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Jan 26, 2023 · Stress eating is normal behavior, but it can become disordered eating. Mindful and intuitive eating can help you understand your feelings and stress responses.
- Start an emotion diary. The more you understand your habits, the better. Eating in response to emotion can happen automatically. The more you understand how you feel when you do certain things, the better your chance at changing things.
- Find other ways to cope. Once you have more information about the emotions, situations, or thoughts that can trigger eating, you can start to make changes.
- Move your body. Moving your body can be a powerful way to manage stress and anxiety. Activity helps to reduce levels of stress hormones in your body. It also releases endorphins to give your mood a boost.
- Try mindfulness. Mindfulness has many benefits for mental health. It’s shown to be a powerful way to manage anxiety and depression. It has also been shown to reduce stress eating.
- Get down to the root cause. A bad day at work or a fight with a friend are short-term issues. But emotional eating can stem from bigger issues, too. These include chronic stress, long-term anger, depression and other concerns.
- Ask why you’re eating. When you walk to the refrigerator, pantry or vending machine, pause and ask a simple question: “Am I really hungry?” Kippen suggests rating your hunger on a scale from 1 to 5, with one being you’re not hungry at all, and five being you’re so hungry that you would eat the food you hate most in the world.
- Swap out your worst snacks. If you don’t have a giant bag of greasy chips at your fingertips, you can’t eat the whole bag. That’s good, because overeating processed snacks can raise your levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
- Choose foods that fight stress. Have you ever wondered why people offer hot tea in emotional situations? It turns out there’s more to it than soothing steam.
- Our Ties to Food Are Strong. We must eat to survive. But over time, we’ve found pleasure in our food choices. Eating during times of stress can help ease emotions.
- Know What's Happening. Some people eat less when they're under stress. Others need the distraction of comfort food or fattening snacks when things aren't going right.
- Keep a Food Diary. Write down everything you eat during the day. Also note what time you ate it and where you were when you did. A food diary is a great tool to help you track your habits and patterns.
- Check if You're Really Hungry. If you just ate a big meal and are still reaching for snacks, ask yourself: Are you hungry, or are your emotions causing the cravings?
Dec 3, 2020 · Exercise: Getting your body moving is a great way to blow off steam and get your endorphins going, and is a much healthier option than overeating. Face Your Problems. If you’re using food to muffle your feelings in a difficult relationship, try assertiveness instead.
- Elizabeth Scott, Phd
Dec 7, 2020 · The first step to effectively addressing emotional eating is to simply recognize that you're doing it. "By recognizing that the only reason you're eating right now is because of an uncomfortable emotion you're feeling, you're already one step closer to overcoming it," says Kilpatrick.
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Nov 12, 2021 · Emotional eating can also arise from situational stresses. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routines and led to isolation and boredom, creating an ideal environment for emotional eating.
