Emotional eating is a topic that is written about again and again. It is viewed as an act of eating based on feelings. For example, in our society we use things to celebrate. Many people eat when they are overwhelmed with happiness to celebrate it. Many people also use food to numb painful feelings and to comfort themselves. It’s called emotional eating.
But there are also people who believe that it doesn’t exist. What they see as emotional eating isn’t the fact that you’re overeating because you’re upset, but rather that you’re eating because your body craves nutrients. Feeling agitated and unbalanced is a signal to the body that more food is needed. That rings true when we recall times when we were hungry and haven’t eaten for several hours or most of the day. We can be snappy or sensitive and nervous with our emotions. As soon as we satisfy our hunger, we feel better and more balanced. In that sense it makes sense.
In terms of the typical definition of emotional eating, one will “overeat” because of feelings. Is that true? Well, emotional eaters tend to be people who don’t eat very well. Many emotional eaters skip breakfast or eat very light foods early in the day. As a result, emotional bouts occur towards the end of the day as the stress of their job or someone upsetting them takes its toll. When we eat enough, our ability to deal with stress is much better and we are less likely to turn to food to cope. We turn to food not really because of the emotion, but because the emotion has reminded us that we are out of balance and need to eat more.
In this way, it can become very clear that emotional eating can be corrected simply by eating enough and eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. In some cases, however, it’s not that simple and the idea of emotional eating seems to exist. For example, smells and different meals can remind us of our childhood and we often eat these foods to remind ourselves of it. Some foods also remind us of people – maybe our mom used to make us a nice lasagna and we want to remember how that person died. This type of emotional eating is much harder to resist and overcome. Only by understanding that not eating the food does not spoil or degrade your memories can you get over it.
Thanks to Marie Crawford
