A blonde-haired young woman eating burger and French fries in the bed.
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Craving food doesn’t always mean that you’re physically hungry. Sometimes, people turn to food for other reasons such as for seeking comfort or stress relief. Think chowing down on a bar of chocolate after a stressful day at work. Eating a pint of your favorite ice cream when you’re feeling sad. Or, ordering a pizza just because you’re feeling bored or lonely. All of these are examples of emotional eating aka stress eating.
Emotional eating basically means eating for reasons other than physical hunger—typically in response to either positive or negative feelings, explains Lauren Harris-Pincus, NJ-based registered dietitian nutritionist and author of The Protein-Packed Breakfast Club. The reason why many of us consume comfort foods to cope with emotions is that it stimulates the reward centers of our brains and makes us feel better, albeit temporarily, tells Marysa Cardwell, registered dietitian nutritionist, personal trainer and consultant for weight management app, Lose It! However, “since emotional hunger is not real hunger, eating these foods doesn’t actually satisfy our cravings because the stressors that caused them still remain,” adds Pincus.
While occasional emotional eating is completely normal, constantly using food as a crutch to deal with your emotions can be problematic over time as it can have unwanted side effects such as weight gain, high blood pressure and diabetes.
So, how can you avoid emotional eating?
Try these simple, dietitian-approved strategies to fight cravings and prevent stress eating:
Pay attention to your body’s hunger cues. “It helps to first identify your hunger and fullness cues. The next time you find yourself eating—do a quick check-in with yourself. If you are eating but are not physically hungry, ask yourself why you are eating? If the reason is stress, anxiety or even happiness, you may be an emotional eater,” says Cardwell. “Some common signs to look for are major changes in your eating habits depending on the mood, eating as a reward and eating to soothe or numb feelings,” she adds.
Identify your triggers. If you experience food cravings despite having eaten recently, chances are you aren’t physically hungry. Yet, if you find yourself giving in to these cravings frequently, try keeping a food journal. Record what and how much did you eat and what were you feeling at that time to see if you can identify possible triggers. “Once you recognize a pattern, develop a strategy to break it,” suggests a Harvard Health Publishing report. “I encourage people to identify their emotions that lead them to eat and ask themselves ‘if food weren’t available, how would I soothe this emotion?’,” says Cardwell. Also, make a list of self-care or self-soothing practices that you can lean on instead of turning to food to cope with emotions, suggests the healthy eating expert. Think aromatherapy, exercise, listening to music, gardening, practicing meditation or starting a new hobby—whatever helps you de-stress and relax.
Distract yourself. Pincus recommends trying stress management techniques such as meditation, going for a quick walk or talking to a loved one to calm your mind and refocus the next time you feel emotionally overwhelmed. Another simple strategy that might help is to distract yourself with an activity that requires both hands (think dancing, gardening or knitting)—something that would make it tough to eat while simultaneously participating in the task, suggests Pincus.
Be kind to yourself. “The last thing you want to do is feel guilty after some comfort eating and create a negative loop as that causes stress too,” tells Pincus. “Cope with your emotions with kindness,” says Evelyn Tribole, registered dietitian nutritionist, co-creator of Intuitive Eating and author of Intuitive Eating for Every Day: 365 Practices and Inspirations to Rediscover the Pleasures of Eating. “Some key steps to do this include self-inquiry. Ask yourself, what am I feeling right now? Try and identify the emotion. If it’s stress, try and unpack it a bit. If you aren’t so sure about what you’re feeling, try out the description of ‘uncomfortable’ and see if that fits,” suggests the celebrity nutrition expert. “Next, identify what do you need right now that relates to this emotion. The key here is to match the need with the emotion you are experiencing. Do you need rest? If so, give yourself permission to take a break or even a nap. Need a change of environment? Perhaps go outside or into another room. Or maybe you need to directly address the root of the feeling. Perhaps there’s a need to set some boundaries about your workload or daily schedule—to help cope with the overwhelm. It might also be helpful to talk with a trusted friend,” adds Tribole.
Try cognitive reframing. Reframing the situation or how you feel about it—better known as cognitive reframing or cognitive restructuring—can also help break emotional eating habits, notes Cardwell.
And lastly, if the emotional eating persists despite trying all these techniques and becomes intrusive with the quality of your life, please reach out to a qualified health professional at the earliest.
