Eating Emotion, Not Intuition
I tend to follow something of a Mediterranean diet, with a gluten-free twist. Not exactly, and not always, but, it’s a reasonable overall description.
So, what was I doing frantically foraging through the store one Tuesday night for a Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Mix cake with chocolate frosting – which I then made and partially inhaled? I was stress-eating, pure and simple.
Emotional eating – when food is used as a way to manage feelings, rather than to satisfy physical hunger – is actually one of the most common coping mechanisms people use to deal with difficult or stressful situations. Whether triggered by loneliness, boredom, PTSD, trauma, financial burdens, relationship challenges, or anxiety, we so often look to, and find, comfort and safety in the foods we eat.
Statistically, the American Psychological Association reports that 38% of adults said that they had overeaten or eaten unhealthy foods in the past month because of stress, and about half of those people reported engaging in these behaviors weekly or more. And anecdotally, I can tell you that easily 70% of my clients emotionally eat.
Given this prevalence, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that intuitive eating “fails” so many. After all, intuitive eating is all about tuning into your body's natural hunger and fullness cues, and eating based on what your body needs, while emotional eating, is all about ignoring your body's signals (i.e., hunger and satiety) and eating to attempt to satisfy your emotional needs.
Intuitive eating and emotional eating go as well together as a cat does with swimming.
It's like trying to teach a cat to swim – sure, some cats may take to the water like a fish, but for most, swimming’s just not their thing. Similarly, while intuitive eating may work for some people who emotionally eat, for many others, it's just not a natural fit.
If you're not sure whether you're emotionally eating, here are some signs to look out for when done with some frequency:
Eating when you're not hungry
Eating in response to emotions
Eating until you're uncomfortably full
Feeling guilty or ashamed after eating
Eating in secret
Craving specific foods, such as sweets, when you're emotional
If you believe you’re emotionally eating with frequency, here are some steps you might want to consider taking:
Check-in with yourself to identify and consider patterns around eating and stress, anxiety, etc.
Develop new coping skills, hobbies, or practices into which you can channel your emotions.
Purposely slow down when eating, so you can pay close attention to the food you’re eating.
Plan ahead, if you know a stressful period is coming, so you can be prepared.
Emotional eating is a common behavior (hello, Betty Crocker!), and it's not necessarily a sign of a larger problem. However, if you find that it happens regularly, is causing you distress, or is interfering with your quality of life, seek help and support. Learning to manage your emotions in more constructive ways can be profoundly liberating.
https://www.mindful.org/self-compassion-the-often-missing-ingredient-in-healthy-eating/
https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Carbonneau2020.pdf