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Are YOU an Emotional Eater?

Do you allow your emotions to effect the way you eat? When you are down, stressed, bored or even feeling great you may find that you eat more and not always the healthiest choices. This may be all well and good at the time but eventually what appears to be harmless eating can lead to unwanted pounds! But how do you really know whether you are someone who allows your emotions to control your eating?

Take the following quick quiz to help you assess if you are an emotional eater.

  1. Do you eat more when you are happy?
  2. Do you use food as a reward for a job well done?
  3. Do you eat more when you are feeling stressed?
  4. Do you eat to make yourself feel better when you are feeling down?
  5. Do you eat when you are bored?

If you answered yes to any of the previous questions you may be an emotional eater! Emotional eating is a hard habit to kick, and half the time we don’t even realise we are eating for emotional reasons.  The only way we can get back in control of our eating is to become more mindful and more in touch with our bodies.

    Real Hunger or just your Emotions?

      It is very important to get in tune with our bodies and start to notice the signs of hunger and more importantly which type of hunger you are facing. However recognising our hunger, and what type of hunger it is, whether physical or emotional is not always as easy as we think it is.  The following table outlines the differences between physical and emotion hunger.

       Physical Hunger   Emotional Hunger
       Builds gradually   Arrives more suddenly
       Strikes below the neck i.e. a growling stomach   Strikes with a craving for a particular food
       Occurs around meal time   Occurs anytime
       Goes away after eating   Persists despite eating
       Eating leads to a feeling of satisfaction  Eating leads to feelings of guilt and shame
      (Modified from Mindless Eating by Brain Wansink)

      Print out this chart and carry it around with you in your hand bag or man bag. Stick it on the fridge and cupboard at home.  Every time you start feeling peckish run through the check list and see which type of hunger you really have.  If it is physical hunger the best thing to go for a high protein food e.g. an egg, a slice of ham or canned salmon etc. The key to abolishing emotional hunger is to not give in to it.  It doesn’t mean you don’t eat, just chose the healthier option that won’t be a moment of the lips and a lifetime on the hips! Some examples include diet jelly, a cup of tea, a salad or some vegetable sticks.

      Another important thing to remember is not to feel guilty.  If you cave to emotional hunger, don’t beat yourself up about it.  Feeling guilty will only assist in feeding the emotional hunger so to speak. The best solution is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and jump back on the band wagon. 

      Remember, if you are on one of the Tony Ferguson Programs you have a lot of support at your finger tips.  Our Practitioners in store and our call centre staff (phone: 1866 518 0407) will be there ready to give you all the support and advice you need. Don’t forget to check out our website for some great recipes and online forum to speak to others who are on the Program too and may have their own secret ways to beat emotional eating.

      Reference

      1. Wansink, Brian, 2007, Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think, Bantam Dell, USA.


      Last updated 15 October 2009