How to Stop Emotional Eating

What Is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating refers to eating in response to sensory cues beyond physical hunger. Someone might turn to food when sad, angry, ashamed, lonely, restless, or bored. The emotional eating cycle can exacerbate feelings of shame or guilt. In some cases, this pattern can result in the development of an eating disorder.

Emotional Hunger Vs. Physical Hunger

People with emotional eating issues may struggle to discern emotional from physical hunger. Physical hunger tends to build gradually, sometimes resulting in stomach noises, feelings of fatigue, and lightheadedness. The act of eating quickly resolves this hunger.

On the other hand, emotional hunger tends to be more cerebral. People often crave specific foods, and those cravings can emerge quickly and intensely. However, this type of hunger does not stem from a biological need for food. For this reason, emotional eating may not inherently satisfy specific urges or soothe uncomfortable emotions.¹

Am I an Emotional Eater?

People who eat emotionally are prone to using food for comfort or a sense of security that other activities or relationships lack. Emotional eating exists on a wide spectrum. Some people engage in the habit occasionally, while others default to such behavior frequently. Some signs of stress eating may be continuing to eat despite feeling full or experiencing guilt after eating.

Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you are an emotional eater:

• Do you eat more when you’re stressed?
• Do you continue to eat after you’re full?
• Do you turn to food to soothe difficult emotions?
• Do you struggle to know when you’re genuinely hungry?
• Do you eat to avoid managing a challenging situation?
• Do you incentivize yourself with food?
• Do you eat “forbidden foods” when you feel emotional?
• Do you feel ashamed about your eating habits?
• Do you feel impulsive around food?
• Do you often feel guilty about what or how much you ate?

Common Triggers for Emotional Eating

The brain releases the pleasure hormone dopamine when we eat and food reaches the stomach.² Therefore, while everyone needs food to live, eating can become a complex relationship extending beyond mere sustenance. Over time, this kind of eating may become habitual, as individuals may pair food with certain situations, such as watching TV, driving, or spending time with specific people. Food may also coincide with various emotional states or stressors. Eating as a coping mechanism or to augment pleasant emotions is also common.

Possible causes of emotional eating include:

• Stress
• Boredom
• Sadness
• Loneliness
• Joy or celebration
• Shame
• Anger
• Fatigue

10 Tips for How to Stop Emotional Eating

Learning how to stop emotional eating can take time, but the outcomes are worth the effort. While emotional eating is not inherently problematic, some people may fall into cycles of binge eating, restriction, or other disordered eating habits. Developing coping mechanisms for difficult emotions or stress without automatically turning to food is essential. Consider incorporating mindfulness into your mealtime routine, and avoid labeling specific foods as “bad” to limit the likelihood of unhealthy emotional eating.

Here are 10 strategies that can help you stop emotional eating:

1. Practice Mindful Eating Techniques

Mindful eating refers to being present while eating by listening to your body as a gauge for when and what to eat. The goal is to also limit or avoid external distractions as much as possible. Eating mindfully can make the act of eating more pleasurable and help you build a healthier relationship with food.

2. Keep a Food Diary

Some people find tracking their food, feelings, or thoughts helpful when overcoming emotional eating. Keeping a food diary may help you cultivate insight into certain eating patterns. That said, these diaries should not be meticulous or focused on specific details like calories or macronutrients. Including that information may reinforce obsessive habits.

3. Regularly Engage in Stress-Reducing Activities

Stress is inevitable, so prioritizing stress management as part of your typical routine is crucial. Simple strategies like walking, reading, journaling, taking relaxing showers, and decompressing after work can make a significant difference in your overall emotional well-being. In addition, strive to get enough sleep and look after your physical health.

4. Establish a Regular Eating Routine

Sometimes, people emotionally eat in response to physical hunger. By the time they start eating, they feel so famished they keep eating well past the point of fullness. Sitting down for regular meals and snacks may reduce intense hunger and keep your energy levels even-keeled. This, in turn, can help mitigate emotional eating.

5. Start a Meditation Practice

Being present and staying grounded with yourself through meditation can help you build a deeper body awareness. Research also suggests mindfulness meditation may decrease emotional eating and binge eating behavior.⁴ If you’ve never meditated, consider starting with just a few minutes a day by either focusing on your breath or following a guided meditation script.

6. Build a Support System

We’re all social creatures, and we thrive when people are truly there for us in times of need. However, all relationships take work, so you may need to honestly reflect on whether your current relationships need nurturing. Some people also benefit from joining an eating disorder support group. These groups offer safe places to receive support and guidance from like-minded peers.

A strong support system can help you overcome emotional eating by offering:

• Accountability
• Encouragement during challenging times
• A sounding board for emotions and feelings
• Shared strategies and experiences
• Sense of being understood
• Fun social opportunities

7. Seek Professional Therapy or Counseling

Emotional eating can be a symptom of underlying mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorders, and personality disorders. Stopping emotional eating can be hard, even if you want to quit. If you’re struggling, therapy can help you better understand your triggers and unmet needs. You and your therapist can explore various ways to cope with stress, and you will learn to replace emotional eating with other strategies.

8. Avoid Labeling Food As Good or Bad

Society has normalized categorizing certain foods as “good” or “bad.” The problem is people inadvertently put foods on a pedestal when they feel immoral or wrong. That pedestal can make the food that much more tempting. Instead, try to release food morality as a strategy for reducing self-judgment.

9. Ask Yourself What You’re Looking For In Food

Emotional eating is just one way people try to fulfill unmet needs, such as comfort, love, safety, connection, freedom, and pleasure. Food may temporarily appear to satisfy these needs but can never truly meet them. Before sitting down to eat, ask yourself, “What else can I do to try to nurture this important need right now?”

10. Practice Self-Compassion When You Do Emotionally Eat

Experiencing slips and setbacks on the journey of recovering from emotional eating is normal. That doesn’t make you a failure—it simply makes you a human who’s trying their best. Although it may seem paradoxical, practicing self-compassion (instead of shaming or berating oneself) is often the fuel that drives people to truly heal.

Physical & Mental Impacts of Emotional Eating

Emotional eating can coincide with emotional consequences. These habits may increase feelings of guilt or shame and exacerbate mental health symptoms of depression or anxiety. Frequent overeating may also lead to physical consequences, including weight fluctuations, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, sleep issues, and an increased risk of certain types of cancers.³

When to Seek Professional Help for Emotional Eating

Emotional eating sometimes starts as early as childhood, and this habit can accompany people throughout a lifetime. If untreated, disordered eating can lead to significant emotional and physical health consequences. If you believe your eating feels deeply entrenched or resembles that of an addiction, seek professional help from a therapist, registered dietitian, or both.

Emotional eating and eating disorders can be highly complex. Look for a therapist (ideally a certified eating disorder specialist) with extensive experience in providing this kind of work. Many therapists offer either in-person or online options. You can use an online therapist directory to get started with your search.