Emotional eating refers to consuming food for reasons other than hunger or nourishment. If you've eaten a carton of ice cream after a bad date or finished a family-size bag of potato chips while trying to cram for an exam, you're guilty of emotional eating. However, you can change your eating patterns, which will help you lead a healthier and happier lifestyle.
Basics
Emotional eating usually leads to eating too much junk food, reports MayoClinic.com. People often refer to these foods as comfort foods, because they feel comforted by the thought of them. When you crave a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs to drown your feelings of sadness or anger, you're not craving it because you're hungry. Emotional eating can damage your health and weight loss goals. Once you understand what emotional eating is and how it impacts your life, you can take steps to prevent it.
Misconceptions
People who eat to deal with their emotions usually think a slice of chocolate cake or three servings of pasta will make them feel better. While shoving the food into your mouth as fast as possible may mask your feelings for a short period of time, you'll probably feel worse afterward. When you're feeling bad, emotional eating just adds guilt and shame to your already rotten feelings.
Considerations
People who suffer from depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders often use food to cope with their feelings. In fact, one of the main symptoms of depression is overeating and weight gain. If you suffer from a mental health disorder or think you might suffer from a mental health disorder, you might need professional help to get your eating under control. It's not simply a matter of willpower to change.
Professional Help
Seek help from therapists, nutritionists and fitness experts. Such professionals can help you deal with your emotional eating, according to KidsHealth.org. A therapist can help you understand why you turn to food and how your thoughts impact your emotions and behaviors. A nutritionist will teach you about the different types of food, how they impact your health and give you eating recommendations. Fitness experts can help you lead a healthier life through exercise.
Self-Help
Take steps now to help yourself stop using food to cope with your emotions. You need to start dealing with the emotions you feel instead of trying to cover them up and push them away. If you're not happy, figure out why and start making small changes to fix it--this may include getting professional help. Eat when you're hungry, not when you're having a craving. Pay attention to your food and enjoy it. People usually eat more when they're distracted, so turn off the television, put down your book and stop eating in your car. Pay attention to your body while you're eating to make sure you're still hungry. If you're not, put your fork down.
