Are you an emotional eater?
One of the reasons why diet and weight loss attempts fail is that they don’t address our underlying issues around food.
We may be able to cut out carbs for a while, eat less sugar, follow a rigid food & exercise plan, or give Weight Watchers a whirl, but here’s what usually happens when we get to the end of the program:
We think, “well, now what?!”
Because we still haven’t learned how to cope with overwhelm, deal with stress, work through a hard emotional situation, or cope with the million daily stressors of life.
That’s why learning the art of coping with life without food can be a crucial step on this path!
Emotions are our KEY to unlocking our freedom.
When we can learn to deal with emotions without turning to food, we are well on our way to feeling that freedom we’ve wanted from dieting & binging.
And that’s why I created the “Break Free from Emotional Eating” challenge. (Sign up for free before we start on February 4th!)
In the meantime, take this Emotional Eating Quiz below to gain more awareness around where you currently are.
Remember, it’s just for YOUR own awareness. It’s not to be critical of yourself.
Our awareness of our habits and patterns is the first step to change, so this will give you a great idea of where you are before we start the challenge!
Identifying Your Triggers with the Emotional Eating Quiz
Taking the Emotional Eating Quiz can help you start to pinpoint if you are an emotional eater. Exploring more deeply to identify specific triggers can help you understand what sends you to the food and develop more effective strategies to manage your emotions without turning to food.
To see where you “rank” on the emotional eating scale, give yourself one point for each answer that is “true” or a “yes” and tally your results.
(Remember…do this WITH kindness and WITHOUT judgement!)
1. When something stresses you out in your day (a boss, a child, your coworker, your mom, etc), your go-to response is to grab a cookie, some chips (aka crisps for the Brits!), a soda (pop), or a piece of candy.
2. You go to a party but aren’t hungry when you arrive. You feel a little bit anxious about making small talk with people. Do you immediately go to the food table to eat or drink so you have something to “do”?
3. It’s 8 pm at night. You’re feeling bored & restless, like you don’t know what to do with yourself. You meander into the kitchen, open the fridge & pantry in an attempt to find a snack to eat.
4. When you feel uncomfortable in an outfit, you often find yourself grazing or turning to food to help you feel more comfortable.
5. Does your “me” time typically involve food?
6. When you think of how you cope with hard situations & emotions, you can’t think of anything you regularly do that doesn’t involve food. (Regularly means at least once a week!)
7. Do you think about food more than 50% of your day? (In an obsessive way, not in a “here’s what I’m going to make for dinner” way!)
8. When there is a celebration in your life (or your family’s lives), do your festivities always involve food as a means of celebration?
9. You have a hard time remembering the last time you did absolutely “nothing”. (Meaning…no phone or TV!)
10. Having a rough day significantly impacts your food choices (i.e. when stressed or overwhelmed, you tend to eat more snacks, eat erratically, binge, mindlessly graze, etc)
11. You can easily eat when you’re not hungry, just because food is there.
12. Think of a time when someone has made a critical comment to you about your weight or a hurtful comment about something in your life. Do you usually eat to make yourself feel better?
13. You don’t often take much time for yourself on a regular basis (any kind of self-care activity!)
14. When you need to “reward” yourself, it usually involves a sweet of some kind.
15. Think of the last big stressful event or situation that caused you distress & anxiety. Did you eat over it? (Remember, NO judgement!)
16. When you have a difficult emotion to express, you often find avoid having the conversation or find it extremely difficult to talk about it.
Score:
(Tally up every “yes” or “true” answer to each question as one point)
0-5 points: Wow! Maybe you should come co-coach with me 🙂 You’re a rockstar in this whole “coping with emotions” thing!
6-10 points: Give yourself some credit…you are doing well! We all use food in some sense to deal with emotions and some practice may help you get even better at it 🙂
11-16 points: Don’t despair! Awareness is key to making any change and the step where we all begin. We learned how to “use” food to assuage our emotions and the good news is that we can unlearn it too!
Sign up for the “Break Free from Emotional Eating” challenge and join me in the Facebook Group!
What to Do If You Deal with Your Emotions by Overeating
Get curious: Pay close attention to your hunger and fullness cues, and eat slowly to explore cravings, patterns, body cues and emotions during the day.
Lean into discomfort. Learning to deal with feelings without eating will be uncomfortable at first. Explore the landscape of emotions–where do you feel them in your body? What are the sensations? Can you breathe through it?
Keep a food and mood journal: Track what you eat and how you feel throughout the day. This can help you identify patterns and triggers associated with emotional eating.
Plan balanced meals: Add protein to your meals and eat every 3-4 hours. This keeps you balanced throughout the day so you’re better able to make conscious decisions around what you’re eating.
How to Deal With Stress So You Don’t Eat Emotionally
Managing stress effectively can help prevent emotional eating.
Techniques such as deep breathing exercises, journaling, regular physical activity, and meditation can all help reduce stress levels. Setting aside time for self-care and relaxation can create a healthier emotional balance, reducing the urge to eat to soothe and distract from challenging feelings.
Emotional Eating Q&A
Is emotional eating caused by stress?
Yes, stress is a common trigger for emotional eating, as many people find stress overwhelming and turn to food for comfort during stressful times
Can working with a nutritionist help me understand my emotional eating patterns?
Working with the right kind of nutritionist (one who understands emotional eating) can provide valuable insights into your eating habits and help you develop strategies to address emotional eating.
Can improving my emotional intelligence help reduce emotional eating?
Yes, enhancing your emotional intelligence can improve your ability to recognize and manage emotions, which can significantly reduce emotional eating. When you understand your own emotions better, you’re more likely to turn to coping mechanisms that nourish and support you rather than turning to food.
Do you have any free emotional eating resources?
Yes, I offer several free resources on my blog, including articles, my emotional eating quiz, and guides to help you understand and manage emotional eating.
- How to Stop Boredom and Emotional Eating
- The 4 Pillars to Overcome Binge and Emotional Eating
- How to Stop Emotional Eating at Work
- How to Not Give In to Emotional Eating
How effective is online therapy in working through emotional eating?
Online therapy and coaching can be highly effective for addressing emotional eating, providing convenience and access to professional support from the comfort of your home.
