Emotional Eating Hacks: Coping with Stress and Boredom Without Food
"Eating your feelings" is a common phrase we've all encountered, underscoring the significant role food plays in self-care. However, when emotional eating becomes uncontrollable, especially due to boredom or daily stressors, it is crucial to explore healthier coping mechanisms.
Mayo Clinic's unhealthy food-mood-weight loss cycle:
Healthline also suggests these helpful clues for differentiating physical and emotional hunger.
Physical hunger
Develops slowly over time
Feel the sensation of fullness and take it as a cue to stop eating
Tied to the last time you ate
Emotional hunger
Comes on suddenly
Do not notice fullness, or it does not prevent you from wanting to eat more
Triggered by the need for comfort or soothing
Signs of physical hunger:
Stomach grumbling
Feeling lightheaded or shaky
A drop in energy level
Difficulty focusing
Changes in mood
Increase in thoughts about food
Now that we know what triggers emotional eating and how to tell the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger, how can we stop emotional eating?
Mayo Clinic’s 10 tips for stopping emotional eating:
Keep a food/emotion diary to notice patterns connecting moods and food
Try stress management techniques like yoga, meditation and breathwork
Give hunger cravings time to pass if you ate just a little while ago
Get support from friends, family or a support group
Fight boredom with healthy activities like walks, calling a friend or playing with a pet
Don’t deprive yourself of a satisfying variety of healthy food and occasional treats
Have healthy snacks like fruit, nuts or veggies and dip
Forgive yourself for any setbacks, try to learn from them and give yourself a fresh restart
Don’t keep tempting comfort foods at home and don’t purchase food while emotional
Seek professional help if self-help options aren’t working
Options like trying to set an eating schedule and asking yourself if you can wait until your next scheduled snack, or trying positive self-talk may also work for you. To avoid the risk of emotional eating altogether, check Easy Platter’s solution for putting mealtime on autopilot.
** Visit thebodyisnotanapology.com for information on self-love and bodily empowerment, and Body Brave and NEDIC for resources and recovery help for eating disorders. **