How to stop eating under stress

Stress eating usually does not remove the stress itself, and if it happens too often it can also lead to weight gain. Here are some tips on how to give up this habit.

Emotional eating: it still happens

Emotional eating happens to many of us from time to time. Perhaps you cheered yourself up with a bowl of ice cream after an unusually hard day, or pinched a few chips from your best friend's plate while thinking back on a disastrous date. When emotional eating gets out of control – when food is the first and most frequent reaction to negative thoughts and feelings – it is time to take stock.

Is it emotional or physical hunger?

There are a few signs that can help you tell the difference between emotional/stress hunger and genuine physical hunger.

 

1. Stress or emotional eating usually appears suddenly. You start to feel stressed or tense, and that is it! You fancy nachos. Physical hunger, by contrast, tends to build gradually. You slowly get hungry, but you can wait. That way you can make a sensible decision and satisfy your hunger with something healthy.
2. Stress eating usually leads to a craving for something sweet, fatty and high in calories – and often for something specific (not just «chocolate», but «a slice of three-layer chocolate cake»).
3. Once physical hunger is satisfied and your stomach is comfortably full, this is a sign that you have eaten enough and you tend to stop eating. But when emotions are the decisive factor, it is easy to ignore that gut feeling.
4. Stress eating can change your mood temporarily, but shortly afterwards feelings of shame and guilt appear. When you have finished a meal and satisfied your physical hunger, by contrast, you usually feel no guilty conscience about the food.

Tips for dealing with emotional eating

1. Keep a food diary – A food diary can really help you work out what triggers your emotional eating. When you feel the urge to eat something, note your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = I am about to faint with hunger; 10 = I feel so full that I have to take my clothes off).
2. Own your feelings – You know that emotions trigger stress eating, so why not own them? It is fine to feel angry, lonely or bored sometimes. Feelings can be uncomfortable, but not dangerous.
3. Work on your coping skills – When stress comes, ask yourself: «What is the worst that can happen if I do not eat?» Yes, your stress level may rise a little, but the feeling of hunger will pass. Practise your tolerance of emotions.
4. Find alternatives to eating – Take a moment to think about your feelings and consider how you could solve the problem. Make a list of things you can do instead of eating, such as going for a walk, listening to music or meditating.
5. Unlearn bad habits – Emotional eaters constantly cling to the idea that food is the best way to deal with their negative emotions. And as with other bad habits, stress eating happens before you have a chance to think about it. So you have to «unlearn» bad habits and train yourself to do something other than eat on a bad day.
6. Wait until it passes – People who eat under stress are often afraid that the craving will grow stronger if it is not satisfied. But when they use delaying tactics, they are often surprised that the need simply passes.