Emotional eating refers to the consumption of food in response to feelings and emotions rather than physical hunger. Eating often serves as a coping strategy for stress, boredom, loneliness, or other emotional states. You may be wondering now whether you are also affected by emotional eating or whether “eating more from time to time” still has a normal framework, which is caused by nice company, for example. In the following, we explain what exactly characterizes emotional eating and how to get back to a more intuitive eating behavior.
Typical signs of emotional eating
Emotional eating is often manifested by sudden, intense cravings for certain foods, often unhealthy snacks. You eat in such moments even though there is no real feeling of hunger, but rather a reaction to stress, frustration or boredom. Emotional eating is typically accompanied by feelings of guilt or shame after eating the food, and thoughts constantly revolve around the food.
However, it’s important to know that emotional eating can be normal to a certain extent. It happens that we are in company and feel connected by eating together or treat ourselves to a reward in certain moments of relaxation. As long as food does not become a solution or distraction from negative emotions, it is harmless. It only becomes problematic when food is regularly used as a coping mechanism for negative feelings, as this can lead to unhealthy eating behavior in the long term. In the worst case, eating disorders can even occur if emotional needs are constantly satisfied by food (1).
Steps to a more intuitive eating behavior
- Practicing mindfulness while eating
- Eat slowly: Consciously perceive every bite and chew well.
- Eat distraction-free: No TV, cell phone or work during meals.
- Use the hunger scale: Before eating, ask whether there is real hunger or emotional need (scale from 1 to 10).
- Recognizing emotions and developing alternative strategies
- Keep a diary: When and why do I eat? What feelings are at play?
- Find alternatives: use walks, meditation, deep breathing or creative activities as emotional outlets.
- Enhancing Intuitive Eating
- Enjoying all foods without prohibitions can lead to reaching for less high-calorie foods. (2)
- Pay attention to body signals: Eat when you’re actually hungry and stop when you are full.
- Put enjoyment and satisfaction in the foreground.
Practical mindfulness exercises
- Breathing exercise before eating: Take 3 deep breaths before each meal and ask yourself: “Am I actually hungry?”
- Enjoy the first bite consciously: Perceive texture, taste and temperature.
- Gratitude ritual: Be aware of where the food comes from and appreciate it.
With these steps, a healthier relationship to food and hunger can be developed again and emotional eating can be broken in the long term. But feel free to try the mindfulness exercise and consciously notice the smell, temperature and taste of the food, as well as the texture and your feeling of hunger. Good luck with that!
(1) Zeeck, A., Stelzer, N., Linster, H. W., Joos, A. & Hartmann, A. (2010). Emotion and eating in binge eating disorder and obesity. European Eating Disorders Review, 19(5), 426–437. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.1066
(2) Zhang, X., Wang, S., Liu, Y. & Chen, H. (2020). More restriction, more overeating: conflict monitoring ability is impaired by food-thought suppression among restrained eaters. Brain Imaging And Behavior, 15(4), 2069–2080. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-020-00401-8