*updated January 2024
What is emotional eating?
What foods do you crave when you’re sad, angry, or bored? Many of us will reach for some ice cream or potato chips when we are moody. It feels like that bowl of Blue Bell will make everything better, but sadly, you still feel pretty rotten when you get to the bottom of the bowl. You may have tried to feed your emotions with food but have completely ignored the fact that you feel sad about a disagreement you had with a friend or your spouse.
That is called emotional eating--eating to feed an uncomfortable feeling, not your physical hunger. Emotional eating is a major cause of overeating.
According to experts, 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.
Turning to food can become a bad habit that can stop you from learning the skills you need to take care of yourself when you are upset, and it can lead to overeating and lower self-esteem. What can you do to keep yourself from engaging in emotional eating? By identifying your triggers, you can find better techniques for taking care of yourself.
Differentiating Physical and Emotional Hunger:
In the intricate journey towards recovery from eating disorders, one pivotal aspect involves differentiating between physical and emotional hunger. As a Houston eating disorder therapist, guiding individuals in understanding these distinctions empowers them to develop a healthier relationship with food. Recognizing the nuances between the two types of hunger is a crucial step in fostering mindful eating habits. You don’t have to have an eating disorder, however, to emotionally eat. We all do it sometimes.
Physical hunger typically arises gradually, accompanied by physical sensations such as a growling stomach, fatigue, or a feeling of emptiness. It is a biological signal that the body needs nourishment. Emotional hunger, on the other hand, is often sudden, intense, and unrelated to the body's need for fuel. Emotional hunger is triggered by feelings, such as stress, boredom, sadness, or loneliness, and is a coping mechanism to manage emotional distress.
Strategies for Managing Emotional Eating:
Mindful Awareness: Cultivate mindfulness in your eating habits. By paying attention to physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts, you can better discern whether your hunger is rooted in the body's needs or emotional triggers. Do a body scan and check if you are physically hungry.
Keep a Food and Emotion Journal: Suggest maintaining a journal to track both food intake and associated emotions. This practice builds self-awareness, helping you identify patterns and triggers for your emotional eating.
Pause Before Eating: Pause and reflect before reaching for food. Consider if the hunger is physical or emotional. This brief pause allows for a conscious choice rather than impulsive eating.
Explore Alternative Coping Mechanisms: Activities such as deep breathing, journaling, physical exercise, or engaging in hobbies provide healthier outlets for emotional expression can all help.
Create a Support System: Building a robust support system is vital in overcoming emotional eating. Share your struggles and victories with trusted friends, family, or support groups who can provide understanding and encouragement. It takes a village to thrive in this life.
Establish Regular Meal Times: Establishing regular and balanced meal times helps regulate hunger and supports a consistent eating routine. This reduces the likelihood of turning to food as a response to emotional stress. Regularity is your friend.
Seek Counseling: Reinforce the importance of seeking professional guidance. As therapists, we play a crucial role in supporting you through your journey. We can also refer you to other healthcare professionals who will help you get the best results, such as dietitians, to provide comprehensive care.
Recognizing the differences between physical and emotional hunger equips you with the tools needed for mindful and intuitive eating. By addressing the root causes of emotional eating, you will have a more balanced and sustainable approach to nourishing both the body and the mind.
Find a way to meet your real needs instead of emotional eating
A good first step is to ask yourself if you are hungry. If you are, find a healthy snack. If not, find other activities that are enjoyable to you such as reading a good book, taking a bubble bath, or talking to a friend. Keep a list of these activities so that you can go to them when you feel the urge to eat. The urge to eat will often pass after you engage in these types of activities. You can learn to stop feeding your emotions. This blog post has tips on ways to meet your real needs without using food.
Our disordered eating therapist can help you stop emotional eating
If you are having trouble getting hold of your emotional eating, a counselor can help. If you would like to talk to a Houston therapist, we would love to help you feel relief today. You can contact us online to schedule an appointment or call 713-565-0922 to ask any questions you have about how we can be of help to you. We also have a lot of resources on our website.
The advice in this blog is not a substitute for professional counseling.
OTHER THERAPY SERVICES WE OFFER IN HOUSTON, TX
In addition to Eating Disorder Counseling, we have other mental health services that we offer at our Houston, TX counseling office. Our services are available for adults, children, and teens. For individuals we offer Anxiety Treatment, School and College Counseling, Couples Therapy and Marriage Counseling, Perinatal and Postpartum Treatment, and Infertility Counseling. As well as Trauma Therapy, PTSD Treatment, EMDR Therapy, Autism Therapy, and LGBTQ+ Counseling. Our caring therapists also offer Family Therapy, Parenting Counseling, Career Counseling, and LPC Supervision. All of these services are also available through Online Counseling throughout Texas.