How to Stop Emotional Eating

Emotional eating can sabotage any diet and send you spiraling out of control. Food becomes a response to an emotion, any emotion--anger, boredom or loneliness. Sometimes the purpose behind the eating is to suppress the emotion so you can't feel. You hurt, and you don't want to hurt anymore. So you smother your emotions with food. It's time to stop emotional eating with these steps.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Understand what true physical hunger feels like. If you are not physically hungry, it is emotional hunger. Ask yourself what's going on right now. Recognize emotions and deal with them.

2. Recognize triggers by keeping a food diary. Include what, when and where you eat. Most importantly, write down how you are feeling. Review the times that couldn't stop emotional eating and look for a pattern. You might find that you lose control within five minutes of getting home from work.

3. Substitute other activities for eating. Go for a walk, read a good book or take a bath. Seek support from others. Sometimes talking to someone about your feelings helps take the edge off.

4. Reward yourself in ways that have nothing to do with food. Buy fresh flowers or go to a movie.

5. Keep only healthy food in the house. Snack on an apple or some baby carrots. You can crunch through your emotions with healthy, low-calorie food.

6. Eat small meals regularly every three hours. If you are already hungry when a strong emotion hits, you are more likely to lose control with your eating.

7. Forgive yourself when you lose control. Learn from your mistakes and start over again.