5 Signs That You're an Emotional Eater

Food is fuel. It contains the calories you need to work, play and live. It's natural to find some fuel more enjoyable than others. But if your food choices are all about flavor, you may be an emotional eater.


Emotional eating is eating because it feels good, not because you're hungry. It sounds like a simple distinction, but when emotional eating is a part of your life it can be hard to spot. So I've put together a list of common triggers for emotional eaters. If you recognize your eating habits here, it may be time to rethink your relationship with food.

You Fantasize About A Specific Food

Have you ever spent the afternoon at work lusting after the french fries or chocolate cake you're going to have when you get home? Do you think about how it will feel when you bite in? Or the way it will look or smell? This kind of fantasizing is a sign that the object of your desire has an emotional effect on you that has nothing to do with hunger. Eating it will make you feel better, not full.

The Solution: When you fantasize about a food, write the accompanying emotions down in your journal. Collect a few entries and you may find that stress, insecurity or another negative emotion is driving you to seek relief in food. Instead of indulging, try another stress release activity or distraction until real hunger kicks in.

How do you identify real hunger? When you're craving food -- and not emotional satisfaction -- any food will do. Think about a food you're not particularly fond of. When you're really hungry, you'll consider eating it.

You Find Food Comforting

Does a bowl of ice cream or a bag of fast food make you feel better after a hard day? "Comfort food" may be a common saying, but it's also a sign of an unhealthy relationship with food.

The Solution: Find another security blanket. Food is a convenient way to make yourself feel better, but it's not the only one. Make a list of other comforting activities: a conversation with a friend or mentor, journaling or knitting. If you can't come up with a working list, experiment. Try a few new activities that you think you might enjoy.

You Use Emotional Language to Talk About Food

"Tempting", "sinful" and "decadent" are all emotional food words. This vocabulary is a sign that your snacks have emotional power over you.

The Solution: To regain control over your eating habits, you have to take the power away from the food. Keep a journal of the emotions surrounding these charged foods. Then spend a few moments to find other avenues to get to these emotions.

If you love chocolate cookies because they make you feel happy and fulfilled, you may need to do some hard thinking about why your life outside of snacks doesn't provide these same emotions. Remedy that and food will lose it's power.

You Feel Guilty After Eating

There is no guilt associated with feeling hungry and eating just enough to satisfy you. Guilty feelings come into play when you've eaten something you shouldn't have: when you weren't hungry, because of an emotional trigger.

The Solution: Use those guilty feelings to identify the times when you're eating emotionally. When guilty feelings set in, turn to your journal. Write down the emotions that you're feeling in the moment. Revisit these journal entries when you're tempted to eat emotionally again. Confronting this emotional fallout before you eat may help you refocus your energy and find another outlet for your emotions until real hunger kicks in.

You Want It Right Now

Does this scenario sound like you? You're sitting on your couch watching television and suddenly you want a burger -- now. So you throw on your shoes, grab your keys and go out in the car to get it. This "right now" feeling is a sign of emotional eating. You're feeling bored, stressed or confused and you've subconsciously learned that food will bury those emotions.

The Solution: Wait. Real hunger will wait for you to prepare a healthy meal. If you're not hungry, find some way to busy yourself for 30 minutes. If you still feel a craving, take the time to prepare something labor intensive and low calorie. This is a great time to try a new recipe that you've had your eye on. While you prepare, take some time to think about the emotions that drove you to munch in the first place.

Dr. Sharon Iglehart

Emotional eating is one of the ways our body lets us know that we're not satisfied with the way that we are living. Sometimes, the only way out of an emotional eating spiral is to make big life changes. That may sound like too big a task to take on. But without power over your emotional eating, dieting will be tough. One bad day can throw you off track. Heal your eating problem at it's root and you can change your eating habits for life.