Food and Emotions

• Why food

  

  Negative emotions may lead to a feeling of emptiness or an emotional void.  Food is believed to be a way to fil...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Emotional vs. true hunger

  

  Physical hunger It develops slowly over time. You desire a variety of food groups. You feel the sensation of fullne...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Emotional hunger isn’t easily quelled

  While filling up could work in the moment, eating because of negative emotions often leaves people feeling more upset...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Ways to cope with stress

  Discovering another way to deal with negative emotions is often the first step toward overcoming emotional eating. Th...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Move your body

  

  Some people find relief in getting regular exercise. A walk or jog around the block or a quickie yoga routine may hel...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Try meditation

  There are a variety of studies that support mindfulness meditation as a treatment for binge eating disorder and emoti...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Start a food diary

  Keeping a log of what you eat and when you eat it may help you identify triggers that lead to emotional eating. ...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Eat a healthy diet

  

  Make sure you get enough nutrients to fuel your body. If you eat well throughout the day, it may be easier to spot wh...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Remove common offenders

  Consider trashing or donating foods in your cupboards that you often reach for in moments of strife.  Think hi...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Pay attention to volume

  

  Resist grabbing a whole bag of chips or other food to snack on. Measuring out portions and choosing small plates to ...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Seek support

  Resist isolation in moments of sadness or anxiety. Even a quick phone call to a friend or family member can do wonder...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Banish distractions

  You may find yourself eating in front of the television, computer, or some other distraction. Try switching off the t...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Work on positive self-talk

  Feelings of shame and guilt are associated with emotional eating. It’s important to work on the self-talk you experie...

  Emotional Eating: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

• Start a list of the emotions

  Pay attention to your emotions as you start to think about eating (you might feel hungry, or have a craving to eat so...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Pick one emotion to start with

  

  Start with the emotional trigger that occurs most frequently . So if you only have social eating triggers once or twi...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Find a healthy alternative

  If the need is a way to cope with stress, you need to find some healthy way of doing that other than eating . If you ...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Pay close attention

  If you’re focusing on stress, pay close attention to it. Try to notice every time it comes up . You might want some k...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Use your new coping technique

  If the technique is going for a walk when you get stressed, then every time you notice the trigger, go for a walk, ev...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Call upon social support

  

  Ask friends and people online to support your new change. Report to them daily and ask them to hold you accountable.

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Repeat

  Do this technique for one emotional trigger for at least a couple weeks , if not a month.  When you feel you ha...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Stress

  Instead of eating, try some kind of exercise, such as pushups, walking, jogging, weights, or yoga. Try deep breathing...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Boredom

  Some healthy ways to deal with boredom is to go for a walk. Find a comfy spot and read a novel. Find friends to play ...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Reward

  Did you put in a hard day’s work? Did you accomplish something great? Don't reward yourself with food.  Instea...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Comfort – sadness, depression, loneliness

  

  We often use food as a way to comfort ourselves.  Find a friend or loved one to comfort you or give you a hug. ...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Social

  Often we eat as a way to socialize, or because other people we’re socializing are eating. Learn other ways to sociali...

  Mindful Diet: Dealing with Emotional Eating Issues : zen habits

• Awareness Is Key

  

  Emotional eating is sometimes called "mindless eating" because we often don't think about what we're doing and let ou...

  These Stress-Relieving Techniques Can Stop Emotional Eating

• Find Relaxation Techniques

  When you’re under stress, your body is likely producing higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that tends to mak...

  These Stress-Relieving Techniques Can Stop Emotional Eating

• Cope in Healthy Ways

  Many people use food to deal with uncomfortable emotions like anger, frustration, and fear. There are healthier ways ...

  These Stress-Relieving Techniques Can Stop Emotional Eating

• Face Your Problems

  If you’re using food to muffle your feelings in a difficult relationship, try assertiveness instead.  If food ...

  These Stress-Relieving Techniques Can Stop Emotional Eating

• Use Mindfulness Exercises

  Mindfulness, the act of being present and aware, can help people get out of the habit of acting on their cravings wit...

  These Stress-Relieving Techniques Can Stop Emotional Eating

• Try Healthy Alternatives

  If these techniques don’t completely eliminate your emotional eating urges, go ahead and indulge—but use healthier fa...

  These Stress-Relieving Techniques Can Stop Emotional Eating

• Eating Distract from Emotions

  

  We often associate eating with relief or even excitement, and it’s only natural that we’d reach for those same feelin...

  Experts Reveal What Triggers Emotional Eating And How To Control It

• Why we choose comfort food

  Comfort foods don’t tend to be healthy. We want cake or pasta or chips when we’re emotionally eating. We have emotion...

  Experts Reveal What Triggers Emotional Eating And How To Control It

• Comfort food

  We associate comfort food with positive memories. Think about all the happy and comforting memories you have involv...

  Experts Reveal What Triggers Emotional Eating And How To Control It

• Control emotional eating

  Remember food’s true purpose ― to nourish you.  Seek comfort through friends , doing kind things for yourself a...

  Experts Reveal What Triggers Emotional Eating And How To Control It

• Eat often enough

  

  According to research, eating regular meals and snacks at the same time every day helps keep your blood sugar levels ...

  Mood Food: Can What You Eat Affect Your Happiness?

• Don’t skip meals

  Skipping meals actually makes your body less able to assimilate food, and you are more liable to overeat at the next ...

  Mood Food: Can What You Eat Affect Your Happiness?

• What foods to avoid

  The biggest bad mood culprits are refined carbohydrates and refined white starches that cause your blood sugar to go ...

  Mood Food: Can What You Eat Affect Your Happiness?

• The best foods to eat

  Protein to help slow the absorption of carbohydrates in your blood and increase the release of dopamine. Vitamin D ...

  Mood Food: Can What You Eat Affect Your Happiness?