Eating Disorder Resource centre of Ireland
Emotional Eating - The Facts
What is Emotional Eating ?
Emotional Eating occurs when an individual uses behaviour with food to change or manage their feelings.
In many cases the person does not know how or what they are feeling, what they do know is they can feel tension in their body and this tension will cease once they eat .
Emotional Eaters tend to …
- Be confused about how they feel
- Have difficulty naming feelings
- Have difficulty managing their feelings
- Have difficulty with a specific feeling (often feel fat instead) and
- Do not feel entitled to have certain feelings .
- Have difficulty expressing feelings
Emotional Eaters tend to eat to…
- Hide or cope with negative or bad feelings
- Bring suppressed feelings to the surface
- Feed a hungry heart
- Deal with stress (real or perceived)
- Deal with self abuse
- Deal with trauma
- Deal with Boredom, Anxiety, Loneliness, Fear, loss etc….
What is the Difference Between Emotional Hunger and Physical Hunger ?
There are distinct differences between a physical cue for hunger from the body and an emotional cue for hunger.
Physical Hunger…
- Starts in the stomach
- Is very gradual
- Does not have to be for a specific food
- Individual tends to eat when they are hungry and stop when full.
Emotional Hunger…
- Starts in the mouth or head
- Its very quick
- Usually its about a specific food
- Individual doesn’t usually stop when they feel full if in fact they get to feel full at all
- Individuals tend to Feel guilty after eating
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So How Do I deal with my Emotional Eating ?
As with anything we wish to change, we must first identify and acknowledge the feelings we are eating in response to.
The following are some tips on how to deal with emotional eating.
1. Identify the feelings that you are eating in response to by keeping a food diary. Your food diary not only records the food you eat but where you ate it, how hungry you were, and what you were feeling before and after you ate. Self monitoring is the best way to identify feelings which are not being expressed or managed appropriately. In many cases individuals are not aware of these feelings so the types of food the person goes for or their eating style may be a guide. For Example…..
FEELING TYPE OF FOOD EATING BEHAVIOUR
- Anger/Frustration Crunchy/Salty Rebellious
- Anxiety Worry/Fear Creamy Foods Comfort/Nibbling
- Depression/Negativity High Sugar Comfort / trance
- Guilt/Shame Starving/Bingeing
- Yo Yo Dieting
2. After you have identified the feelings you are using food to manage then you can become aware of the triggers that are maintaining your emotional eating examples…..
It is a person, a situation, a thought, an image, the media, stress, trying on clothes, negative body image, tiredness, etc…
3. Changing emotional eating does not have to involve healing the feeling, instead try to separate the feeling from the eating behaviour. Emotional Literacy involves acceptance of our feelings, not liking them sometimes, not being able to make sense of them other times, just accept that we have them. A feeling is a feeling not a fact !
Ask yourself what other way could I manage/express/handle/tolerate feeling xxx ?
In many cases we feel something then we are judging ourselves because of this feeling and this is why we end up eating ! Example ‘ If I feel fat then that means no one will like me’. Other times we believe is wrong to feel xx ? Example ‘ If I feel angry that means I am a bad person’
Handling your emotions involves not judging yourself for feeling whatever you are feeling. Sure, sometimes they are not nice but again we don’t have to like them always we just have to accept we have them. In many cases it is our attempt not to feel the feeling rather than the feeling itself that causes emotional eating.
So to recap identify, acknowledge, accept and express your feelings in a way that honours you and your body and this will change the need to emotionally eat. Find another way to manage your feelings …. If youre tired - sleep, if you are bored - reach out, if you are angry - express it calmly toward the person you are angry with, if you are hungry - eat !
4. Sometimes a person is missing a skill that if developed then the need for emotional eating would subside. These skills can be any of the following…..
- Anxiety Reduction Skills
- Communication Skills
- Planning Skills
- Problem Solving Skills
- Stimulus Control Skills (managing food in your environment)
- Relaxation Skills and
- Social Skills.
Remember it’s not what you’re eating, but what’s eating you!
For further information on our services we provide please contact us on…
Director & Founder, Certified Trainer in Practitioner Skills for Eating Disorders.
Phone 01 4953577
Mobile 087 2056560
Email info@eatingdisorders.ie
Website www.eatingdisorders.ie