Are You an Emotional Eater?

We’ve all been there… looking into the fridge or the cupboard for something to snack on, not because we’re hungry, but just because!

Emotional eating is an issue for so many of us, particularly women. This includes eating for reasons such as boredom, stress, sadness, procrastination, anxiety... the list goes on. 🥴 Essentially it’s whenever we eat when it’s not for hunger, or even necessarily for pleasure, but as a way to distract ourselves or numb unpleasant feelings. After the initial boost, it’s usually followed by a feeling of low energy, which can then repeat the cycle

The underlying emotion or reason is often on a sub conscious level, which is why it can sometimes be tricky to spot and break the cycle, unless we really tune in to how we are feeling in that moment. Sometimes eating in this way can start to become a habit, so even if we’ve had a good day and feeling fine, we could still snack mindlessly because that’s what we always do when we get home from work for example.

I’m definitely not saying that all snacking is unhealthy, or that we should never eat when we feel stressed/upset etc. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I take a very balanced and realistic approach to nutrition and sometimes the guilt often associated with certain foods can be worse for us than the actual food itself, which isn’t helpful 🤦🏻‍♀️

However, 9 times out of 10, it’s not actually about the food at all, as much as we think it is at the time, it’s just a mask covering up whatever is going on for us and we need to get to those roots if we want to make a change.

For me personally, it’s been interesting over the last couple of months to realise how tightly linked some foods had become to my emotions. After making some changes in my life and feeling more aligned, I’ve not been getting that urge to snack (unless I’m genuinely hungry) because I’m not looking for a distraction or comfort anymore. What’s interesting is, the only thing that’s really changed is my mindset...which has then shifted my energy. There’s been no need for will power, diets or rules, I’ve gone straight to the root cause of WHY I was emotionally eating.

So what is your body trying to tell you? Take a few seconds next time to ask yourself these 4 questions below:

HALT - The 4 letter word to ask yourself before mindlessly snacking…

1. H is for hunger

Before you tuck in, ask yourself “Am I really hungry?” If you are then obviously you need to eat, but maybe it's a planning/prep issue to think about for next time so that you can make healthy choices that are going to make you feel more energised.
But if you’e NOT hungry, there is something else going on - continue to the next questions….

2. A is for ‘anxious’ or ‘anger’

Stress in one form or another is one of the biggest causes of emotional eating. Ask yourself if you are feeling upset, stressed or anxious about something. Get clear on exactly what the reason for these feelings are.

If you’ve identified that you are feeling anxious/stressed/upset, close your eyes and take 5 slow, deep breaths. Then ask yourself again if you are in the mood for what you were about to eat or is there something else you could do to address what you are experiencing negative feelings about?

3. L is for loneliness

Loneliness is becoming more and more of a problem in our society, particularly this year with Covid, lockdowns and isolation. Many people have been finding comfort in food because it’s pleasurable and can even increase the “feel-good hormone” serotonin in the brain, so it acts as a distraction from feeling lonely. Food is definitely not the worst coping mechanism out there and on occasion there’s nothing wrong with comforting yourself with those' ‘treat’ foods, but it’s when we do this regularly that it can become a problem for our health.
So when you feel the urge to comfort eat or to escape feelings, ask yourself if you are feeling alone. If so, is there a friend or family member you could call for a chat? Could you walk your dog, cuddle your cat, or message your friends? What else could you do that would fill you up aside from eating?

4. T is for tired

Sometimes, we can confuse tiredness for hunger. This is because sleep deprivation leads to changes in specific hormones that control appetite.
Get honest with yourself… is this food going to help me or would I be better off having a 20 minute nap or having a bath, or doing some gentle yoga (Yoga Nidra is fantastic for getting the benefits of sleep in a much shorter time through guided meditation). You might not have the opportunity to do anything in that moment, but make a promise to yourself to go to bed earlier that night if you know you’re tired. Remember that sleep is not a waste of time! It’s vital and the ultimate self care practice!

I really hope this is useful, I’d love to hear from you if you give these questions a go, or if you’d like to chat further about your emotional eating and relationship with food you can contact me here

Are You an Emotional Eater?