Hunger pangs are typically triggered when your body needs more food, but some people who struggle with emotional eating may experience hunger or food cravings as a result of stress or depression. In this case, your body may crave certain types of foods, such as sugary or salty foods, or even just your favorite foods, as a way of reducing and soothing negative feelings. As you monitor your eating habits, food choices and emotions more closely, you may see a clear difference between your body's real hunger signals and those produced by emotional stressors.
Step 1
Monitor your food intake and hunger episodes in a food journal. Monitoring your daily diet and hunger levels can help you see patterns in your eating behaviors. Note when you feel the hungriest and when you tend to have low appetite, and track your meals and calorie intake. After a few weeks, you may see a pattern to your daily hunger levels. This can help you identify when feelings of hunger are directly linked to a real need for food as opposed to hunger pangs triggered by stress, boredom or other emotional fluctuations.
Step 2
Be aware of your stress levels, moods and emotions, and use tools to reduce those stressors. You will usually experience emotional hunger when you are bored or stressed and you want a distraction. If you experience hunger, take the time to assess what is happening at that moment. For example, if you are feeling stressed and have the impulse to eat a snack, try doing relaxation exercises such as deep breathing or meditation. Hunger that passes as you relax is most likely due to your emotions rather than physical needs.
Step 3
Remove comfort foods and junk foods. If you have hunger or food cravings and you have a variety of healthy options available in place of comfort foods, it may be easier to assess your true level of hunger. General hunger can typically be satisfied by a healthy meal, while emotional hunger tends to give rise to cravings for comfort foods such as sweets, snacks or even fatty foods. If you are experiencing real hunger, a healthy snack or meal should satisfy your needs.
