5 Signs That Indicate An Emotional Eating Problem

Emotional eating will destroy any chances of reaching your ideal weight.

Let’s get real here. Food is for survival of the body, nothing else.

If you don’t handle emotional eating once and for all, good health will just be a pipe-dream.

Humans tend to seek comfort in certain things as an emotional response. For example, a family member or friend’s death may cause you to never leave your house, or never want to be alone. Well similarly, some people find their comfort in food regardless of their situation or emotional feelings.

There are indicating factors as to what triggers an emotional response. Emotional eating is a result of such factors. Carol Cottrill, a certified nutritionist, says “emotional eating is when one eats for reasons other than actual hunger”. This is a very good example of how we respond when under emotional distress.

Here are five signs that show you have an emotional eating problem.

You Eat Whether Happy, Sad, Bored, Stressed, Anxious etc.

If your day revolves around picking up that Coke or eating those tasty chips, then you’re emotionally eating. Anxiety and stress tend to translate into emotional eating. Think about a time when you were stressed and the dopamine release from food made you feel relieved. Then when you were happy, you dived into a molten lava cake… see it’s all coming back to you now, right?

We must develop good habits and this starts with making a healthy eating plan and sticking to it.

What are methods to prevent this eating due to your different emotions?

• Get to the root of the issue causing the emotions

• Change your habits so you reach for the healthy snacks

You Don’t Have Good Self Control

Lack of self-control will cause us to do things that we don’t necessarily want to do but we do them anyway because it just seems easier than not doing them. Take a step back and understand yourself as a person. You have to be comfortable and confident in yourself in order to have self-control.

You Have Not Found Other Ways To Deal With Your Problems

Food can and does replace exercise, meditation, therapy etc. for many people because it hits all the pleasure spots! We must learn to deal with issues in the way that they should be dealt with. Healthy interaction and exercise are very important factors in successfully coping with issues.

Learning calorie free coping skills really are the best way to avoid overeating because it occupies the mind towards other things.

Your Environment and/or Culture

Where you grew up and how the people around you eat, could be an indicator of your emotional eating habits. In many cultures it is customary to always eat when offered food. This could lead to eating when you’re not hungry. Friends and family may be over eaters and you’ve developed the habit from your environment as a way to not feel left out.

“A study from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics” has confirmed that people will naturally, subconsciously match the equivalent quantities of food as the people they’re eating with. Be sure to pay attention next time you’re in this situation.

You Don’t Realize You Are Overeating

This is probably the most obvious and the most frustrating reason because the emotional habit has literally consumed the person at this point. There is just no realization and therefore no action taken to counter this issue.

At this point, help or intervention is very necessary, and they shouldn’t be ashamed to reach out in order to restore their self-image and detrimental habits.

The short and long-term side effects are simply not worth neglecting emotional eating habits. Take charge of your health!