Eating takes your mind off feelings and comforts you. However, eating in response to emotions, not hunger, can cause overeating, unwanted weight gain and greater stress.
Tips to avoid emotional eating:
Avoid trigger foods: These are the foods you crave when you are upset. If you reach for the crisps when you are frustrated, it may be a good idea to leave them out of your shopping trolley.
Plan your counter-attack: If you notice that when you’re at work, you behave very well towards food, but once you’re back home the fiasco starts, then try to find a way to release the stress before you get home. Get into your trainers and walk home if possible, or hit the gym.
Plan your meals and snacks: If you wait until you are starved, you’re more likely to reach for the wrong foods and overeat.
Make your refrigerator a healthy one: Give yourself no choice but healthy food and fill that refrigerator up with healthy nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, yoghurt and milk.
Get more sleep: Ghrelin, the hormone that signals hunger, rises if you don’t rest enough; and leptin, the hormone that signals fullness, decreases. This could lead to overeating. Plus, being tired can increase irritability and cravings for comfort food.
With thanks to Farah Chabib, Clinical Dietician.