Breaking the Cycle: Strategies to Stop Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is coping with the negative emotions rather than satisfying physical hunger. Emotional eating can provide temporary comfort. But almost as frequently, it leads to guilt, weight gain, and a lack of control over eating habits.

The different triggers of this type of coping, how to develop healthier coping mechanisms, and how to build long-term habits to regain control over your relationship with food will be tackled in this blog.

What is emotional eating?

We tend to select food emotionally when we use eating to handle and calm our stress, anxiety, sadness or boredom. This differs from actual hunger because emotional eating serves to manage feelings instead of satisfying the physical need for food.

Here are some signs of emotional eating:
Craving specific “comfort foods” such as sweets like ice cream and the most common one – chocolate, salty snacks, or junk food.
Eating when not physically hungry.
Feeling guilty or regretful after eating.

Why We Eat Emotionally

Stress Relief

High stress levels allows cortisol to be released. An important hormone that increases cravings for sugary, salty, or fatty foods.

Boredom

Being bored silly or feeling that stimulation is lacking, food can become an easy way to pass the time and create a sense of excitement, delight or pleasure.

Sadness or Loneliness

Eating can provide temporary comfort or distraction from feelings that are oftentimes negative. Feelings like isolation, sadness, or a lack of connection with others.

Fatigue or Exhaustion

When tired, the body craves quick sources of energy, leading to emotional eating, particularly for high-carb or sugary foods that provide an immediate energy boost.

Social Pressure

Social gatherings like buffet dinners often revolve around plenty of food. Peer pressure or social anxiety may push us to eat to fit in or as a way to manage uncomfortable emotions in group settings.

Avoidance of Deeper Issues

Food can act as a distraction from dealing with deeper emotional pain, unresolved trauma, or feelings we find difficult to confront.

Identifying Emotional Eating Triggers

Strong emotions can be reasons for emotional eating (eg. anger, jealousy, grief). These feelings may create an urge to self-soothe with food.

When you know the feeling that keeps triggering emotional eating write it down. Keep a food and mood journal. Track eating habits and associated emotions. Write down what you eat, when you eat, and how you’re feeling at that moment. Over time, there will be patterns emerging, making it easier to identify specific triggers especially when it can potentially happen.

10 Common Triggers of Emotional Eating

Work Stress

Deadlines, demanding line managers and bosses, or overwhelming workloads can lead to stress. These can then trigger cravings for comfort foods.

Relationship Conflicts

Arguments, romantic breakups, fight among close friends or feelings of rejection can prompt people to turn to food for comfort.

Loneliness

Feelings of isolation or a lack of social connection can be a trigger. Eating ice cream while watching the TV is an example. This loneliness can temporarily fill an emotional void.

Boredom

When there’s nothing engaging to do or there are lots of repetitive things happening, eating becomes an easy distraction or source of entertainment.

Fatigue

Physical exhaustion (which can also come from lack to rest or sleep) often causes cravings for high-carb or sugary foods as a way to boost energy levels temporarily.

Celebrations and Social Gatherings

Parties, holidays, or even casual outings can encourage overeating due to the abundance of tempting food and there is .

Financial Worries

Stress are often related to money problems. This can cause people to emotionally eat when they are in a financially stressed and may feel insecure or anxious.

Negative Self-Talk

Feeling low when lacking self-esteem or self-criticising all the time can make individuals seek solace in food to temporarily numb emotions.

Triggers from the Past

Certain foods or situations may remind someone of comforting memories from childhood.

Seasonal or Weather Changes

The craving for warm comforting foods like soups, sweets or baked goods has been noted by people when they are feeling cold and gloomy or even diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Building Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Once you’ve identified triggers, focus on healthier alternatives to deal with emotions.

Replace food with other stress-relief activities:

Exercise: Take a walk do some yoga or do a quick workout. Endorphins are increased and stress is reduced by physical activity.

Creative outlets: Put feelings into drawing, journaling, or playing an instrument.

Relaxation techniques: Deep breathing, meditation or mindfulness should be practised to calm the mind.

Create a personal self-care toolkit:

Write down things you can do instead of turning to food when you need to calm down. This may include reaching a friend, taking a bath with nice essential oils, or listening to your favourite music.

Practising Mindful Eating

Mindful eating happens when one is being fully present while eating. While eating, giving a firm focus on the taste, texture, and experience of the meal. Mindful eating helps you recognise true hunger versus emotional cravings.

Techniques for mindful eating:

• Eat slowly, and savour each bite.
• Eliminate common distractions like TV or phones especially when eating meals.
• Check in with your body to see if you are hungry or even thirsty or just eating emotionally.

Distinguish between the many different hunger types:

Hunger that is physical tends to develop over time but emotional hunger tends to come on quickly and feels rather urgent. Knowing this can support your ability to pause and make some intentional food choices.

Creating a Supportive Environment

Environmental factors effectively influence the emotional eating patterns.

Remove tempting “comfort foods” like chocolates. Show food that induce overeating to either reside in hidden places like the top most shelf of a kitchen cabinet or totally make it unavailable in the home. More healthy choices of food should include fruits, nuts, or dairy.

Share goals with friends or family. Why? Because they are the people who can offer their love, stability, encouragement and someone we can ask as an accountability partner.

Join a support group (if available) that is specialised or working with a therapist you feel that you can trust, especially when tackling deeper emotional issues.

Long-Term Strategies for Success

Breaking the emotional eating cycle requires consistency and patience.

Start small by identifying one or two triggers to address first. Mix these healthier habits gradually into daily routine.

Acknowledge and celebrate progress. No matter how small it is. Positive reinforcement, done constantly, boosts confidence and motivation.

Seek professional help if needed:

If emotional eating feels overwhelming or becoming too much or deeply ingrained, a therapist or nutritionist can help uncover underlying issues and create a personalised plan.

Conclusion

Breaking the cycle is important when emotional eating is happening.

It may not have a quick fix to change this situation. Identify triggers, build healthier coping mechanisms, and practice mindful eating, are some ways to regain control of one’s relationship with food and emotions.

Remember, small, consistent steps lead to lasting change. Start with one strategy and build from there.