Emotional Eating

Dealing With Emotional Eating
From the Zone Diet

Do you head straight to the fridge when you're stressed out or bored? After you complete a project, do you reward yourself with a big feast at your favorite Mexican joint? Is a tub of chocolate ice cream your response to feeling down? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be an emotional eater.

Emotional eating is when you eat in response to feelings such as stress, anger, excitement, and sadness, rather than hunger. Most people practice emotional eating on occasion, but since it often involves overindulging in comfort and junk foods, it can not only derail your diet, but also lead to high cholesterol and other health problems if it starts to become a habit. Here are some thoughts and advice from message board moderator Admin Jen:

"I can relate to emotional eating (as I am sure many of us can). It's a challenge to find different ways to cope and soothe ourselves, but it is well worth the effort. Here are some of the ways I have found:

• Start a hobby. Reduce stress by losing yourself in something that you enjoy rather than heading for the kitchen. I recently took up knitting to keep my hands busy.
• When emotions rise, take a walk or get exercise in a different way.
• Get out of the house and be around people until the urge passes.
• Forgive yourself for past mistakes. Don't give up — get back on track!"

Tune in tomorrow for more advice about coping with emotional eating!

Identify Your Emotional Eating Triggers

What causes you to head to the refrigerator and indulge in unhealthy foods? Is it a bad day at work? A fight with a close friend? Or perhaps having too much time on your hands?

Recognizing the emotions that trigger overeating is the first step toward overcoming emotional eating, or eating in response to feelings rather than hunger. To do this, you need to start taking note of the reasons you eat. One way to increase your self-awareness is to keep a log for a few days of what you eat and the emotion you felt just before eating.

To get you started on this task, here are some of the most common feelings that can trigger emotional eating:

• Stress and anxiety: Whether they're reacting to a hard day at work or experiencing nerves about an upcoming change in their lives, many people use food to provide comfort and relief.
• Loneliness: It's common for people to try to fill the emptiness they feel with their favorite unhealthy foods.
• Anger: Whether they're angry or frustrated with themselves, another person, or a situation, some people try to stifle their feelings with food rather than confronting an issue or a person head-on.
• Sadness, depression, or hopelessness: Instead of facing feelings of sadness or depression, people often overindulge in unhealthy, "comfort" foods, thinking that will make them feel better.
• Boredom: When people have nothing to occupy their minds or their time, they often pass the hours by eating.

Remember, being aware of the emotions that trigger your unhealthy behavior will help you learn how to deal with them. When you feel an emotion that you know will tempt you to overeat, try a healthier activity instead — go for a walk, call a friend, or take bath. Make a list of the behaviors you are most likely to do. Consider writing your ideas on a note card or Post-it so you can easily access them when needed.

Tune in on Monday for more advice on emotional eating from Zone Diet Online members.

MEMBERS GET MORE! You'll find hundreds of recipes and cooking ideas on Dr. Sears Zone Diet Advantage.