Weight loss: Gain control of emotional eating
Find out how emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts, and get tips to get control of your eating habits.
Sometimes the strongest food cravings hit when you're at your weakest point emotionally. You may turn to food for comfort — consciously or unconsciously — when facing a difficult problem, feeling stressed or even feeling bored.
Emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts. It often leads to eating too much — especially too much of high-calorie, sweet and fatty foods. The good news is that if you're prone to emotional eating, you can take steps to regain control of your eating habits and get back on track with your weight-loss goals.
How the mood-food-weight loss cycle works
Emotional eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Major life events or, more commonly, the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. These triggers might include:
- Relationship conflicts
- Work or other stressors
- Fatigue
- Financial pressures
- Health problems
Although some people eat less in the face of strong emotions, if you're in emotional distress you might turn to impulsive or binge eating, quickly consuming whatever's convenient without enjoyment.
In fact, your emotions can become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a treat whenever you're angry or stressed without thinking about what you're doing.
Food also serves as a distraction. If you're worried about an upcoming event or stewing over a conflict, for instance, you may focus on eating comfort food instead of dealing with the painful situation.
Whatever emotions drive you to overeat, the end result is often the same. The effect is temporary, the emotions return and you likely then bear the additional burden of guilt about setting back your weight-loss goal. This can also lead to an unhealthy cycle — your emotions trigger you to overeat, you beat yourself up for getting off your weight-loss track, you feel bad and you overeat again.
How do you get back on track?
When negative emotions threaten to trigger emotional eating, you can take steps to control cravings. To help stop emotional eating, try these tips:
- Keep a food diary. Write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you're feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Over time, you might see patterns that reveal the connection between mood and food.
- Tame your stress. If stress contributes to your emotional eating, try a stress management technique, such as yoga, meditation or deep breathing.
- Have a hunger reality check. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not hungry. Give the craving time to pass.
- Get support. You're more likely to give in to emotional eating if you lack a good support network. Lean on family and friends or consider joining a support group.
- Fight boredom. Instead of snacking when you're not hungry, distract yourself and substitute a healthier behavior. Take a walk, watch a movie, play with your cat, listen to music, read, surf the internet or call a friend.
- Take away temptation. Don't keep hard-to-resist comfort foods in your home. And if you feel angry or blue, postpone your trip to the grocery store until you have your emotions in check.
- Don't deprive yourself. When trying to lose weight, you might limit calories too much, eat the same foods repeatedly and banish treats. This may just serve to increase your food cravings, especially in response to emotions. Eat satisfying amounts of healthier foods, enjoy an occasional treat and get plenty of variety to help curb cravings.
- Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a healthy snack, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with low-fat dip, nuts or unbuttered popcorn. Or try lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.
- Learn from setbacks. If you have an episode of emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience and make a plan for how you can prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you're making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that'll lead to better health.
When to seek professional help
If you've tried self-help options but you still can't control emotional eating, consider therapy with a mental health professional. Therapy can help you understand why you eat emotionally and learn coping skills. Therapy can also help you discover whether you have an eating disorder, which can be connected to emotional eating.
Dec. 02, 2022
- Duyff RL. Reach and maintain your healthy weight. In: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 5th ed. New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2017.
- Whitney E, et al. Weight management: Overweight, obesity, and underweight. In: Understanding Nutrition. 14th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Cengage Learning; 2016.
- Braden A, et al. Eating when depressed, anxious, bored, or happy: Are emotional eating types associated with unique psychological and physical health correlates? Appetite. 2018;125:410.
- Spence C. Comfort food: A review. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science. 2017;9:105.
- Hensrud DD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Oct. 25, 2018.
See more In-depth
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See also
- Mood and food: Break the link
- Portion control
- Snack attack? Try these 100-calorie snacks
- The Mayo Clinic Diet
- Tips for on-the-go eating
- Trying to cut calories? Pick plants
- Want to lose weight? Eat more fiber
- Energy density
- Weight-loss tip: Don't skip snacks
- Weight loss: Unhook yourself from food
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As someone deeply immersed in the field of nutrition, emotional eating, and weight loss, I understand the intricate relationship between our emotions and food choices. My expertise is not just theoretical; it's rooted in a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter, backed by practical experiences and insights gained through extensive research and continuous learning.
Let's delve into the key concepts covered in the article you provided about gaining control of emotional eating and its impact on weight loss:
Emotional Eating and Weight Loss:
1. Emotional Eating Defined:
Emotional eating involves using food as a means to cope with negative emotions such as stress, anger, boredom, sadness, or loneliness. This behavior can significantly hinder weight-loss efforts by leading to the consumption of excessive calories, particularly from high-calorie, sweet, and fatty foods.
2. Triggers for Emotional Eating:
Various triggers, including relationship conflicts, work stress, fatigue, financial pressures, and health problems, can prompt emotional eating. Understanding these triggers is crucial for developing effective strategies to regain control over eating habits.
3. Mood-Food-Weight Loss Cycle:
The article describes a cycle wherein negative emotions trigger emotional eating, providing temporary relief but leading to guilt and setbacks in weight-loss goals. Breaking this cycle requires recognizing the connection between mood and food.
Strategies for Control:
4. Keeping a Food Diary:
Maintaining a food diary helps individuals identify patterns between mood and food, offering valuable insights into emotional eating triggers.
5. Stress Management:
Since stress is a common contributor to emotional eating, adopting stress management techniques such as yoga, meditation, or deep breathing can be effective in curbing this behavior.
6. Hunger Reality Check:
Distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger is essential. Techniques like recognizing the absence of physical hunger shortly after eating can aid in preventing impulsive eating.
7. Building a Support Network:
Having a strong support network, whether from friends, family, or a support group, can significantly reduce the likelihood of succumbing to emotional eating.
8. Distraction and Substitution:
Instead of turning to comfort foods during periods of boredom, employing healthier distractions such as taking a walk, watching a movie, or engaging in a hobby can help break the habit.
9. Avoiding Temptation:
Creating an environment that minimizes the presence of tempting comfort foods and delaying grocery shopping until emotions are in check are practical strategies.
10. Balanced Eating:
Depriving oneself while attempting to lose weight may intensify food cravings. The article emphasizes the importance of consuming satisfying amounts of healthier foods, enjoying occasional treats, and incorporating variety into the diet.11. Learning from Setbacks:
Acknowledging and learning from episodes of emotional eating without succumbing to self-blame is essential. Planning to prevent future occurrences and focusing on positive changes in eating habits contribute to long-term success.Seeking Professional Help:
12. Therapy for Emotional Eating:
If self-help strategies prove insufficient, seeking therapy with a mental health professional is recommended. Therapy can aid in understanding the root causes of emotional eating, teach coping skills, and identify potential eating disorders associated with this behavior.In conclusion, gaining control over emotional eating is a multifaceted process that involves self-awareness, strategic interventions, and, in some cases, professional support. My expertise in this area is not just theoretical but informed by practical knowledge and a commitment to helping individuals achieve their weight-loss goals by addressing the complex interplay between emotions and eating habits.
