If there’s one thing we can learn from the growing rates of obesity and diet-related diseases, it’s that plenty of us struggle to stop at just satisfying our nutritional needs.
Earlier this year, a survey revealed that 83 per cent of overweight and obese Australians struggle with emotional eating. It seems that rather than enjoying our meals, or focusing on the nutritional benefit, many of us are turning to junk when we’re feeling bad.
Talking to the ABC about the latest findings, psychologist Dr Ali Dale said, “Over 90 per cent of Australian women who struggle with their weight comfort eat, we know that over 86 per cent of men again who struggle with their weight, they comfort eat.”
So, if you suffer from emotional eating, you’re definitely not alone. But how to overcome emotional eating? It’s important to know the root cause of it before we can stop it.
What causes emotional eating?
While everyone is different and research is still emerging, there are three existing theories which set out to explain how emotional eating tendencies develop:
- Inadequate affect-regulation: the belief that food will make the bad feelings go away, at least temporarily.
- Escape: the act of seeking distraction from negative emotions with something pleasurable, like food.
- Restraint: when individuals normally restrict their diets, leading to bingeing when faced with negative emotions.
Low self-esteem and anxiety are also strongly linked to emotional eating, making it a vicious cycle which is difficult to escape. These theories also support the idea that emotional eating can be a precursor to eating disorders, so it’s important to recognise the signs and seek help in the early stages.
Are you an emotional eater?
- Do you eat more when you’re stressed, upset or bored?
- Do you struggle to stop eating when you’re not hungry or even full?
- Do you reward yourself with food?
If you identify with this all too much, you may be an emotional eater. While it’s not at all uncommon to reach for a chocolate bar when you’re a bit worried, the real issues begin when you feel out of control of your eating habits and turn to food for comfort above any other coping or stress-relief strategy.
How to overcome emotional eating.
According to Dr Dale, we make 221 food-related decisions every single day. We make fewer than 20 of those consciously – most of the others are driven by habit and our emotional state.
“If we can raise awareness of the role of emotions, the role of availability within our own homes of high-fat, high-sugar foods we can give people some strategies to reduce that,” she says.
Dr Dale’s strategies include:
- Developing an eating plan (with the help of professionals) to reduce the number of food-related decisions you have to make
- Getting enough sleep: There is a strong relationship between fatigue and emotional eating
- Getting exercise when you can: five to 10 minutes of walking a number of times a day can reduce stress, improve sleeping and reduce appetite.
Emotional eating also needs holistic treatment, including looking at mental health. One of the most important strategies is to learn to confront the negative emotions, and work to solve the problem instead of avoiding it with food.
Like a muscle, these techniques are strengthened over time, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it right at first. It’s also helpful to work with a mental health professional who will give you tools to face your emotions head on.
For more information on how to overcome emotional eating, check out our series on food psychology. And if this has brought up any issues for you, contact the Butterfly Foundation‘s National Support line and online service on 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673) or at support@thebutterflyfoundation.org.au.
This article was originally published in March 2016. We updated it in October 2016.
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