Emotional Eating
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If you find yourself eating when you are stressed, anxious, feeling down, or struggling with other difficult emotions, this article is for you. Most of us have had the experience of eating for reasons other than physical hunger. But when we frequently turn to food - especially high calorie food - to soothe our emotions, then emotional eating may be playing a role. While eating disorders are considered to be psychiatric conditions, emotional eating refers to a pattern of eating behaviors that is not considered to be an actual disorder. But emotional eating, when it occurs frequently, can lead to unwanted weight gain and may contribute to the development of certain medical problems. In this article, you will learn to identify emotional eating and its triggers, and you will find some suggestions for regaining control of your eating habits.
The term emotional eating refers to a pattern of eating, especially calorie-dense, nutrient- poor foods, in order to soothe or comfort ourselves, rather than to satisfy physical hunger. Quite often emotional eating can lead to a 'disconnect' between our body and our mind. Some emotional eaters have little awareness of how much they are eating when they are in a state like this. It isn't unusual to feel guilty, angry, or ashamed afterwards.
In order to conquer emotional eating (yes, it can be conquered!!), we must first be aware of what triggers us to eat, other than physical hunger. We all have different triggers. Triggers to eating tend to fall into 5 general categories: 1) emotional, 2) physiological, 3) social, 4) situational, or 5) cognitive (thoughts). For example, an argument with our partner, friend, or co-worker may lead us to reach for a pint of ice cream (emotional). Or we may eat because we feel fat and worthless (cognitive). Since we are all different, it is very important for you to identify your own triggers. The best way to do this is to keep a food/mood diary for a few days. You will want to keep track of the time of day, location, what and how much you eat/drink, your hunger level, event (s) prior to eating, and how you are feeling (before and after eating). By going over your logs closely, you will be able to find patterns. Once you are able to identify these patterns of emotional eating/overeating, you will be ready to make positive changes!
Now that you can identify your triggers, how do you break the habit of emotional eating? Here are some quick tips for changing your eating habits:
- honor your hunger; if you are physically hungry don't forgo eating, but if your hunger is emotional, then look for other outlets
- identify other ways to comfort or soothe yourself, such as calling a good friend, going for a walk, or listening to music
- keep your stress at a manageable level by making time in your day for relaxation
- learn to be mindful, or present, when you eat; be aware of each bite you take
- make time in your day for a walk or some other form of physical activity
- make sure you get enough sleep - sleep deprivation and fatigue can certainly lead to over- eating
- eat a healthy, balanced diet and keep healthy snacks around
- eliminate unhealthy, high calorie foods from your home, office, and car; we are much more likely to eat tempting foods when we have easy access
When I work with my clients we talk a lot about deconstructing ones cravings. You need to truly slow down and notice what you are doing. Most emotional eaters not only eat to distract themselves; they distract themselves while they eat.
Here are my two personal favorite tools to incorporate into your life:
- Borrowed from Geneen Roth's title of her book: When you eat at the refrigerator pull up a chair! Every time you eat sit down at a table (or in front of the fridge) pay attention to how you feel. Recognize hunger and stop when you had enough.
- Always eat in front of other people! Don't sneak food behind somebody's back. Especially hiding food from yourself.
It's much harder to overeat when you are paying attention to what you
are doing. Most compulsive behaviors are an attempt to go numb. The
opposite of that is to be mindful and conscious.
If you feel stuck in any way don't deal with your problems all alone. Get support from family, friends or even professionals. A health counselor will help you identify your eating patterns. When you match these patterns with your emotional conditions throughout each day, you may be able to find consistent ways in which emotions lead you to eat when you aren't really hungry. Also, health counselors can help you learn ways to eat that minimize the emotional highs and lows of some diets, which can reduce your need to soothe yourself with food (or with anything else, for that matter).
Next month I will explore all the different ways we gain weight without eating! If you are already aware of how you sneak food and hide it from yourself please send it to me and I will add it to the list. My favorite examples are re-arranging cookies on a plate (somebody has to eat the crumbs!!!) and edging a cake.
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Food Focus: Dandelion Greens
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Don't fight the dandelions, eat them! These bitter greens have lots of
health benefits and are considered a delicacy in Europe. You can
harvest them from your yard if you don't use pesticides. They are best
before they flower. Dandy greens are also available at farmers markets
and supermarkets.
The best way to prepare bitter greens is to use oil for cooking. Besides being delicious, it turns out that some of the most nourishing components in
green leafy vegetables -- certain vitamins and cancer-fighting
compounds -- are "fat-soluble." That means some fat needs to be present
for our body to optimally absorb the nutrients.
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Recipes of the Month:
Dandy Spring Greens
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 lb. dandelion greens
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Wash and slice greens. Blanch in enough water to cover about 1 minute. Drain and sauté in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes, then add the sesame and garlic and saute for couple minutes more. Add the toasted sesame oil and serve.
Mediterranean Kale Salad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 TBS olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1 bunch kale (washed, chopped)
1 cup arugula (washed, chopped)
¼ cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
Juice from 1 lemon
3 TBS crumbled feta (omit if cleansing)
Heat Olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic for 2 minutes- do not burn. Add kale and arugula and sauté for about 4 mins, just until all greens are wilted. Remove from heat and cool completely. Can be made one day ahead.
Toss greens with olives, lemon juice and feta. Serve chilled or room temp.
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