Eating Style - Emotional Eater

girl wearing bathrobe sitting in bathtub eating pasta

You aim to eat healthily, but you use food to comfort yourself, maintain feelings of pleasure, or distract yourself from parts of your life. You eat when you are sad, lonely, stressed, bored, happy, anxious, tired, frustrated, annoyed and upset. However, afterwards you often feel worse because you also feel out of control, which is a trigger in itself. It can be a vicious circle: you get upset because you’re gaining or can’t lose weight, then you eat to help yourself feel better.

 

HEALTHY EATING TIPS

Awareness is the first step towards change. Be kind to yourself rather than beat yourself up. Recognise how you truly feel when you want to eat (but know you’re not hungry). 
Ask yourself, ‘Am I hungry? Or am I tired, bored, lonely, or…? What do I really need now?’ But if hunger isn’t the reason you’re eating, how will you know when to stop? If you need help doing this, it can help to talk to a dietitian or psychologist who specialises in this.