THE VOICE OF EMOTIONAL

EATING!

Can you identify with any of these situations?

You are working on a presentation at work and it is

coming together just as you’d hoped. You are

pleased with the progress you have made and know

that your boss will be too. All of a sudden, you want

to eat…perhaps something sweet, salty and

crunchy. The coffee shop is just across the street a

couple of minutes away. You ate lunch less than an

hour ago so you aren’t really hungry. You can’t stop

thinking of eating. Why?

You are driving to school to meet with your child’s

teacher for a routine parent/teacher conference. No

big deal, right? On your way to the school, you

drive by your favorite restaurant or fast food

establishment. Even though you aren’t hungry, you

are craving something immediately that it serves?

You drive through for a “quick snack" and are a few

minutes late for the conference. What happened?

You received good news – you want to eat; you are

worried – you want to eat; you are feeling down for

no particular reason that you can identify – you want

to eat. What is this voice that is similar to a

recording playing over and over in your head? This us head hunger

for emotional eating.

 

What is emotional eating? Emotional eating is

when we eat in response to situations and feelings

other than true physical hunger. Emotional eating is

a way to suppress or calm emotions such as worry,

boredom, sadness, or stress. The key to leaving the

voice of emotional eating unanswered is to be

aware. Be aware that emotional eating is triggered

when you eat to feed a feeling, whether consciously

or unconsciously, rather than feed a physical hunger.

So..stop, look, listen.

 

Some of the ways you can distinguish emotional

eating from physical hunger are:

→ If you are craving a certain food, and only that

food will do (such as cookies, chips, pizza, or an

unhealthy food item), that is emotional eating. If

you eat because you are experiencing physical

hunger, you are open to food choices to satisfy that

hunger.

→ Emotional eating hunger strikes suddenly while

physical hunger occurs gradually. Emotional hunger

happens instantaneously and wants to be satisfied

NOW. Physical hunger does not demand to be

satisfied immediately and can be delayed.

→ Emotional eating is usually a process that is

ongoing and prolonged. You can’t seem to be

satisfied and continue eating. One of the behaviors

associated with emotional eating is searching. You

eat something and then search for more or

something else to feel full and satisfied. With

physical hunger, you can stop eating when you feel

a sense of satiety.