Emotional Eating and How to Overcome It

Are you guilty of eating away your emotions? Whether you’re dealing with a health crisis, PMS-related mood swings, or a tight deadline at school, you might be tempted to reach for that unhealthy snack to mitigate the unpleasant thoughts. Research has shown that

resort to emotional overeating, with women and adolescents being more prone to doing so.

When you use food as a coping mechanism, the reality is that you’re not addressing the underlying issue or the trigger, but simply creating a false sense of calm. Emotional overeating doesn’t curb physical hunger; rather, it makes you feel worse, piling the guilt of unhealthy eating on top of the original problem. This leads to stress-eating disorder. 

When you find yourself oscillating between stress and overeating, you’ll need to address it like any other mental health issue. As a qualified clinical hypnotherapist, I offer weight management hypnotherapy to help you manage stress effectively and build a more positive and healthy relationship with food. Connect with me today to learn more about how I can help you.

What is Emotional Eating?

Stress eating disorder refers to using food for comfort, loneliness, or as a reward system. The foods we consume to satisfy our emotional hunger are often high in sugar (like chocolate or desserts), high in carbohydrates (such as pizza, mac and cheese, and white bread), processed items, salty snacks, and carbonated beverages.

These foods offer an immediate dopamine release and are easily accessible and consumable, serving as an instant comfort or distraction. 

Some common triggers for stress overeating include:

1. Work stress

2. Financial worries

3. Health issues

4. Relationship issues

5. Inability to manage emotions

Many people who experience stress and overeating usually follow a cyclic pattern: 

A negative emotion triggers an overwhelming urge to eat. You reach for food, and even though you had consciously wanted to eat a limited quantity, you end up overeating. This further aggravates your guilt, leading to more stress and anxiety. The cycle keeps repeating itself. 

While indulging yourself once in a while in binge eating is okay, it becomes an emotional eating disorder when you find yourself doing it frequently. Additionally, overeating negatively impacts your physical well-being, mental health, and mood, and you may have obsessive thoughts about food.

Why Do We Rely on Food as a Coping Technique

Food is equated with survival, and when our bodies experience stress, we often go into fight-or-flight mode, increasing our urge to eat. 

Here are just a few reasons why people resort to emotional overeating:

1. Food rich in sugar and fat releases dopamine, a hormone responsible for pleasure, leading to a temporary “high” (the same as smoking a cigarette) that can distract from the sense of urgency.

2. Comfort food often has emotional associations. For instance, a chocolate slab was a reward you received as a kid, and when you eat it during a crisis, your brain will mimic that feeling.

3. Food often acts as a distraction or escape from an ongoing emotional crisis. 

4. Sometimes, the brain is conditioned to equate food with reward, and you might be poised to think of your favourite snack as a solution to your problems. 

Side Effects of Stress Eating

The common side effects of stress eating disorder include:

• Guilt

• Nausea

• Obesity

• Diabetes

• Hypertension

• Fatigue

How to Stop Emotional Overeating

Are you looking for ways to stop emotional overeating? Here are some of the most effective ways to stop stress eating:

1. Keep a Food Diary

The best way to prevent overeating is to become accountable for your choices. You can do this by starting a food diary or journal. In it, note what you eat, how much you eat, and how you feel at the time. Review your entries regularly to spot patterns that you can change.

2. Seek Help

Another effective way to curb emotional eating disorder is to seek help, whether from a support group, a hypnotherapist, or a psychologist. Hypnotherapy for emotional eating will help you build a positive relationship with food and effectively handle the triggers for your problem, like stress, relationship issues, or other negative emotions you might experience. 

3. Choose Healthy Snacks

During periods of stress and overeating, you’ll seek immediate gratification, with easy accessibility to unhealthy food options. You can make it more difficult to reach for the bad stuff by replacing sugar-rich biscuits, cereals, white breads, and chips with healthier alternatives, like fresh fruits, nuts, eggs, seeds, hummus, and veggies. 

You can also uninstall food delivery apps or get rid of takeaway numbers, making it harder to order food immediately. A delay between craving and satisfaction may give you enough time to resist.

4. Look For Alternatives to Manage Your Emotions

Do you eat when you’re bored or snack when you’re stressed? Look for alternatives to manage your emotions instead of resorting to eating. 

For managing boredom, consider picking up a hobby like reading, watching your favourite films, or going for a walk. To combat stress, start by exercising, doing meditation or yoga, practising self-care, and learning time management.

Therapy provides an opportunity to delve into your relationship with food, going beyond merely attempting to stop binge eating. It allows you to uncover the underlying causes of these patterns.

Stress and overeating can have detrimental effects on your health and life. To overcome unhealthy lifestyle choices and stress-related eating disorders, consulting a professional hypnotherapist might be a good starting point. Hypnotherapy for emotional eating can help you identify the triggers of your issue and teach you constructive ways to manage stress, anxiety, and depression.