6 Signs You’re An Emotional Eater And What To Do About It

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Have you ever polished off a pint of ice cream after a bad breakup? Do you feel a strong desire to inhale a bag of salt and vinegar chips when work is stressing you out? If so, then you’ve likely experienced emotional eating.

Emotional eating is defined as “eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions like stress, anger, anxiety, fear, boredom, sadness or loneliness.” According to research conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 40 percent of adults respond to stress by increasing their calorie intake. When you experience emotional hunger, you’re not eating because you’re actually hungry, but rather to fill an emotional void. Since food is used as a way to distract oneself from negative emotions, emotional eating can lead to overeating and a lack of control around food, eventually causing unhealthy weight gain and sparking an unhealthy relationship with food.

To confront your emotional eating habits, you first need to learn how to identify what distinguishes emotional hunger from actual hunger. Here are six signs that you’re eating because of a particular emotion and not because your body actually needs to refuel.

1. You use food for comfort.

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This one is probably the most obvious sign that you’re an emotional eater. If you’re constantly turning to that bag of chips to distract you from your boredom or if you find yourself consistently eating cupcakes to improve your mood when you’re feeling down, you won’t learn how to cope with negative emotions without turning to food. What’s more, we tend to crave sweet, calorie-dense and sugar-laden foods when we’re experiencing negative emotions, so the foods that we binge on when we’re feeling down aren’t usually very healthy.

If you’re feeling upset and you suddenly get an intense craving for ice cream, stop for a moment and ask yourself if you’re really hungry or if you’re just looking for a distraction from the negative feeling that you’re experiencing. If the latter is true, consider taking a walk or calling a friend or family member that always makes you feel better. If your craving goes away or decreases in intensity after that, you were likely experiencing emotional hunger.

2. You eat when you’re not hungry.

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Whether we’re attempting to satisfy a craving or eating a slice of cake to celebrate a birthday, most of us occasionally eat even though we’re not actually hungry. But if this becomes a habit, it could be a sign that you’re heading down the path of emotional eating.

Always check your hunger level before reaching for an indulgence. Ask yourself whether your hunger feels physical or emotional. Did you just eat a satisfying meal a couple of hours ago? If you did and your stomach isn’t rumbling, you’re probably experiencing emotional hunger. Consider drinking a full glass of water or talking to a coworker for a few minutes and see if the craving passes.

3. You eat too much too fast.

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One of the indicators of emotional eating is feeling a lack of control around food. This can lead to consuming large quantities of food in a short period of time, a phenomenon that’s also linked to binge eating disorders. If you often snack until you’re stuffed, especially when you didn’t feel particularly hungry to begin with, you may be falling prey to emotional eating.

The first step to gaining more control over your eating habits is to identify what those habits are. Keeping a food journal for at least a week and jotting down what you eat, how you’re feeling when you eat it and how hungry you are before you eat it could help you uncover a pattern of unhealthy emotional eating habits. Do you always scarf down a chocolate bar after a long day at work? Then it’s probably time to find alternative coping methods for your post-work stress.

4. You feel guilty after eating.

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It’s okay to indulge occasionally, but if you’re constantly feeling guilty after you do, that’s when it becomes a problem. Emotional eaters often give in to foods that they consider “forbidden” when they’re feeling unhappy or stressed, and once they’re done indulging, they often regret it.

Instead of falling prey to this unhealthy overeat-and-regret cycle, follow the 80/20 rule: try to follow a healthy diet 80 percent of the time while still allowing yourself to enjoy the occasional treat without remorse.

5. You hide your eating habits from others.

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If you’re an emotional eater, you might feel embarrassed about some of your eating habits and try to hide them from other people. This could be driven by the fact that you think that your eating habits are in some way “abnormal” and that people might judge you for them. You might find yourself preferring to eat alone or only choosing to eat certain foods in public. You may also stray away from talking to others about what you eat.

If this is the case, it’s time for you to develop a healthier relationship with food. Food is not the enemy! Consider seeing a registered dietitian to further examine your relationship with food and to develop a plan of attack for fueling your body the right way — without deprivation and guilt.

6.  You’re unhappy with what you see in the mirror.

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Many people feel unhappy about their aesthetics at one point or another, but emotional eaters tend to blame all of their perceived “imperfections” on their tendency to overeat or overindulge. You might find yourself poking at your stomach after giving in to a craving. Since having a negative body image can cause distress, feeling unhappy about what you see in the mirror can further trigger your emotional eating habits, and the cycle continues.

Eating intuitively by really listening to your body’s hunger signals (rather than your mind’s cravings) will help you develop a healthier relationship with both food and your body, improving your overall body image.

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