Your Top Questions About Emotional Eating
Today we’re answering the most Googled questions about emotional eating. The Centre for Emotional Eating has more than a decade of experience helping clients get to the root cause of their emotional eating. The factual and helpful answers below are a great place for you to begin your own journey!
- What is the definition of an emotional eater?
Emotional eating is when a person uses food to cope with emotions. Think of it this way: food becomes a reliable shield you can put between you and stress, anxiety, loneliness, etc. It can numb you out or distract you from what is really going on in your mind, heart, and body.
You might feel like your eating is out of control because of the cravings you have for specific foods, but it is really the feelings behind your behaviour that is driving you to eat. This means that emotional eating is a symptom/response to emotions, which leads up to the next question…
- How to stop emotional eating?
Now that you know emotional eating isn’t about the food, but the root cause behind it, the best way to address your emotional eating patterns is to start facing your feelings.
This can feel terrifying at first when you’ve spent so much time avoiding emotions you think are ‘bad’. But this avoidance actually makes them seem even scarier! You can start slowly by reading through our Emotional Eating Toolkit which gives you all kinds of resources you can use right now to start showing yourself support. Ready for more? See the answer to question five below!
- How to tell the difference between emotional eating vs. physical hunger?
If you have spent years emotionally eating, only to fall into the diet mentality to ‘make up’ for overeating, chances are you find it a challenge to tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger.
Begin by checking in with your body. Is your stomach rumbling or your head feeling light? Physical hunger usually comes from the body. Whereas emotional eating comes on fast and for a specific food. You might feel on auto-pilot as you shop the grocery store or hit up the drive thru.
To start to get back in touch with your hunger signals, you’ll want to grab our free resource, the Hunger Check Tool. It will not only help you experience the difference between the two but also get clear on what foods will satisfy you in the moment.
- How to stop emotional eating at night?
We hear all the time from clients that it is nighttime when they find themselves in the kitchen searching for food or doing late night snack runs. There can be many reasons why this is, but start with these:
Consider if you are eating enough during the day. It is normal for your body to be looking for more food when you’ve been depriving yourself throughout the day. Give yourself permission to eat when you are hungry and what will satisfy you. See the question above for more clarity on getting in touch with your physical hunger so you can better meet your needs.
Next, ask yourself if you had any other relaxing or alone moments throughout the day. In the evening when dinner is over and kids are in bed, you might find yourself feeling unprepared for the quiet and stillness. You could be reaching for food to fill this void. Instead, start getting comfortable with slower moments. Make time for an afternoon walk or read on your lunch hour. These moments can allow you to relax into a sense of calm instead of needing a distraction.
- How do I find emotional eating help?
We’ve got you! If you want support to identify your personal root cause of emotional eating and get strategies for when it comes up, our First Step Course has everything you need to get started (plus it is cheaper than therapy sessions!). Often people will search for “emotional eating help near me”, well, our online course means you can work on your emotional eating wherever you have wifi—your couch, kitchen table, or favourite café!
We also offer one-on-one virtual therapy sessions. Get in touch with us if you feel ready to dive deep into addressing your past.
đź’› Your peace awaits.
