the weight will stay on. When eating for comfort, we are always attracted to the wrong foods. Salty, fatty and sugary foods are tastier than healthy food and it seduces out taste buds for more. Don’t fall into their trap. Instead, replace the junk food you have at home with healthy snacks like carrots, cucumbers, celery sticks or apples, to avoid the temptation. 

Remember, if hunger is not the problem, then food is not the solution.  Seeking real solutions for the problems you face in your everyday life is the only way that can stop you from becoming an emotional eater. 

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