Emotional eating isn’t about hunger. It’s about comfort, relieving stress, fighting boredom, loneliness and rewarding ourselves. If you struggle with emotional eating chances are you’ve been in overdrive since the pandemic. Emotional eating is a coping mechanism to survive life circumstances. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fix our problems, it exacerbates them.
Emotional eating leads to overeating, overeating leads to weight gain, weight gain leads to obesity and obesity leads to health complications. To combat emotional eating we must identify emotional hunger vs. physical hunger.
| Emotional hunger comes on suddenly | Physical hunger comes on gradually |
| Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly | Physical hunger can wait |
| Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods | Physical hunger is open to options—lots of things sound good |
| Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied with a full stomach | Physical hunger stops when you’re full |
| Emotional eating triggers feelings of guilt, powerlessness, and shame | Eating to satisfy physical hunger doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself |
The next time you reach for food, ask yourself, is it Emotional or Physical?
Keep It Fit,
Lynee