Understanding Emotional Eating
One of the most challenging issues that many of my clients struggle with is emotional eating. It's complex and has the power to impact well-being, often having detrimental effects on self esteem, weight loss attempts and one's relationship with food.
Emotional eaters tend to experience a range of unpleasant emotions before and after an incident, further damaging their relationship with food and impacting their ability to build healthy habits.
Generally speaking, emotional eating is defined as using food as a way to cope with emotions. It involved eating not to satisfy hunger, but as a way to distract from or numb unpleasant feelings.
And it often leads to a cycle of weight loss & gain with sides of overeating, binges, shame and/or guilt.
Yes, humans do eat as a way to celebrate. However, building mindfulness and setting goals around this (if needed) is typically "easier" for my clients than addressing the emotional eating in relation to unpleasant feelings. If this is something a client struggles with, it's something we address in sessions. It's important to mention, but it's not usually the focus because the "negative" feelings and behaviors are the ones that generally cause clients the most distress.
EMOTIONAL EATING IN DAY-TO-DAY LIFE
1. eating in response to emotions: emotional eating can be in response to feelings of stress, anger, anxiety, fear, boredom, sadness, loneliness... eating with the goal of relieving an unpleasant feeling or "numbing out"
2. eating mindlessly: this often looks like eating without having an awareness of what or how much is being consumed, along with not recognizing feelings & thoughts prior to eating
3. eating due to craving comfort: highly palatable foods, such as foods high in sugar & fat, can have the power to provide temporary comfort
4. eating with subsequent guilt & regret: emotional eaters often struggle with additional unpleasant feelings after an episode, which can perpetuate the desire for more comfort, numbness and relief
3 WAYS WE ADDRESS EMOTIONAL EATING IN THERAPY
1. Triggers: I work with clients to identify the reasons they turn to food. This often begins with raising their awareness around food, increasing their ability (and willingness) to identify how they're feeling and their patterns of responses to certain feelings and/or situations.
2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): While my approach is holistic & somewhat eclectic, I work from a general framework of the CBT model. It's evidenced-based and highly effective in helping address, reframe & restructure the thought patterns around food & emotions.
3. Awareness & Mindfulness: Because emotional eating has a tendency to be a habit in itself, awareness is a major factor. Helping clients understand what's happening before, during and after an episode ultimately helps them become more in tune with their mind & body to more appropriately deal with feelings.
There are many other techniques taught & used in therapy. It's important to remember that these lists are almost never all-inclusive and solely here to provide an overview of a topic.
One of the most important things I can tell you, is that emotional eating is incredibly common. More people than we know have struggled with their relationship with food at some point, and turned to food for temporary comfort, relief or numbing.
Emotional eaters are generally not "in tune" with their feelings of physical hunger vs emotional hunger.
A key theme in treating emotional eating is helping someone gain the ability to "get back in touch" with their feelings of hunger, satiety & fullness.
From a therapeutic standpoint, emotional eating can be a symptom of a greater issue, as well as a maladaptive coping skill. While progress may take time, overcoming this can be done.
Poor self esteem, avoidance, depression, anxiety, issues in relationships, stress, unhealthy habits, lack of mindfulness, etc are just a handful of common issues I see in my office. In addition to being a licensed therapist, as a Board Certified Bariatric Counselor (BCBC), I'm trained in the science of obesity and have specialized knowledge of the body-mind-social (biopsychosocial) aspects of these types of issues. (read more about bariatric counseling) I also want to mention that not all emotional eaters also struggle with obesity. Sometimes it's address in conjunction with health or weight goals, but not always. Everyone's life experience and goals are different.
Although common, emotional eating is addressed in an individualized manner with each client. While one technique may work for you, it may not work the same way for someone else.
The goal is to minimize the response of emotional eating over time and build a set of more effective coping skills.
If you struggle with emotional eating it's okay to ask for help.
You're not alone and, if you're willing to confront these struggles head on, long-lasting relief is available!
To make an appointment or reach us directly, visit the contact page to send a message!
Talk soon,
Lori