Emotional eating

Took notes on the Wellness eating class. This gives some ideas on how to combat emotions that can cause inappropriate eating. Any misinformation is the fault of the note taker.

A baby cries and we think we need to feed them.
Eating when you’re not hungry
If it looks good we want to eat it.
We self-medicate through food.
We use food in social situations with friends and family.
Stress eating. It soothes us
Feeling deprived.
Extreme focus and we don‘t notice what we are eating
Eat for comfort and nurture
To distract ourselves from feeling emotion.
It is the number one reason for weight regain

How to identify if we eat emotionally

Tracking calorie count.
If we still hungry after 15 min may still eat. Make yourself wait 15 min.
When we are more idle we have a tendency to eat. Maybe get away from the source of food and take a walk.
When we are bored it can trigger emotional eating.
Drink water as when someone feels hungry they are actually thirsty.
Have a bad week we may feel I don’t care.
Uncontrolled eating and we don’t control portion.
If want to eat find what the healthy options are celery with peanut butter.
Document when emotional eating happens: tired in the afternoon. Eat during a break. Social circumstances.
Ask what your feelings were before you eat.
Emotional eating can be when people don’t stop eating when they are full.
Rate our hunger:
A pit in the stomach
Feel desperate to eat and moody
Stomach growls and burn, get shaky
Headaches and run on empty
Some people will eat small meals during the day to prevent getting hungry. Have a meal to 4-6 hr. without a meal.
Having a plan and a schedule of what not get helps prevent emotional eating
You don’t have to reduce calories but increase your activities
We need to listen to when we are hungry and document it.
Reinstate when you drop off the wagon and then don’t care. Go off the wagon a little and get back on.
When on vacation work to avoid weight gain and wait for weight loss.
Pay attention to your triggers.
When you feel hungry think how long ago you ate. If it has been 4-6 hours maybe eat a meal if only about 2 hours then maybe a snack.
If you feel hungry think about eating something that you feel so-so about. If you feel you can resist eating that then it may be an emotional hunger. If you eat it then you may be hungry.
When you have a trigger, what are you feeling physical, what are you feeling emotional, time of day
Ask yourself how the emotion eating gives you satisfaction. You do it for a reason even it if is unconscious.
You should seek support to help you on y our emotional.